I'm getting MCAS certified

[aestudiar]

Hi,
yesterday I got the MCAS prep book by Microsoft. I'm aiming to do the Word and PowerPoint this year, and hopefully the Excel and Access too (or at the beginning of 2011).
I'll start reading through the book, doing the exercises, and practising on my own.

Can anyone provide with recommendations regarding passing the exams?

1.- Preparation materials.
2.- Exam centres in the UK, close to London. Price figures.
3.- Once passed, what to do next? ie order the certificate from Microsoft? etc.

Many thanks.

PS I'm being lazy a bit, as I know I can collect all this info online, but doing 140 points at uni, the CompTiA+, SCJP, and now MCAS leaves me with little time. Thanks again.

[wagnerk]

Originally Posted by aestudiar

...1.- Preparation materials...

I got my MCAS in Outlook and Vista, I didn't use any prep material as I've been using the products for a long time. However the Microsoft prep books and the material from Certiport are good for the exam itself

Originally Posted by aestudiar

...2.- Exam centres in the UK, close to London. Price figures....

You will have to contact Certiport (their UK web seems to be down). I do know that not all Certiport centres will allow you to take the exam just by itself, most of them require you to the course with them. Tresham is the only place that I know that will let you sit the exam without having to do the course.

Originally Posted by aestudiar

...3.- Once passed, what to do next? ie order the certificate from Microsoft? etc....

Depends, there's the Strata exam/A+ exam from Comptia, the MCDST from Microsoft, the Advanced ECDL from the BCS, etc... It depends what area you want to go into, etc...

-Ken

[JonnyMX]

I used the practice exams for MOS from Transcender, and they were pretty good.
Looks like they have Word, Excel and Powerpoint MCAS.

[aestudiar]

[Q]You will have to contact Certiport (their UK web seems to be down). I do know that not all Certiport centres will allow you to take the exam just by itself, most of them require you to the course with them. Tresham is the only place that I know that will let you sit the exam without having to do the course. [/Q]


Is that the case? I thought the idea of most members on this site was to always aim to self-study, as it's cheaper, and probably better. Do I have to enrol an academy/course to be able to sit the exam? Why is that so?? I'm perplexed.

[aestudiar]

I've found this one. I would like to see what you make of the prices.

Site: http://www.microsoftbusinesscertific...st__MCAS_.html


Price: £60.00 (Excluding VAT at 15%)
A Proctor fee is paid to the Authorised Testing Centre for the hire of the room in order for you to sit your exam.
Proctor Fee £25

So about £100. Does it sound right? I had thought they were in the region of £50, all inclusive.

[JonnyMX]

Originally Posted by aestudiar

[Q]
Is that the case? I thought the idea of most members on this site was to always aim to self-study, as it's cheaper, and probably better. Do I have to enrol an academy/course to be able to sit the exam? Why is that so?? I'm perplexed.

You should just be able to book the exam, turn up and pay.
Some Certiport centres are colleges etc and may have their own rules.
Worth asking around...

[UncleBeard]

I used this URL to find a Testing Centre: http://www.certiport.com/Portal/Pages/LocatorView.aspx

Luckily there was one in Aberdeen, and they allowed me to just pay for the exams. They preferred me to pay them directly rather than buying vouchers online, for which they would then have charged the Proctoring fee.

So Outlook and PowerPoint cost me 50 GBP each (passed both ), and so will Word and Excel when I take them.

I have access to some MCT material, and included is a recording of LiveMeeting sessions by Debbie Collins a well-known MCT who writes a column for the MSDN Flash, briefing MCTs on taking and passing the MCAS Word and Excel exams. She recommends two Practice Tests, Certiprep by Certiport, and GMetrix.

I can also thoroughly recommend GMetrix - it has another huge benefit over Certiprep if you are paying for it yourself - it's about a quarter of the price . For further details see this page: https://www.prodigy.ie/shop/sub.cfm/...key/157/cat/1/

I don't think any of them are perfect, and they do have some slight quirks, but for 53.00 GBP you get a years license for practise tests for the whole Office 2007 Suite and Vista.

Another good thing about it is that you can use it in training mode, where you can try the questions yourself and if you get it wrong you can repeat the question with Step-by-Step instructions. Testing mode, on the other hand puts you under the time pressure just like the real thing, with no help!

It definitely helps, I got 933 for PowerPoint and 1000 for Outlook

I do have to say that of course there are differences between the GMetrix tests and the real tests, but using the practice suite does prepare you by giving you the knowledge of how to do the tasks on the tests.

I hope this has helped a little?

[aestudiar]

Yep, it does, thanks.
I'll look into paying about £50 for each exam. Beats paying £100