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MCSE 2003: Which exam was hardest? 3

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Wishdiak

Wishdiak

Technical User
Mar 7, 2004
1,787
US
I'm currently going to school for MCSE 2003, and have so far only taken (and passed) 70-270. I found the questions wordy, but not overly difficult.

I have 70-290 scheduled for next week. So far, of 70-290, 70-291, 70-293, and 80-294, it looks like 70-291 will be the hardest (broadest material) and 70-293 the easiest (less broad).

Am I way off base? I was just wondering about other people's experiences with MCSE 2003 exams.

Wishdiak
 
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they try to bog you down with detail and ambiguity....

I read the question once, writing down everything that sets off warning signs in my mind.... i then reread to make sure i havent missed a crucial part, write A B C D (or n° of possible answers)..
Then cross off the ones i can eliminate to begin with...

I try to read their actual questions as little as possible...

Good luck next time :)

Aftertaf (david)
MCSA 2003
 
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royalmail,

It is quite possible that you saw one or more questions on the exam that were not covered in the text. I don't recall any specific questions from 70-290, but it's typical to see questions about topics that were not covered in depth in the books.

I took 70-290 a few months ago, and Terminal Services comprised 20% of the test questions. Terminal Services is covered in an appenedix in the MS Press Book, and unless you knew that it was there, you could easily miss reading this chapter entirely.

The step up in difficulty between 70-270 and 70-290 is something that blindsided me and gave me a false sense of security about what to expect from a MS exam. I think I scored somewhere around 560 the first time out.

One of the best tools that I've found for Microsoft exams is the Readiness Review CD that comes with the MS Press MCSE brick, and covers 70-290, 70-291, 70-293, and 70-294. The questions are wordy and have plenty of extraneous details--just like the real exam questions.

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, MCSA 2003 certified
 
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wishdiak:
how's it going on the mcse track??

You started 294 yet??

I found it easy,
questions were on OU and domain implementation, very little on sites and replication

keep me informed :)


Aftertaf (david)
MCSA 2003
 
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Royalmail - you're not alone, I think half the difficulty in MS exams comes from ambiguous questions or available answers that don't seem to fit quite right. I can only assume they do it to try and minimise the effectiveness of braindumps but it penalises the legitimate testers to.

It's about time they add some practical aspect to the certs like the Red Hat Linux exams.
 
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aftertaf,

Actually I haven't taken 70-294 yet. I'm struggling with getting up to speed on 70-299. From there, the plan is to take Security+, 70-294, and 70-298 which will earn me MCSE+Security.

How did you score on 70-294?

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, MCSA 2003 certified
 
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NickFerrar - thanks for the support, and thanks to everyone else that responded.

I have decided to resit the exam one month from now. I figure that my exam technique preparation needs to be better. I totally agree with Nick about picking the best available answer that, even so, doesn't quite fit right. I can think of several examples of this from the 290 test, but have agreed to confidentiality.. Still, no choice but to put it behind me I guess.

What I want to do is download one of the computer based mock exam packages. For 70-270 I studied from the Exam Cram 2 book, and found it to be very good. I did the exact same for 70-290, and also found it good. I even bought the 70-291 book from the same series (rather prematurely it would seem!). However, the Preplogic tests that come on the bundled CDs appear to be awful. Full of mistakes that serve only to confuse.

Can anyone recommend any such packages? Someone mentioned the Readiness Review. I did also get that book for 70-270, but found the book itself to be largely useless, although the mock test on the CD was way better than the Preplogic offering.

Should I go for Readiness Review, or something else?
 
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Wishdiak:

924/1000 if my memory serves me correctly :)

looks like i'll be taking the two others in may now, no time off between!!


Aftertaf (david)
MCSA 2003
 
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I just got an offer of 25% off the MeasureUp software. Has anyone used this or recommend it?

If anyone has good things to say about these I may go for the MCSA 2003 bundle. Seems reasonable value with the 25% discount.
 
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I used Self-Test Software's prep exams for my MCSE - they're the ones recommended by Microsoft and are very accurate representations of the real exam questions. It can be a bit confusing though as some of the questions are near identical (as in it appears to be a brain dump) however they are subtely different so you have to make sure you read the question very carefully and not think "oh yeah I had that was as a test question, the answer is....)" as the question will have changed a bit which will affect the answer.
 
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For anyone that is interested.....I passed the 70-270 test today with an 892. Testking Version 18.0 had the EXACT same questions as the actual MS test. Makes it easy when you have already seen the questions :)

 
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Thanks for the congrats.

I want to go towards the 2003 MCSE.... so I was thinking about taking the 70-290 exam.

Is there an advantage to taking the exams in any certain order? IE. 293, then 290 then 291?

What is the best way to prepare for 290 test...other than reading a book?

 
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derekwa,

I think most people take them in the suggested order, simply because each exam builds on the topics in the previous exam.

Exam 70–290: Managing and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment

Exam 70–291: Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure

Exam 70-293: Planning and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure

Exam 70-294: Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure

That said, I see no reason why you would necessarily have to take the MCSE exams in this order, provided you knew the material well enough.

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, MCSA 2003 certified
 
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nice one :)

once the ball gets rolling, keep on it

keep us informed how you go, and if you have any questions ;)

Aftertaf
if its not broken, fix it anyway - with luck you might break it and have an excuse

 
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I have just passed 70-291 today with 775 and have achieved MCSA 2003. I am really quite pleased with myself.
A friend of mine took it recently and had 55 questions so thats what i worked for and i actually got 40 so was a bonus. was harder than 290 as i had thought but feels good.

 
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itchef84,

Congrats! It feels good, doesn't it?

Going from memory, I think I had 45 questions when I took 70-291 a few months ago. Tricky questions too.

So, what's next for you?

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, Security+, MCSA 2003 certified
 
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Thanks.
it does feel good to achieve this but musn't rest on laurels. I am not sure whether to go all out out for MCSE doing 293, 294 & 298 or whether to get some more exerience first and possibly go for MCSA Security or do exchange.
I am going to give my brain a rest for a few days that much is sure.
 
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Does anyone know if the A+ and Net+ req (elective) for MCSA 2003 has to be the new tests. I have the original A+ and Net+ version 2.. Hope thats good enough

I have the 70-270 that was pretty easy... Was the 70-290 test similiar?



Ray
A+, Net+, MCP, CNA, CNE 6

 
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CompTIA tests never expire... only need to retake if you want bragging rights...

JTB
Have Certs, Will Travel
"A knight without armour in a [cyber] land."

 
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