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Home > Archive > General Discussion > May 2002 > Boot Camps
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| Has anyone ever heard of or attended the ACREW boot camp for MCSE 2K? Am considering this and was wondering what experiences people may have had with it.
As far as I can tell, this one seems legitimately interested in students LEARNING the material, as opposed to obtaining certs. In fact, they won't guarantee you'll pass anything. Sounds absolutely grueling... sixteen hour days, no sleep, but great food.
I'm intrigued.... | |
| Jim_UK 2002-05-25, 2:58 pm |
| Wave Tech. is good, so i've been told.. | |
| Tech Ranger 2002-05-25, 9:34 pm |
| I am studying for the 70-218 test. There is a LOT of material to cover. Just reading, studying, and understanding a chapter on NTFS permissions is challenging. HOW can somebody learn all this stuff in a few days? Is it just memorizing answers to questions? Is this just a high-tech brain dump? Also, doesn't anybody want to know anything anymore or is just passing tests what IT life is all about? Don't hiring managers care whether you have any expertise? What does a guy do on the first day on the job? Maybe its me, but I just don't get it! | |
| TRIBO 2002-05-25, 11:19 pm |
| First of all, I'm not defending nor encouraging the use of boot camps, I am simply asking if anyone has had experience with them...
I got the latest issue of CertMag a few days ago and it had an interesting article focusing on them. One stood out to me - ACREW. Mildly interested, I surfed a bit and did some more reading about the camp. I became more and more interested, primarily because they have the most longevity and don't guarantee that one will walk out an MCSE. It's apparently designed to be total immersion learning. Start at 8:00, end formally at 6:00, study groups after that, homework at night, review, lecture, hands on, study groups, etc., etc., etc. The idea is to remove all distractions (no tv, no bar, on-site accomodations and food) and provide you with nothing but intense learning for 14 days.
I also thought it was interesting that they require people to have prerequisite experience before they are even accepted (though how true this is is anybody's guess).
Anyway, I am interested enough now to think about it seriously, hence the post. It's pretty expensive to do it on a whim.
I particularly liked this article, which is an account of one man's experience at the camp:
http://about.acrew.net/winntmag1.htm
Others can be found at:
http://about.acrew.net/press.asp
Anyway, it's beginning to sound like I'm a sales agent for them so I'll stop. Thanks for the opinion, though! I tend to agree with you. It IS a lot in fourteen days. But at the rate I'm going, I'm lucky to get in one hour of self-study time a day, and that's with interruptions. It would be nice to be surrounded by eleven people (hopefully more experienced than myself - which wouldn't be hard), in the same misery, with the same goal, for fourteen solid days and nights...
Okay, maybe "nice" isn't the best way to describe it. Helpful, maybe?  | |
| Pavlov 2002-05-26, 11:19 am |
| I read the same article and was intrigued enough to actually contact them.
One of the important things that sets this facility apart from the rest really is that it is geared for the working individual. Someone who has the hands-on experience but not the time, without the distractions, to get the certification done. These people own the hotel, which means they completely control your environment and make it conducive to you learning and focusing NOT passing. You're in their facility from the time you check in until the time you check out. They give you a private bedroom, feed you, give you a T1 connection right to your bedroom, every student has 2 computers and all the lab access you could need, take the tests right there, and provided an opportunity to retake a failed exam.
What really struck me was the schedule - unlike most boot camp schedules, ACREW isn't shovign questions and answers at you for two days and on the third test 210 and 215. Instead they teach you about Pro and Server for 5 straight days, hammering in the basics of the OS and how it interoperates - tests on Day 6. Two more days of intense learning, then 2 more tests on Day 9. Two more days of intense learning and another test on Day 12 followed by more learning to prepare you for another test on Day 13, following by another afternoon and evening of learning. Wrapping it all up with one more test on Day 14 before graduation.
Sounds like dedicated learning to be attempted only by those truly committed and who may already have a good grasp of Microsoft.
Curious what freak thinks... freak? | |
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| ...TxBear! That's exactly the article I was talking about! |
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