Passed A+ Hardware

[wuneyej]

I took the exam today and passed with a 649. Can't say I'm really pleased with that score, I thought I'd at least be able to break 700.

Do all the questions count equally toward the overall score, or do some count more than others? 649 is in the low 70's percentage-wise. It felt like I did better than that.

JP

 

[Wishdiak]

wuneyej,

Congratulations! Considering that the passing score for the CompTIA A+ Core Hardware exam is 515, 649 isn't all that bad.

I believe that all questions have equal weight, but I wasn't able to find anything in the A+ FAQs at

http://www.comptia.org/certification/a/faqs.aspx

to support this.

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, MCSA 2003 certified

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[wuneyej]

Thanks, Wishdiak.

I've done some searching myself, but haven't been able to come up with any definitive answer as far as how the exam is scored. It felt that I answered more than 73% of the questions correctly, but oh well...a pass is a pass I guess.

JP

 

[schase]

Well done,

I didn't have that great of a time with it either - Studied my butt off and got a 603!



"Never underestimate the power of determination"

Stuart
Net+

 

[wuneyej]

Thanks, Stuart

Have you taken the OS Exam yet? I'm due to take that at the end of February.

I'm taking an instructor-lead course, and so far, I'd say it's been worth it. I guess that's easy for me to say, since my employer is paying for it, but it helps having someone there to push me. Study groups with other classmates has helped a lot also.

JP

 

[schase]

Not yet - I should be taking it in less than 2 weeks.

Glad you found a good class, my instructor-lead course was a nightmare.

"Never underestimate the power of determination"

Stuart
Net+

 

[bonebonde]

A pass is a pass my friend!! Congratulations.

What study material did you guys use?

I'll be taking my exam in two weeks time and I am soo nervous!
Does Transcender help? Or what is the best way to prepare for the HW Core exam?

 

[schase]

Right now, counting the hardware side of things I've read.

Two 300-odd page books
Two 400-odd page books
and i'm about 650 pages through an almost 800 page book

And probably another 3 or 4 smaller study guides.

So far the best one i've read is the A+ Exam 4-Real. Thats the really big one i'm mostly through. But it takes a somewhat different approach, it concentrates on the OS side of things first.

"Never underestimate the power of determination"

Stuart
Net+

 

[degoon]

I read that the A+ tests alter the level of difficulty based on your answers. If you answer the first question correctly, the next question will be a little bit harder and so on. If your answer is wrong, it gets easier. Don't understand why they would do this other than possibly that too many people were passing?

 

[schase]

hmm I never heard a hint of that.

with the progressive ones I have been informed if you got one wrong you'd be presented with more of the same category of questions. It was more to see if you had the grasp of the category or not.

"Never underestimate the power of determination"

Stuart
Net+

 

[Wishdiak]

degoon,

CompTIA used to use an adaptive format for their exams, but no longer do.

http://www.comptia.org/certification/a/faqs.aspx

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, MCSA 2003 certified

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[schase]

adaptive - thats what I was thinking not progressive.

"Never underestimate the power of determination"

Stuart
Net+

 

[Wishdiak]

schase,

From what I understand, those were the days.

A former co-worker of mine claimed that he had 10 questions on the A+ Core Hardware exam. He was done in 5 minutes, thanks to the adaptive format.

It took me something like an hour to pass it, since I had to answer many more questions.

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, MCSA 2003 certified

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[schase]

Aye,

I saw an old practice exam from someplace - our instructor had it from his A+ days (pre-2003) And it was exactly that, if you got it right they'd maybe ask a followup question, but if you got them wrong you could be there for awhile.

I still don't know though, I mean you think you know your stuff to find out (like I did) that you got a 603. Tough choice to decide to take that chance versus perhaps better odds on the longer test.

"Never underestimate the power of determination"

Stuart
Net+

 

[pokettissues]

you are all forgeting that the failing score is 100 so if you did not get a single one correct you will still get a 100. so if you are trying to get your percent you got to add 100 to your score before dividing it into 900.

 

[schase]

er correct,

we didn't forget. We're noting in most cases the score as CompTia shows you on your results. Which is the correct method to discuss them.

"Never underestimate the power of determination"

Stuart
A+, Net+

 

[Wishdiak]

There is a difference between score and percentage. The score required to pass differs with the subject matter being tested on CompTIA exams, from 70% to around 85%.

If all questions are weighed equally, then
Percentage correct == (score - 100)/800.

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

http://www.wishdiak.com