Poll on difficulty level of the exam

Hey everybody I was just wondering what you guys think the difficulty level of this exam is. Can people that have passed or failed this exam post their test scores and also fill out the poll so we can see some statistics for this particular test. Thanks!

Edit by Webmaster: The average difficulty level on February 4, 2006 was 6.7

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Comments

Megadeth4168

I gave this exam a 7

I would have to say the in my experience I found the Security+ to be a bit harder. I did fail This exam the first and passed the Security+ on the first try, however I did spend 2 months studying for the Sec+ and had no study time the first time I took this exam. On my 2nd attempt at this exam I had maybe 2 of study time.... Percentage was about the same compared to the Sec+ exam which in comparrison I would give an 8.

geordieox

Gave it a 7

Passed it first time yesterday - 748. I've failed the 70-290 one, but did a lot more work on this one.

70-290 here we come...

Outspaced

nickmdi wrote:

Mine was 58 questions.

barely with 731 but I'll take it.

N

i passed bearly with 731 last friday, but as far as im aware most employers will never ask what you scored as long as you pass. i too was thrown by the length of the questions

lungsucker

It seems to me that everyone here who passed and said it was easy have some type of experience with xp. Pretty high scores. congrats. I personally thought it was hard. That could be because i didnt pass. I personally have no experience except for what i do at home. I did read sybex, examcram2 and a preplogic studyguide and made an A in the XP class at school, along with hundreds of fake questions. I dont believe ive ever seen a test i couldnt pass by studying until now. Anyone out there that passed who did not have the luxury of working at a job with xp or no experience? Lets here from you. thanks.

mrjawbones

I passed with a 952. Gave it a difficulty of 7. I thought it was pretty tough, so I was kind of surprised when it popped up my score...but then again I studied practically every free moment I had for over a month so I guess I was well prepared.

davenport

I gave the test a 7 and I passed with a 905. It seemed a bit harder than a 7 at times because my test locked up three times, so needless to say I stressed myself WAY out.

snadam

I would give it about a 5.5. I just took it today and got an 889. I studied for 4 months about 8 hours a week. This last week was about 2-6 hours a day. I used transcender and prep logic software, as well as books....oh and of course these awesome tech notes found here!

rstainforth

700, just scraped through, but did better on 290 (896)

cashew

I gave it 1, just got 936 on it the other day. I think it was pretty straight forward and if I didn't know the answer, it was easy to use the process of elimination to figure it out. This was also my 5th test in the MCSE track, so after doing the server exams it made this one easy. It was like a mini 290 for me. I think I hit 840 on 290, but that was my first MS test.

Nishesh.Prasad

i passed with 842 last month after studying for roughly 1.5 months. .... i would rate it 6/10 ...

tpurdon

Just a heads up people. I took the test today and failed. Boo Hoo. I thought that with my experience from an A+ class in 2001, many installations of WinXP OS with a wide variety of devices and applications, plus buliding my own machines and fixing those of my friends or family, I would have a good chance of passing the test. WRONG!!!
Remember, this is an Administrator, not User, test.
I was so over-confident, I took the test on short notice with practically no prep. But, I had found the TechExams.com site and figured I would run through the free practice test just to 'brush up'. After the 4th question I knew I was up the creek with no paddle.
This was my first attempt at taking the exam and it was worth the cost and dissapointment just for the experience.
If not for the information on this Web site the test would have been even more humiliating.
For those pursuing certification who have not taken a MS OS course( with a grade =>B), or, have no real administrator experience, think twice about taking the test without first assessing your TRUE skills level.
The practice exam questions on TechExams.com are not word for word, but excellent simulations compared to the real test. If you take a Windows OS course and do well, find and study quality prep materials, then utilize authorized pratice exams you WILL pass.( Yes, some questions are poorly phrased-Big surprise!)
I am going to take fall semester Vista OS and Server 2003 courses, then retest for Vista Cert. this winter. :P
Best regards and good luck!!!
Humbly yours,
T. Purdon

goob

I give it about an 8. Mostly cos it was the first one I did. Passed the other day with 766.

Some dodgy questions in there, a few touch and go jobs, but iin the bag at least.

msconfig

Hi
This exam is more difficult than A+ Hardware and software, no doubt about it.
However if u have solid knowledge how to master xp pro in and out and use some test engines it is possible to make it for your first try.

Good Luck

msconfig

Illusionking

I've taken two exams at this point, this being the first, 70-291 being the second. The testing styles were almost completely different. I took a class at my Community College and that helped out quite well. Used the Microsoft Press Training Kit as the text book. Not a hard test, but definitely had the first test jitters. Stay calm and think of skills you've obtained in the field and this will turn out to be a pretty easy test.

philhecker

Hi all.

Took and passed the test last Monday with a score of 826. I give the test a difficulty rating of 7. It was my 1st test and I put in about 2 months of study, although I was settling into my new job at the same time.

I found at least one question that was worded particularly poorly and IMO 2 of the answers seemed perfectly good.

Does anyone else find the on-screen text in the test hard to read and almost blury? or do I just need new glasses.

Phil

PS The tech notes were a lifesaver. Keep up the good work

arvalea

Passed with 936, but my score in this poll is 7.
I think this is really not so easy exam, and exam have some questions (like Security Templates) which is absolutely not described in official book (MS Press)...

mattd75

Compared to the MS exams that I have done so far I give it an 8.
I take it for the second time on Monday. First time I thought it would be easy because I did so well on 70-271 & 70-272. Wrong! This one aint no joke!
Think I should pass this time though. I have done alot more studying. Used MS self study, Testout and the Techexams here.

7h35ur930n

I took the 70-270 about 2 months back, I would say it's hard if you dont put the time in. I failed the first exam simply because I thought I knew it, false confidence. I'm currently studying for the next exam which I plan to take within the next month.

This time around Ive been putting the time in, every spare second of every day gos into going through flash cards and exam questions. I feel I have to be able to get every question right every time before I go back to sit the next exam. I work along side A+ and MCP's and was supprised at how much they've forgot about.

My advise would be think of long term on your wage packet and the life you could have. These exams show you are 'Gods amongst men'......

Oh and weed doesn't help.

147

I thought the test was harder than the A+ and CIW-A, but about the same in difficulty with the Network+. However, I will admit that the test requires a LOT more analytical and reading comprehension skills than anything else I've ever taken, excluding some calculus and statistics stuff in college.

Many people might disagree with me about the Net+ being on par with the 270. I think the reason the Net+ was so difficult for me was because of the amount of information you needed to know in order to pass, even though you were still jsut spitting back facts on the test for the most part. The 270 requires both memorization as well as an understanding of the systems involved.

Good luck to those who will be taking it!

notyard22

I voted an 8--you must have good knowledge on all areas to pass--not an easy exam in my opinion, but this was my first Microsoft exam

Daniel333

I found this easier than comptia (A+/Net+) tests, because it actually had very clear guidelines. Although the question format was MUCH harder.

Certainly rate CCNA much harder than this. I went with a 4.

chinth_guy

I passed today with 984! It was very tough depends on what you know and what you dont, how you apply think the Microsoft thinking and you will pass!

Get hold og the 420Q&A set. The same comes for the actual exam.

undomiel

Those sound like a brain **** chinth_guy, I would recommend staying away from anything that says they are the actual questions from the exam. They are cheating and unethical and also put you in danger of having all of your Microsoft certifications ripped away if Microsoft ever knows that you have used them.

chinth_guy

I rate difficulty as 7...or even more..what test exam site are legal?pls advice, the practice here which I did very similar to exam..and on may site which this site has links to..thats what helped me but I heard theres a 420 question set? any comments

bwcarty

I did a search for 420 Q&A and found a link to a very well known **** vendor.

Use http://www.certguard.com to verify that your source is ethical.

ironlung

I believe my score was like 905.

TLwilliams904

I just to the 70-270 test on 5/29/2008 and I passed with a 826/1000 which I am very proud of..i actually thought the test was going to be harder than what it was, but actually if you put time in to actually study and when taking practice pay attention to the problems that is in the question and not just focus on the memorizing the question it self you get a better understand of why the correct answer is correct and if you see the same problem worded differently you will have no problem recognizing the solution.. GOOD LUCK to all those who about preparing for the test!!!!

TLwilliams904

lungsucker wrote:

It seems to me that everyone here who passed and said it was easy have some type of experience with xp. Pretty high scores. congrats. I personally thought it was hard. That could be because i didnt pass. I personally have no experience except for what i do at home. I did read sybex, examcram2 and a preplogic studyguide and made an A in the XP class at school, along with hundreds of fake questions. I dont believe ive ever seen a test i couldnt pass by studying until now. Anyone out there that passed who did not have the luxury of working at a job with xp or no experience? Lets here from you. thanks.

I mostly use xp at home however i do have a B.A. Degree in computer information systems but i delt mostly with programming and business stuff. I have not worked in the field as of yet especially not during school because I was on scholarship and even during the summer Inter jobs wanted certs. 3yrs later w/ a degree and the door slamming in my face every time I decided to get my certs .. I took the test and passed it the first time I did study for a month on and off and i found it wordy but not so difficult

calaverasgrandes

I've only taken the paractice tests that come with the MS press book. Those are harder than I expected. I mean, I know XP pretty thoroughly. Used it, supported it. I have read through the whole dang book also. The questions in the sample tests I find to be a bit silly. They are testing more to see if you memorize things as opposed to whether you really understand them. For instance, I have no problem setting up shares, creating user accounts and adding them to groups and so on. But I always get stuck on the questions about what are the user groups/rights called.
I guess its that same thing as, I could give you directions to drive there but I cant recall the street names.
Either way I go into Prometric July 9th (unless I get called for a job)