MCDST advice

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my local college are offering the mcdst course for £400 including exam fees. the duration of the course is 2 weeks.

Is it cheaper via self study if so what are the costs and how long do you think it would take me to complete the course.

 

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If this is Walsall College then i really recommend it, the Microsoft Academy there is excellent.

But then again i never needed any lessons on my MCP i basically just did it all on my own.

 

Hi yes that sounds like a great deal for whats on offer, has the self study option is 2 exams which cost £88 each can be got cheaper with vouchers out of microsoft press books or a cert forums member think its AKF might be able to help.

The cost of the 2 microsoft training press books also around £30 each from amazon or similar.

Timescale I would say 3 months at minimum but everyone learns at there own pace im just a little slow.

So your looking at a spend of £236 at standard prices maybe cheaper with vouchers has I manged to get mine for £40 each off ebay,if I still lived in walsall I would of done it myself just for the classroom training has its good to have someone to pick there brain but the cert forums are excellent for boffins good luck with it.

 

2 weeks of full day courses? If so, I think it's a rather good price compared to what I've seen offered over here (i.e. 2-5 times more expensive for half as long). Being taught some of the concepts by a pro can really help you learn.

Self-study is cheaper if all you're getting are the books. But throw in some practice exams and the price goes up quickly.

 

I agree- it's a good price. You'll always have someone to help out if you ever need it as well

 

Self study price - I paid £17.99 for both ms press books (which come with 150 day trials of xp on them) the exams £88 each virtual pc - free use virtual pc to create virtual network with 150 day trial of win2k3 downloaded from Microsoft - free, hands on study in a lab - free

Study at my own pace - free

total cost = £211

 

I did it the "wrong" way and paid a small fortune for the MCDST, but i must say that i did learn more in the classroom environment. It really all depends on how you feel about self study, if you feel you have a better chance of passing in the classroom then go for that.

 

I'm intrigued as to how you can say you learned more in a classroom environment than self-study when you can't possibly have done both to make a comparison.

Anyway, here's my thoughts on the matter.

There's nothing in the MCDST that requires a tutor. It's pretty much all memory (where things are, what XP Pro does that XP Home doesn't etc etc etc) so how much you already know and how good your memory is are the important factors.
Personally I don't like classroom tuition. You're always going at someone else's pace, either the tutor or the slower pupils. There's no chance to say "I know this bit, can we skip it and go on to the next bit".

College course: £400, 2 weeks to do it. Cost of resitting each exam approx £110 ( £35 for the book and £75 for the exam using the 15% off vouchers in the book).

Self-study: ~£220 and as long as you need to do it in.cost of resitting each exam £88.

So, pass both first time and the MCDST costs approx ~£200 more at college.
Resit one and college costs around ~£220 more
Resit both and college costs ~£240 more.
The way I see it, you're gambling £200+ against your ability to cram in all the facts in 2 weeks. Not a wise gamble imo, unless you need to pass these exams asap and there's some guaranteed financial reward at the end of it.(e.g. pay rise, not being sacked etc)

 

How can you say " I couldn't have done both?", the course i did was more self study but there was a week of classroom too.

 

But you can't have done both, starting at the same point and covering the same material, to make an accurate comparison between the two methods.
I know I'm being pedantic btw.

 

The comparison isn't on the course but on what helps you better understand the course you are doing

 

This is the response i have just got from my local college

Unfortunately we no longer offer the MCDST course as this course was designed for the Windows XP operation System, which has now been dropped by Microsoft. The only course we currently offer is the Level 2 IT practitioners qualification, which includes the CompTIA A+ & Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (Course info attached).

This course will be run Monday & Wednesday Evenings 6-9, from 5th October to middle of May.

The cost of the course is £500

Is there any vista books i can get ?

What do you guys think

 

I think they're talking out of their a*** when they say microsoft have dropped XP.

 

That's pretty amazing, considering the MCDST exams are still being offered by Microsoft!

You sure you want to entrust your education to a college that doesn't know things like that?

 

Ok guys so what would you advise mcdst xp or mcdst vista?

Im currently working on my N+, i also want to do prince 2 and itil foundation in the near future

Then i am going to look for my 1st IT Job

 

Considering most companies still use XP, I'd recommend the MCDST. You can always get the Vista certification later... the MCDST won't be around forever.

 

Given most places are still on XP i'd go for the XP one. I've not come across any business' that run Vista in a 200+ user environment.