Preparing to start my A+ home study, Any help, Tips and Tricks

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Hi,

I just receieved my Mike Meyers A+ Certification book because im gong to self study for my A+.

At first glance at the book it has become very daunting that this might be a little harder than i first thought, i want to do this so am gonna give it a go.

I just wanted to know from other people who have done the self study or who are doing the self study:

How do you structure your learning and revising for this book ?
How many hours per day, week do you put in ?

My strong point isnt exam based work so i need a little help of how to prepare for the exam

If anyone has tips and tricks of how to get the most from this book ill be very happy


Gaz

 

I used the AIO guide when I self studied.

Read the whole book, do not skip anything.

Either highlight parts you may find difficult to remember or take notes whilst going through the book a second time.

When it comes to preparing for the exam you could either read your notes/highlighted parts or get the compTIA A+ passport 3rd edition by Mike Meyers which could help as it is essentially a revision book.

EDIT: I did 2 -3 20 minute session every day, apart from a Sunday.

 

i didn't self study,but as a comparison this is what it took at college.

100 hours class time [6 hours per week for 17 weeks]
home work time was around 100 hours as well,but some people did roughly 40 hours home study.

You may get very bogged down in the two network sections and need a lot of study time for this subject alone,i needed roughly 40 hours of study for that section by itself,and i'm still none the wiser really about networking,this subject is the toughest part of the A+ in my opinion.

 

I try and put in about 6 hours a week training at the moment, its the most I can manage around the rest of my schedule.

As for tips and tricks, you got the Meyers book which is a good start apart from that I'd suggest picking up some practice exams (preplogic etc or the freebies on proprofs).

The other thing which is helping me a lot is the program mentioned in this thread good not just for acronyms but also for component specifications etc.

 

Hi Gaz,

The A+ Meyers book does look abit daunting when you first pick it up, its big to say the least. My advice based on passing my A+ using the book would be to not panic, and just get cracking with reading through it. You'll be surprized how fast you'll whizz through the chapters if you make sure you put in at least an hour or two a day.

I use to read an hour a day in the week, and about 2-3 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. I found that just reading through the entire book without worrying too much about bits I didnt understand the best way to do it, and then revisit them last when reviewing over the chapters. Its probably worth doing the test questions at the end of each chapter as you go, and if you really struggle then make a note to return, or just re read the chapter from scratch that very moment.

Once you feel you've done all you can with the book, try the exam questions that come on the CD and see how you do. I'd also recommend purchasing Transcender exams as I found them very useful indeed. If anything, they were harder then in the real exam, which really set me up great.

If you have any questions or come across anything you dont understand, post it here! Many people will be glad to help as we've been there and understand how you feel!

Best of luck

 

2 hours a day for how long?
You didn't state time taken, a month,6 months?

 

Wow, thanks for all the qucik responcs to my question. there are alot of good people in here.

about the Mike Meyers' CompTia A+ Certification Passport, 3rd Edition book. is this worth a buy, ill try and buy some more material.

I start redaing though the book now and let you know how i get on over the duration.

Cheers

 

Where can you buy this guide from

 

When i self studied A+ i used Mike Meyers cds that was way back, actually then it was 8 sessions but i think right now its 12 sessions.

My study time with written materials 2-3 hrs tops, but with interactive cds i put in more time(5-6 hrs tops or i can even go through the whole cds then take time to repeat areas that i didnt assimilate well) because naturally i prefer interactive cds to written materials..

 

AIO stands for "All In One". Its the book you already have by Mike Meyers

 

The passport book as I already said is a revision book it cannot replace the AIO book as one of our other member found out but wouldn't take any advice. I wonder if he found his 30k a year first IT job yet D

 

ive just found this website, http://www.professormesser.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43

does this cover most of the book and most of everything you need to know for the exams for A+

 

It is a good & legit site but you will still need the books

 

My advice:

Buy all-in-One
Read all-in-one form cover to cover
Read all-in-one again covering only the bits Myeres highlights as for the exam
Take the free practice tests. If you get over 70% regularly before you start leanring the questions go for it.

Don't be afraid, if you have even a vague love of computers and computing you should be able to study and pass the A+ in a few months depending on how well you pick things up.

 

I'd recommend Sybex's Comptia A+ Fast Pass as a revision book.

 

Cheers,
What is the pass rate for the exams and is it just a pass or fail

 

*ahem*

PC Technician Street Smarts: A Real World Guide to CompTIA A+ Skills.

 

Just above 70% to pass,100 questions for exam 601,on my calculations you can afford to get 16 incorrect answers before you fail.

The questions may all be weighted differently so 16 is not the definete number but 16 was what i was allowed in my exam,your exam may allow 18 incorrect or 20 incorrect before you fail.

The exam i found was roughly 10 questions on each of the 10 main subjects which make up the A+ .

A pass is a pass,yes.