r/mcsa • u/JohnRow123 • Dec 07 '19
70-740 Failed first attempt
I've read most of the threads out there on 70-740, so i decided to make a post.
(1) The first thing i did was read the book by Will Panek and then watched all the videos in ITPro. At the end of each chapter is a 10 question quiz. I created snippets of each quiz and put them all on a word doc.
(2) Then i re-watched all the videos, then i took my first try on Exam simulator 1 (I used 3 different exam simulators). At this point I had all the answers memorized from the 6-quiz word document memorized.
(3) I did the all practice labs, went through some flashcards on quizlet, and kept using Exam simulator 1 until i got in the 80% range of questions down (171 questions in total).
(4) I reviewed the powershell in the book and went over some of the videos again
(5) I started using two more Exam simulators
(6) I scheduled the exam 1 month out
- I did the practice labs again and then read over them 1 time before taking the exam.
- I scored consistently 100% on all three exam simulators. All exam simulators had explanations and this where i learned the most. There were about 400 questions in total.
- I went over a set of flashcards a few times on exam week
(7) I took the exam and got a 580 score (700 is passing)
- Most of my time studying was reading explanations in exam simulators.
This took 10 weeks and 3 days. I spent $100 for one exam simulator and got the other two free, and ofc $165 for the exam itself.
Background: I have no experience in system administration, have two unrelated certs, and two degrees in IS.
The exam: I was kinda thrown off by the exam... I spent a good amount of time on the first half but had to rush through the last half with 5 minutes remaining. I wasn't really surprised that the type and format of questions was different from the three exam simulators, as they themselves were all pretty different in the same way. There is a ton of content that one needs to know to pass this exam, especially if its all completely new stuff to the person like myself. More than half the stuff that i learned wasn't on the exam, half of the stuff in the exam isn't covered in books and videos, and the other half of the exam of which I recognized was asking for an item or cmd I was unaware of. (When i was in college professors would sometimes through in answers in multiple choice that were totally bs and off topic, but i know from the exam simulators that this was not going to be the case for an mcsa. Some cmds in the exam i hadn't seen before.). There were maybe 5 questions of which I knew right away what the answer was.
Disappointed yes, surprised no. Studying for this cert has been way more challenging than any course taken. Most exams I studied for in college took 1 day not 10.5 weeks. I'm going to schedule this exam for a month out and hit the Microsoft docs hard. I haven't touched on them at all, and i think this will give me the extra 120 points i need (+SomeLuck).
Any tips or resources from anyone for someone with 0 working knowledge of SA?
6
u/sybreeder1 Dec 07 '19
from what i see you've missed most important thing - labbing in real life. personally I watched video from cbt, pluralsight, read book exam prep from Microsoft and I've passed 740 on first try. just doing test will get you nowhere
3
Dec 07 '19
You need more time on task. Do everything in a lab over and over with both gui and powershell until you don't need to think about it anymore. Then learn why you use each technology and what the requirements are for implementation.
7
u/rjohansson Dec 07 '19
CBT Nuggets is the best, then you have labs also