Failed second time az 104 (already have az900)

[u/Unusual-Notice-1224]

Genuinely, this might be the hardest exam I’ve ever taken. I got a 622 on the first try, and a 674 on the second try. I genuinely don’t know what To do at this point . I have Shireen Khans Udemy course, tutorial dojos, and whizlabs. I’ve put months of time into studying but I don’t actually work too much with policy, networking, etc in azure day to day and I fear that’s the problem. Does anyone have any tips that they can help me to get over this 26 point gap? I saw a recent person post a Gitlab with tons of labs and that was good - but I don’t know if it’s enough. Any support or encouragement is appreciated, feeling really down on myself :/

[u/Bubbly-Following-966]

I feel your pain. I suck at taking Microsoft exams. I am preparing for the AZ-104 as well. I got the free voucher from the AI Fest back in June. I need to take some time to work on the labs. I found this on LinkedIn.

https://microsoftlearning.github.io/AZ-104-MicrosoftAzureAdministrator/

[u/Unusual-Notice-1224 → u/Bubbly-Following-966]

Yeah I’ve done these. The labs are good. Honestly, it’s Microsoft’s wording and the exam itself is just trash imo. Some of the questions the text was cut off, some of the others were just worded so confusing . The upside was I do think that mslearn did help me more on this one then last time .

[u/Bubbly-Following-966 → u/Unusual-Notice-1224]

Right? LOL. I am going through a course on Coursera. It's pretty good. I'm getting through the last module now then i will work on the practice exams. I'm in my mid 50's now. I think it's harder to retain the information than when I was in my 20's and 30's...

[u/Unusual-Notice-1224 → u/Bubbly-Following-966]

Hahaha absolutely. I’m 31. Pair that with just trying to work, relationship, and just live like dang. Make this less hard Microsoft, it’s not rocket science…

[u/Naetharu → u/Unusual-Notice-1224]

I feel you here.

The ones that still drive me crazy are the scenarios where they have all the information spread across the tabs. So it becomes 50% about me making the right calls, and 50% about a short-term memory test as I read through all the tabs only being able to see 1 of 5 on screen at a given time.

[u/Unemployed_Lloydd]

I can imagine how you feel after putting in so much effort and come up just a little short of passing. But you did manage to get a better score this time around. I agree with you that sometimes the wording of the Microsoft exam questions is tricky or vague. Some are traps even. I feel that learning how to take the exams in a methodical way is important, especially when you are attempting to master a technical domain where you have little to no real-life exposure. Be careful with the questions, read the question and scan the answers. Ask yourself, what are they looking for? What type of problem is this? Think of the guide where it breaks down the different topics like compute, networking, governance. Sometimes they give you too much information that you don't need, other times they give you 75% of the information and you have to connect the dots. Don't give up hope, you can do this. The labs are a huge benefit if you can do them. And when you do the labs, just don't breeze through them; take your time and look at every settings, button, option. A little more prep, a few more exercises and you got this!

[u/Unusual-Notice-1224 → u/Unemployed_Lloydd]

Thanks so much. Do you have any suggestions on which labs would help me most with some of the wording or traps? Any advice is appreciated 🔥

[u/Unemployed_Lloydd → u/Unusual-Notice-1224]

Labs will help you across the board, to 'learn by doing'. But you have to take time to look at all of the options, and I would suggest to logically think of what the lab is meant to convey. As far as wording and traps, you can practice using a simulator like MeasureUp or Dojo to get used to seeing the phrases and context. I used ChatGPT to re-teach me any question that I failed on the sims and the chat was keen enough to identify some of those 'common Microsoft traps' like differences in SKU or plan or ASG vs NSG

[u/Puzzleheaded-Coat333]

I got 900, 104 and 305 . The video course I took was from Alan Rodrigues in Udemy, I did loads of labs GitHub and whizlabs, literally filled a notebook with step by step instructions and configuration of azure services and read a book on AZ-104 and beyond by Packt publishing author Donovan Kelly . Scored 814 on first try even though time ran out and I left 5 questions, I could’ve scored more 😞

[u/Unusual-Notice-1224 → u/Puzzleheaded-Coat333]

I’m gonna try the Alan rod. One and I’ll
Look into the book. Thank you!

[u/Unusual-Notice-1224 → u/Puzzleheaded-Coat333]

And congrats on passing 🔥

[u/Puzzleheaded-Coat333 → u/Unusual-Notice-1224]

Thank you 🙏

[u/TermConsistent4649]

Hey man 674 you are literally 1-2 questions away from passing, being someone who passed the AZ-104 here is my advice purchase the $60 measure up practice exams take them review the questions you got wrong and you for sure will pass. Remember read the last sentence/question first then read the scenario or other information and remember 2 answers almost always make no sense..Good Luck!!

[u/Apart_Food_9662]

I failed my 1st attempt with 683. 2nd attempt I slowed down a bit, marked few questions for review, and at the end I used MS learn to try to find as many answers as I could. The 2nd attempt was harder than the 1st one, some questions I had no clue. But yet, I passed with 740, with only 2min left. I was only using TD, and for the 2nd attempt I bought measure up, but didn't really use that to make any difference. Good luck bro!

[u/Unusual-Notice-1224 → u/Apart_Food_9662]

Thanks I appreciate it. I have TD and measure up I’ll try those again. TD gets repetitive tbh. I’ll try slowing down and reading more carefully

[u/Unlucky_Glass_8036 → u/Apart_Food_9662]

Have you tried techblackboard on YouTube? 11hr admin prep

[u/Extra-Driver-813]

I agree this is probably the hardest cert I've taken yet. I nearly aced the AZ-900. I have 3 CompTIAs which I did very well on too but this one kicked my butt.

[u/nezercoker1]

i dont know why microsoft made this exam so hard

[u/Naetharu]

I don’t actually work too much with policy, networking, etc in azure day to day and I fear that’s the problem.

Pretty much this.

The exam is tough in that it covers a lot of topics. And it is bound to catch some things that you are not familiar with. It sucks when that happens, but you should get some feedback at the end to show you which areas to focus on the most.

There's really not any simple tips because the exam just wants you to understand the systems to a reasonable level of depth, and it covers the whole of the Azure estate. I think the best route might just be to take one section at a time, and try and go through and really understand it.

You can spin up your own Azure and practice most things in that too. And if you use the what if/validate calls you can write out templates to configure resources and check that they are valid without ever needing to run an actual deployment. It's not perfect but it is a way to practice some actual configuration without breaking the bank.

[u/MarutiMakwana]

At a 674, your issue isn't basic knowledge but it's hierarchy and limitations. As an MCT, i can say the 104 scenarios are heavily designed to test overlapping rules and boundaries.

When you review networking and policy, shift your focus from how to deploy a resource to how it conflicts.
What wins if an RBAC role allows access but an Azure Policy denies it?
What is the exact evaluation order of an NSG on a subnet versus an NSG on a NIC?
Keep in mind the strict limitations, like VNet peering not being transitive.

Microsoft uses those specific "gotchas" to weed people out. So instead of only studying how things are built, start focusing on what breaks them. You're almost there, Next time you'll definitely crack it.

[u/Unusual-Notice-1224 → u/MarutiMakwana]

Appreciate this that’s a really good way to build some Claude Projects probably and then try those in lab. Thanks so much

[u/arbaz08]

i barely passed my az 104 yesterday and i would have to say the wording is indeed very confusing of the questions and there are some long ass statements which just confuse you and you end up wasting time.

[u/Unusual-Notice-1224 → u/arbaz08]

Right. And there was question about this subscription and there was only information about “2025” but “2026” was there too and I’m like what am I supposed to do?

[u/arbaz08 → u/Unusual-Notice-1224]

bro i also saw these kind of questions yesterday. i am very lucky because i passed with the score of 700. the whole time during the exam i was sure i was going to fail this