70-270 Difficulty...

[nXPLOSi]

Hi everyone, its been a while..! I've been studying *hard* for the 70-270 after losing my way for a couple of months..!

So, i've read the MS Press book, and watched a few CBT Nuggets on what I felt were my weaker areas from the objectives. I purchased Transcender for this exam quite a while back, and finally fired up preset exam A on Saturday, I was very pleased when I got 52/60. I then looked at a couple more of the areas that I wasnt assured on, and done preset exam B, 45/60!

My question is this, I know with the other exams I've taken, that the Transcenders were slightly harder then the actual exam, is this the case with the 70-270 as well? Is the Transcender a good reflection on how the actual questions will be worded ect? (This will be my first MS exam so )

Oh, the exams Saturday morning by the way..

[Modey]

I found the Transcender harder for this exam than the exam itself. It's pot luck when you sit it though as you may get a bunch of questions in one of your weak areas. Try not to have any.

[nXPLOSi]

Thanks Modey, hopefully by Saturday I wont have any..

Saying that, I just used the MS Readiness Suite, and got 30/50, the questions are completely different from the Transcender, lots of them 'move things across' dialog boxes questions, which completely threw me. Gah, dont know what to think anymore.

Does anyone actually rate the MS Readiness Suite?

[Gingerdave]

I find them good to use as well as the transcender as they ask the questions in a more 'Microsoftey' way, which makes them difficult, where as the Transcder I think is harder content wise.

Good luck for Saturday.

[Modey]

Originally Posted by Gingerdave

I find them good to use as well as the transcender as they ask the questions in a more 'Microsoftey' way, which makes them difficult, where as the Transcder I think is harder content wise.

Good luck for Saturday.

Ginger has hit the nail on the head there really.

[nXPLOSi]

Yeah I can see what you mean, the MS Readiness also seems to test the content of the book more, rather then the understanding of the concepts, if that makes sense!

I done preset C last night, 45/60 again. I've noticed that im falling short on the Security questions, only getting around half of them in 2 of the 3 exams. So now the plan is to watch the Security CBT's and then reread the chapter, hopefully that will sort me out...!

I think im at about the right stage at the moment to do the exam Saturday, 4 nights to brush up on bits and bobs and cross read weak areas with the sybex book.

Fingers crossed!

[Gingerdave]

Originally Posted by nXPLOSi

Yeah I can see what you mean, the MS Readiness also seems to test the content of the book more, rather then the understanding of the concepts, if that makes sense!

I done preset C last night, 45/60 again. I've noticed that im falling short on the Security questions, only getting around half of them in 2 of the 3 exams. So now the plan is to watch the Security CBT's and then reread the chapter, hopefully that will sort me out...!

I think im at about the right stage at the moment to do the exam Saturday, 4 nights to brush up on bits and bobs and cross read weak areas with the sybex book.

Fingers crossed!

If thats the only area you are falling down on, you have enough time to remedy it and then nail it on saturday.

[Daniel]

I was like you are now, I worried that the exam was gonna be really hard because the Transcender software just popped up question after question of extreme hard questions that I did not once come across in the actual exam, same for 70-290.

Dont worry about it, just learn the material, make sure you have it down in your mind and in the exam everything you learnt will come together.

Example, one of the questions I had in 70-270 asked me how to lock a computer (Ctrl+Alt+Del).

It also depends on the day, you might get a lot of "hard" questions, but you can deal with it im sure.

Good luck for Saturday and dont over do the revision the night before the exam, try to do none!

(That helped me no end)

[craigie]

See I'm of the opinion, that why not just sit the exam, for the actual cost of the practice questions, it's not that much different to the exam cost, and you might pass.

At least then you get to see what sort of questions you are asked.

Anyways, good luck for Saturday!

[Qs]

Originally Posted by craigie

See I'm of the opinion, that why not just sit the exam, for the actual cost of the practice questions, it's not that much different to the exam cost, and you might pass.

At least then you get to see what sort of questions you are asked.

Anyways, good luck for Saturday!

Good advice. You need to make sure you're well prepared berforehand though regardless.

The best of luck.

Qs

[Ergath]

I took mine on Monday, and found quite a lot of content that wasn't in Transcender or my course materials (mindleaders). I was having serious panic attacks by the middle of the exam because the content seemed very different from what I'd been learning. That said, I took all 3 preset Transcender exams on Sunday and got 100, 84 and 82 percent respectively, and then in the exam got 826 (82%?), which suggests that Transcender was accurately measuring my knowledge, even if the questions were different. When I went back through and reviewed all of the questions again I realised that I did know most of the stuff, just not as well as the Transcender questions, which I'd done loads of times.

I might be wrong, but looking at 70 290 and 70 291 I'm thinking they look easier, partly because I learned a lot about GPOs, networking protocols etc. for 270. My best investment so far is a Network+ book, which has been very useful for getting my head around 270 and should be even more useful for 291.

Anyway, let me add my best wishes to the others, I'm sure you'll be fine.

[jk2447]

Originally Posted by Ergath

I took mine on Monday, and found quite a lot of content that wasn't in Transcender or my course materials (mindleaders). I was having serious panic attacks by the middle of the exam because the content seemed very different from what I'd been learning. That said, I took all 3 preset Transcender exams on Sunday and got 100, 84 and 82 percent respectively, and then in the exam got 826 (82%?), which suggests that Transcender was accurately measuring my knowledge, even if the questions were different. When I went back through and reviewed all of the questions again I realised that I did know most of the stuff, just not as well as the Transcender questions, which I'd done loads of times.

I might be wrong, but looking at 70 290 and 70 291 I'm thinking they look easier, partly because I learned a lot about GPOs, networking protocols etc. for 270. My best investment so far is a Network+ book, which has been very useful for getting my head around 270 and should be even more useful for 291.

Anyway, let me add my best wishes to the others, I'm sure you'll be fine.

I'd agree with 290 but 291? Its rock hard!

[Ergath]

Originally Posted by jk2447

I'd agree with 290 but 291? Its rock hard!

Maybe I'm not far enough into it - I'll defer to your experience. Look out for a post in a month saying "My brain's melted; how on earth does anyone pass 70-291?"

[jk2447]

Originally Posted by Ergath

Maybe I'm not far enough into it - I'll defer to your experience. Look out for a post in a month saying "My brain's melted; how on earth does anyone pass 70-291?"

Ha ha I didn't mean to sound like a know it all there mate. I passed 270 and 290 with very good marks but failed 291! So I could be there crying with ya mate ha

[Modey]

Originally Posted by Ergath

I might be wrong, but looking at 70 290 and 70 291 I'm thinking they look easier

I can confirm that 'yes' you are wrong. Well the 290 ain't so bad, but the 291 is damn tough. There is a reason it's called 'The Beast' you know.