MS Course costing

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Firstly, apologies if this is in the wrong forum, I am new here after all

I currently work on an IT helpdesk and I'm thinking of doing an MCSE course. As its been a long time since I have done any 'learning/studying' I thought I'd break myself in gently and do an MCDST first (I know that may seem a little backward)

So after scouring the internet for course costings and what not I have a couple of questions that some freindly input wouldnt go amiss with-

1. Is it common practice for the prices of such courses to fluctuate so much between companies.

2. Should these other companies that provide Microsoft courses be trusted as its alot of pennies we are talking about?

For example Microsoft course minus exams £500 http://www.microsoftuk.co.uk/mcdst-training.html

also found here (minus exams) for £200 http://www.distance-learning-centre.co.uk/products/66/MCDST_COURSE.htm#

Your thoughts would be aprieciated.

Thanks

 

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Actually, to be perfectly honest, this is not at all backward.

The MCDST exam in your case would be the right course of action. One should attempt an MCSE once they've had at least a year of SERVER experience. If you do not have the relevant experience, you may be doing yourself a disservice and overcertifying yourself.

The MCDST however is an elective for an MCSE, so it is a gentler way to bring yourself into the MCP field. Some on this forum would also recommend that you do an A+ and Network+ first.

The price of courses do fluctuate, and sometimes you pay for what you get. Read the fine print carefully, understand what it is that you get from the course. Is it 24/7 support? Do you have an actual tutor. Do you get free books or free practice exams (and most certainly none of that BrainDump stuff). But once again, most members of this forum would also recommend you do it all as self study, since it's typically considerably cheaper this way, and you get to work at you own speed.

 

Well, if you search the forum for info on training providers, I'm sure you'll find some answers.

I wouldn't touch that first one with a barge pole.
They've gone to a lot of trouble to make it look as if they ARE Microsoft, but actually have nothing to do with them.
Can't comment on the second.

If you do want to go with a TP or classroom course, by all means look for one that is a Microsoft Partner, a CIW ATP or CompTIA learning alliance partner.

Generally it doesn't mean spit, but the more partners and affiliations they have, the more people you can complain to when it all goes wrong.

 

I imagine you'll find the MCDST material more of a gap-filler than anything else due to your experience so self-study should be all you need. I only took 6 weeks to pass the 70-271 with no experience other than messing about at home.