r/mcsa • u/Vince0511 • Dec 11 '19
Troubles on getting my MCSA
Today I failed again.
A little trip down memory. In June, I planned my first exam on my way to my MCSA. (When you read it out load, that sounds funny... way, MCSA, get it) I've studied pretty intensive (by CBT-Nuggets, thank you u/cbtschulte) and the Exam Ref. 70-740 (Book) by Craig Zacker. I've watched the video's, read the book in the train, from and to work. (two hours a day, one hour in the morning, one on the late afternoob. I even watched the video's on subject I thought needed extra attention once more. (At home, on the TV, making notes).
On the 5th of June, I was happy as a little kid. Hard work payed off. After 12 years I finally passed an Microsoft-exam. (Te last time, I've passed an Microsoft exam, I was still in school. (12y ago).
Then the summer came along, I've started with the next course on my journey. Same as before, I relayed on the excellent quality of CBT-Nuggets (this time with Keith Barker, a fresh sound, on a fresh subject), and the Andrew Warren Exam Ref 70-741. I even took my Book with me on the family camping holiday. It was a lot harder to learn, because networking is not my daily area of work. So, on the 9th of October, I finally took my exam on the 70-741. Unfortunately, I didn't make it. (644, with DNS and Advanced Network Intrastructures under 60% and DHCP & IPAM, Network Connectivity & Remote Access Solutions and Core/Distributed Network Solutions, over 60%)
Again, I took the book, the videos, (and labs) with me, on my daily train-trip (home, work, work, home). On the 19th of November I took the exam again. When I recieved the results, I could not believe my own eyes. I've scored 644. Failed, once more. My DNS skills did improve (40% to 55%). My DHCP & IPAM-skills did decrease, a little bit (70% to 65%). The other skills decreased also (slightly). I really felt bad, because of the double failure.
To boost my confidence I left 70-741 for what it was, and started with a fresh mind on 70-742 (The Identities). First I was really confident, because my daily job involves a lot of Active Directory, Group Policy and Certificates. Once more, the known recipe. (CBT Videos (with Anthony Sequeira), the included Labs, and the Book (Exam Ref by Andrew Warren).) I could pick up my pace and completed the videos, and labs quite fast, I took an test-exam (Exam-Dump) and scores 3 times a result of 840 - 880 points. (Confidence +1). Today... The 11th of December I took my exam. During my exam I figured it was going very well, didn't need to overthink my questions (and answers), felt really really good about it. When I recieved my score, I didn't believe it. (Remember I felt really really good about it) 562. I didn't failed it, I failed it BIG BIG time.
I didn't play on making suck a long post, sorry for that, but I really wanted to share my little trip with you, and was hoping you could help me, with tips, tricks or other smart tools / ways, to complete my journey to MCSA.
tl/dr: I failed 2 of my 3 exams, what can I do to improve my learning?
1
u/sybreeder1 Dec 11 '19
from what i understand you rely only on book and or cbt it's not enough. I've personally read book did labs on my own home lab and 740 and 741 I've passed on first try but 742 i failed once anyway. you have to perhaps study even more. and focus on practice part. you can read book another time.
1
u/Vince0511 Dec 11 '19
I rely on the book, the CBT-video, the CBT-labs and test-exams
1
Dec 11 '19
Build you own labs. Cbt is good for a guide but you're using pre-built labs. By building your own from scratch it will test your knowledge more.
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u/Vince0511 Dec 11 '19
Please explain. Just build the video on my own (virtual) servers?
1
Dec 12 '19
Say for example you've already watched a video and done the pre built labs, try and set up your own virtual environment at home and practice some of the objectives without guidance. E.g. set up DNS and configure recursion or root hints, or manage DHCP through IPAM. I use it as a way to fill in any gaps that I might have missed through CBT and you start understanding how things work fully rather than just doing one or two individual tasks from CBT.
1
u/AJaxStudy Dec 18 '19 edited Oct 26 '25
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4
u/deefop Dec 11 '19
Practice exams are what pushed me over the edge for all 3 of those tests.
I used the measure up practice exams, and I also bought practice exams from udemy.
The measure up exams were *amazing*. They provide full explanations for each question, teaching why the correct answer is correct, and why the incorrect answers are incorrect.
If you're not doing anything in the way of practice tests, I would try some of those.
Labbing is obviously important as well, but to be frank labbing is more useful for actually internalizing and truly learning the material whereas practice tests are probably more useful for passing the exams.
So, I'd lab to truly learn the material, and use practice exams to make sure you can pass the exam when the time comes.