70-270 MS Readiness Review!!! >(

[unc92sax]

I have A+, Net+, and CCNA and pride myself on the fact that I have blown these exams out (over 95% on each exam the first time).

I am on my second time through Sybex 70-270 and 2/3 through MS Press. There is a ton of info, but I feel that I understand it pretty well.

However, I have taken 6 readiness review exams and am doing horrible at them (50-60%). I find that the questions alone are getting me frustrated. They are so d*** wordy and the further I go the more fried my brain gets.

Is the real exam like this, because if it is I am wasting my time. I'm getting PO'd while typing this just thinking about it. HELP!!!

unc92sax
A+, Net+, CCNA

 

[paulhthomas]

What I've found with the MS exams is that they are a lot clearer, shorter and less "out to get you" than the ones in the MeasureUp and Transcender exams.
I've actually had a measureup exam, have 2 correct answers on a single answer question, and tell me that my answer's wrong, because the other solutions cheaper!!!!
The other thing to reember is thatthe Measureup tests don't "pass" you unless you have about 85% whereas the real exams have a pass mark of 700 out of 1000.

 

[schase]

theres a decent FAQ here on how to pass MS Tests.

IMHO MS Press books aren't worth the paper and ink they used. I personally do not mind the readiness review tests to sort of mix up my testing and make sure i'm not just memorizing the questions that i'm reviewing.

I used Exam Prep 2's book on 70-270, it was decent. The sit down test is much like you will find on either transcender or the readiness review cd.

and I went through the same struggle you did. Same for the 70-290 for that matter.

"Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?"

Stuart
A+, Net+, Security+, MCP

 

[paulhthomas]

Well, many people share the same opinion about the MS-Press books, but I've now passed 3 of the MS exams towards the MCSE 2003 with only having these books.
On top of that, it's a fair bet that if it isn't in the MS-Press books, it isn't the exam.

 

[schase]

To each their own I guess,

I personally had quite a bit of material that was on the exam that was not covered in the book. - not to mention other items were an obscure footnote somewhere. I'm on my 3rd - so far all three are garbage.

"Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?"

Stuart
A+, Net+, Security+, MCP

 

[paulhthomas]

I do agree there, with your last comment I mean.
I failed the 70-291 the 1st time I did it, because I didn't read the "Prepare for the exam" bit at the back of the book. I had a few questions in the real exam where the answers just happened to be in just that part of the book.
Annoyed? just a bit!!

 

[schase]

The good thing I like about the ms-press is they give you the evaluation software to practice with, and the labs. Which are both pretty good.

"Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?"

Stuart
A+, Net+, Security+, MCP

 

[paulhthomas]

yeah, it is. especially as they tend to give you the Enterprise edition which would cost you an arm and a leg to buy, and a it of a waste just for studying with!

 

[schase]

The chapter I'm on now is a good example of why this book (and every mspress book i've studied) is worthless.

They start off talking about DHCP, ok cool. Then they say installing DHCP server - but they don't walk you through it at this point. They then jump to authorizing the server, followed by scopes followed by options, then configuring the client

finally 10 pages later they start to walk you through installing the DHCP Server service - which prompts you for scopes (ip address range, exclusion page, lease duration, options) finally followed by authorizing the server.

Makes it a confusing, convoluted mess - and this is a short chapter compared to the DNS one. And I haven't gotten to the quiz portion yet for this chapter but I'd bet money that they'd then quiz you on items they didn't cover.

And you know for certain that when you get to the prepare for the exam - at this DHCP server section - they will tell you to review many other sources for info to gain knowledge necessary to pass the test.

Not that you should rely on any one source for info to pass a test - but the way ms-press does it, is pretty ridiculous.

"Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?"

Stuart
A+, Net+, Security+, MCP

 

[Wishdiak]

And you know for certain that when you get to the prepare for the exam - at this DHCP server section - they will tell you to review many other sources for info to gain knowledge necessary to pass the test.

Not to defend Microsoft, but their books assume that you have a good working knowledge of certain concepts.

Their brief section on IP subnetting is a better example. If you don't know IP address classes, reserved IP ranges, subnetting and supernetting, then you'll need to get that knowledge elsewhere and then come back to the MS Press book.

In the case of DHCP, they give an overview of how to set it up and then give specifics. They assume you already know what it does and how DHCP clients request leases from the DHCP server. The basic concept and implementation of DHCP is knowledge that they assume you already have.

IMHO, anyway.

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, Security+, MCSA: Security 2003

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[schase]

sure I knew how dhcp worked. it was just an example of how sub-par their books are.

I like to see why what how when where when learning a topic, MSPress at least leaves out one, usually two of those, not uncommon for them to leave out three things. Anyone who's ever been around education knows the best way to teach is to tell them what your going to teach, tell how it's done, show how it's done, have the student do it, and tell them what you just told them.

on the 70-291 for example, they tell you not to worry about something - then quiz you on it, then they quiz you on sections they didn't even briefly mention at all through the study portion of the book. Not to mention areas that they conflict themselves in.

Heck one section that they were quizing you on - they say if you were not sure, to learn it. - isn't that what the book is for?

They're books go beyond the working knowledge into the feeling that your already working in that environment and have been for a bit of time. Something probably only a small percentage of MCSE's have been.

IMHO - best thing to do with these books, open it up to where you see the ready for the exam - tear the book up along those lines - use the study portion for starting a fire, make paper airplanes, something that might get constructive use out of the book.

Then use the prepare for the exam part to look up resources that they tell you you want to study before testing (as their book doesn't cut it and the authors are pretty aware of it.).

No one resource is enough to study for one of these exams. These books carry that thought to the extreme.

"Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?"

Stuart
A+, Net+, Security+, MCP

 

[schase]

Let me give a better working example as to why mspress is simply garbage.

Taking DHCP for example. I'm good on the mechanics of DHCP, no problem, I've run a small (about 42) workstation network for about 4 years ( on w2K server). I only have one server, none of my users remote in, very little filesharing, etc. So I take the DHCP off of the server and onto the router to take load off of my one server.

The book goes into DHCP - I'm trying to understand (beyond the no brainer that AD integration would have advantages ) what purpose would DHCP have in a large environment - why not cisco routers instead. And ok, how does w2k3 even work their implementation of DHCP.

Before you can get answers to any of that, they've gone through DHCP - finally showing how to set it up - and they're onto monitoring & troubleshooting dhcp - ok that's great, but still why - then it goes into routing with w2k3, wonderful, we're still on why - and now why would I need to or want to with 2k3, then it goes into remote access - that part makes sense, but they lump it all together. Finally at the end of all of that, 3 or 4 chapters later they just say that dhcp on the server could be more cost effective than hardware. And that's if your not also confused on why you'd do routing with w2k3 also.

it follows no logical pattern, I think much has to do with the author also, parts of the book go along smoothly, with explanations - then you launch into a part that's about as enjoyable as getting a prostrate exam.

In comparision to mspress, other text books - like Exam Prep 2's 70-270 is night and day. I feel that they should not assume that everyone studying already works in an enterprise environment with multiple AD Domains and multiple locations. (that's the job many of us are shooting for - by getting the mcse ) Take CBT Nuggets for example, on the 70-290 they did a great job of telling you why you would use something, what advantage it has, where it's located, how it's done, and when you would do it. MS Press does not even attempt to do any of that.


Stuart
A+, Net+, Security+, MCP