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Home > Archive > MCSD > September 2001 > Where to start
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| Hi all.
Well I've decided to pursue an MCSD cert and looking for some simple advice. First on the exams. Are these taken in any specific order for best results? I'm planning to go with 70-100, then 70-176, then 70-175. Is this the usuall approach or does it matter? Also on study materials I'm thinking of using Microsoft study kits and Transcender for each exam. Any thoughts on these choices?
Thanks
Grizz | |
| naeem 2001-08-26, 10:41 pm |
| exam r not required by MS to be taken in any specific order.
however the best approach is to go from easy exam to tough one.in this way the sequence is 70-176 , 70-175 , after this if u wanna take 70-229 as elective exam then u must take it before 70-100, 70-100 exam can be taken only when u have good analyzing approach and this can be developed only when u r good at programming skills. 70-100 exam is also taking some burdon of databases.
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i think first u should go for 70-176 and then 70-175 and the horizon will be autocatically be cleared over u for the next exams. | |
| cassie 2001-08-27, 12:54 am |
| Grizz,
I think that Naeem's advice is sound too. The only thing I would add is that it does depend on your experience. If you have quite a lot of experience in project lifecycles and database design, and less hands-on VB skills, you might find it easier to do the 70-100 exam first.
As to your choice of study material, the Microsoft kits will certainly give you a good grounding. But do bear in mind that they don't focus very closely on the exam content. You may find that they cover certain topics in detail that are not on the exam much, and skim over other topics that are examined more.
I have found that the ExamCram books (from coriolis.com) are useful to focus you on the examinable material, especially for 70-100, less so perhaps for the VB exams. For the VB exams, I believe that you can benefit a lot by using MSDN heavily, studying the examples and trying things out for yourself.
Transcender exams are great for knowing whether you are ready for the real thing. The good thing about them compared to most other testing software is that they give comprehensive explanations on every single question, why each answer is right or wrong.
Which other elective are you planning to take?
Cassie | |
| grizz 2001-08-28, 11:19 am |
| Hi Cassie
Thanks for the advice and from Naeem also. I'm fairly new to vb so my experience is limited. I have worked through a couple of books and this has gotten me interested enough to continue. Perl is my programming language of choice at present and your right, the only way to learn is to use it. In my case, studying for exams forces me to learn and thats a good thing.
I haven't made a sure decision on the elective yet. At first I chose 029 but if SQL 2000 is going to replace SQL 7, maybe I should take the 229. Thanks again for the advice and I'm sure you will see me here again. I'm pretty good at asking silly questions.
Grizz | |
| cassie 2001-08-28, 9:58 pm |
| Hey Grizz,
Nice to see you back. These forums can be fun places to hang out when they are lively. 
You said that "studying for exams forces me to learn", and that is how I feel too. The company I'm working for at the moment is moving from SQL 7 to 2000 and it will be one of our main technologies in the future.
So to give myself a bit of a head start, I decided to study for the SQL 2000 exams, even though SQL 2000 isn't the main technology that I work with right now.
That won't necessarily make me an "expert", but it WILL prove a certain level of proficiency, and gives me something to aim for rather than just self-studying with no particular goal in mind. That's just one of the reason's I like taking these exams.
I just passed the 70-229, so if you decide to take that one in the future, let me know if I can help you with anything! I shall be around in the "SQL Server" forum as well as this one, and you can also reach me at Cassie@ExamsAreEasy.com.
Happy studying!
Cassie | |
| mchoirul 2001-08-29, 3:06 am |
| hi cassie,
is it possible to learn 175 & 176 together ?
i find some books (from sybex) that combine this material together.
btw, I've passed 70-28 with 1000, see my dumps & tricks that posted in this site | |
| cassie 2001-08-29, 11:37 am |
| You can certainly study for 175 and 176 at the same time. I found there to be a lot of overlap between the two exams.
Congratulations on your score in exam 028, that is very impressive! | |
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| Hi Cassie,
Yes I like a good forum too and they can be a great help. Is SQL 2000 an upgrade of 7 or completely different? Just wondering if knowledge of 7 gave you an advantage, or if you had to learn a lot of new. I was also curious on your opinion of the exams. Other prometric tests I,ve taken always have a few 'wierd' questions, I guess to throw you off. Hypothetical questions are probably the toughest ones for me, a lot of times because of the way they are asked. Thanks again for your opinions.
Grizz | |
| cassie 2001-08-30, 10:21 pm |
| Hi Grizz,
From a user perspective, SQL Server 2000 is very similar to 7.0. The Enterprise Manager interface, for instance, has changed little.
However, there are still a significant number of subtle differences, and the exam expects you to know them.
T-SQL features heavily, and be sure to know which features and keywords are only available for backward compatibility. A couple of questions in the exam, for instance, try to trick you into choosing the answer "rules" - and they are only there for backward compatibility so generally that would be a wrong answer!
I still found there to be quite a few "tricky" questions, ones where the answers provided don't quite fit the bill, both in 70-228 and 70-229. Still, that's par for the course with MS!
Cassie | |
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| hey guyz/girlz
I was just wondering if everyone here either uses just cert books to learn the topics for MCSD exams, or if you read quite a few books trying to completely learn and understand the topics as well.
Cassie: I read you entire book in one day during work. I learnt a lot about study techniques, etc etc etc....... So thanx 
I think I am pretty competent now with basic VB and using databases, but am now deciding how to learn the complex theory associated with VB. I'm lucky that I have had the opportunity to build a few apps for my parents company and have learnt more than I could from any book from using VB in the 'real world'.
So what does everyone here use to learn COM, DCOM, MTS, ActiveX, etc etc etc? I have read Smiley's books on VB, Databases and Objects and am currently about half way through the wrox book on beginning objects. What would you suggest be my next step?
I have Hawhee's book that covers both exams, but thought I would leave that until I have an appropriate understanding on everyting that it covers. I also have the ExamCram books for the 3 core exams on the way to Australia from amazon....... Do you think these books will do? Or will I need something extra?
Sorry for the long post
Todd | |
| mchoirul 2001-09-02, 4:47 am |
| thx cassie,
I'll prepare for both together. Maybe I will take the test after 029 & 215
good luck |
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