MCDST - 70-271 and 70-272 back to back tomorrow.

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Hello everyone.

I just stumbled across this forum doing last minute cramming for my tests tomorrow.

I've worked with XP since launch, and have worked in a support role of XP for the past two and a half years. I also have passed my A+ and N+ tests.

I used the Sybex book MCDST to review for both of these tests.

Any last minute words of wisdom for a terrified test-taker before he walks into the firing line?

 

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Hi Darth,

No real advice, just wanted to say good luck for tomorrow. I know how you feel i am booked in for a double dunt myself on the 26th and to put it nicely i am bricking it.

Only thing i will say is try to keep calm and read the questions fully, and trust your knowledge.

Anyway let us know how you got on (maybe put my mind at ease!)

Steve

 

First of all stop worrying, i did the same thing a couple of years ago and passed, there is some overlap so wouldnt worry too much.

How have your practice tests gone? Not sure if the sybex book has practice tests, but they are always worth doing, to find out the weak spots in your testing frame of mind and gaps in knowledge

Best of luck, hope by tomorrow your in the pub drinking to your new MCDST cert.

 

The Sybex book I have is the Kindle edition, so no, it didn't come with any practice tests. I've been reviewing any practice test questions I can find this week and feel decently confident so far.

These will be my first Microsoft tests. I've heard horror stories about the difficulty of MS tests. After reading through this MCDST forum I've found that it seems that these tests are a step above A+/N+. Would that be a fair assessment?

 

Well you will get between 40-50 questions, usually multiple choice, if there is more than one answer they will tell you how many to select.

Generally the questions make sense and the answers do too, there may be the odd red herring, but generally speaking they try to test knowledge as opposed to your ability to not be tricked.

Take your time with the questions, read them carefully, you can review your answers at the end, so if you arent sure just move onto the next question and tick the for review box in the top left corner.

*edit* and in the review if you feel life changing answers, make sure you justify to yourself a very good reason to make the change

Time wise, you get heaps of time, it will fly though but you will find yourself having answered the questions before you know it.

Seriously nothing to worry about.

 

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm hoping my extensive experience will help with these tests. I've been desk side/onsite support for a couple years now, and before that I worked at a help desk for a large aluminum production corporation.

Here's hoping tomorrow I'll update my active certs and move on to my next objective, CCNA.

 

My normal technique for MS exams:

Run through the questions fairly quick. If there's anything I'm unsure about I'll take my best guess, mark it for review and move on.
Then I review those I've marked. Since I've already got an answer down to every question I can relax a bit. Most MS multiple choice questions can be narrowed down to 2 answers pretty quickly so I can be fairly sure I've got at least 50% of those marked right anyway.
With remaining time I review all answers (there are two options at the end of the exam, review marked and review all) just to pick up on any stupid mistakes, misread questions etc. There's always at least one.

With your experience I don't think you have too much to worry about if you keep a cool head and don't let the unfamiliarity of it all get to you.
kevicho is right about the occasional red herring. There's also a significant amount of irrelevant waffle. The majority of questions should be fairly straightforward, if a bit verbose.

 

Well, I passed both tests.

070-271 with an 833
070-272 with a 926

So I have a new addition to my alphabet soup.

Now on to CCENT/CCNA.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

Congrats! With 70-682 you can also get your EDST in Windows 7, it's only one exam instead of two since you have your MCDST. You'll be able to show familiarity with Windows XP and 7 along with hardware and networking.

Since you already have your N+ you'll be pretty familiar with CCENT from what I've heard.

 

Congrats mate,

so any tips?

Steve

 

That was my plan, DryPlate. however my job requires I obtain CCENT/CCNA asap, so that is going to take precedence. After that I'll upgrade my MCDST to MCITP.

As for advice, be sure of your first answers. Your gut, as long as you have the preparation down, aren't going to lead you astray. Breathe deeply, take your time, and remember no matter how verbose the questions, pick out the hints in the questions. There are little gems in nearly each question to lead you to the right answer.

I'll be starting on my CCENT training today, so hopefully that will go well.

 

Congrats