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Home > Archive > microsoft.public.cert.exam.mcsd > July 2003 > Courses, are they worth it ?
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Courses, are they worth it ?
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I'm new to the whole idea of MCSD and would like to know
how the "Courses" work. If I fork out the money for all
the courses for a exam, do I automatically get the exam or
do I still have to write ?
On average it looks like a course costs around $1500 with
roughly 3 per exam. Is it really worth it or is it better
to stick with buying the books and doing the self paced
training.
Thanks for your input
Z
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| Kyle Burns 2003-01-16, 8:23 pm |
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After taking your courses, you still have to take the exams, the courses are
only there to provide some of the knowledge needed to take the exam. The
important thing that many people don't realize is that the Microsoft
Official Curriculum courses do not provide all of the information required
to pass the exam, they give important details that you are expected to build
upon with experience to prepare for your exams. The exams are designed to
show a level of experience with a product, not just that you attended the
requisite courses.
The question "is it worth it?" can only be answered by your goal. If your
goal is to pass an exam, then the answer is a resounding "No" because that
is not the design of the course. You would probably be better suited (and
more able to afford) to memorize a Transcender. If your goal is to ramp up
on a new skillset, then these courses are a very good idea.
--
=============================
Kyle M. Burns, MCAD, MCSD
kyle@CaliberIS.com
"Z" <db_trader@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7ae901c2bdbc$bf051d80$8df
82ecf@TK2MSFTNGXA02...
> I'm new to the whole idea of MCSD and would like to know
> how the "Courses" work. If I fork out the money for all
> the courses for a exam, do I automatically get the exam or
> do I still have to write ?
>
> On average it looks like a course costs around $1500 with
> roughly 3 per exam. Is it really worth it or is it better
> to stick with buying the books and doing the self paced
> training.
>
> Thanks for your input
> Z
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| Alan Davis 2003-01-17, 2:23 am |
| > The
>important thing that many people don't realize is that the Microsoft
>Official Curriculum courses do not provide all of the information required
>to pass the exam, they give important details that you are expected to build
>upon with experience to prepare for your exams
The same can be said of the exam topics. The exams in no way test the
taker on whether or not he/she can produce high quality software
At least attending a good course you should be able to get to
participate in meaningful lab sessions.
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| "Kyle Burns" <kyle@CaliberIS.com> wrote in message
news:eMkJelcvCHA.2396@TK2MSFTNGP10...
> After taking your courses, you still have to take the exams, the courses
are
> only there to provide some of the knowledge needed to take the exam. The
> important thing that many people don't realize is that the Microsoft
> Official Curriculum courses do not provide all of the information required
> to pass the exam, they give important details that you are expected to
build
> upon with experience to prepare for your exams. The exams are designed to
> show a level of experience with a product, not just that you attended the
> requisite courses.
That's a good description of MOC and a fair warning since MOC marketing
almost always references certifications. But there are classes that don't
use MOC for various reasons, sometimes to aim for different goals.
> The question "is it worth it?" can only be answered by your goal. If your
> goal is to pass an exam, then the answer is a resounding "No" because that
> is not the design of the course.
And I would agree that MOC classes are not a direct path toward
certification. But there are quite a few classes though that are designed
with certification in mind - most are called 'bootcamps'. The prices are
usually comparable to MOC classes but the narrower focus usually allows
these to get down to something like 3 days per exam.
If you can get certified via self study the cost savings are definitely
worth the effort IMO, but for some people that's not practical and classes
are a great help.
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| freak 2003-01-17, 10:31 am |
| Absolutely, there is no better learning environment than instructor-led. Sure, it's pricy, but you get what you pay for as long as you go to a respected CTEC.
This being said, I am an MCT so I clearly am biased. | |
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Don't try to memorize Transcender -- it has very small questions i.e. 1 to 3
small sentences and the answers are also only 1- 5 lines long.
You will find the Microsoft test has one thing in mind and that is to wear
you down to where you are soo tired by question 40 that you will pick
anything.
Also, because of the lengthly questions and answers you are lucky to get
through the whole test.
Thats it for now,
K
"Kyle Burns" <kyle@CaliberIS.com> wrote in message
news:eMkJelcvCHA.2396@TK2MSFTNGP10...
> After taking your courses, you still have to take the exams, the courses
are
> only there to provide some of the knowledge needed to take the exam. The
> important thing that many people don't realize is that the Microsoft
> Official Curriculum courses do not provide all of the information required
> to pass the exam, they give important details that you are expected to
build
> upon with experience to prepare for your exams. The exams are designed to
> show a level of experience with a product, not just that you attended the
> requisite courses.
>
> The question "is it worth it?" can only be answered by your goal. If your
> goal is to pass an exam, then the answer is a resounding "No" because that
> is not the design of the course. You would probably be better suited (and
> more able to afford) to memorize a Transcender. If your goal is to ramp
up
> on a new skillset, then these courses are a very good idea.
>
>
>
> --
> =============================
> Kyle M. Burns, MCAD, MCSD
> kyle@CaliberIS.com
>
>
> "Z" <db_trader@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:7ae901c2bdbc$bf051d80$8df
82ecf@TK2MSFTNGXA02...
> > I'm new to the whole idea of MCSD and would like to know
> > how the "Courses" work. If I fork out the money for all
> > the courses for a exam, do I automatically get the exam or
> > do I still have to write ?
> >
> > On average it looks like a course costs around $1500 with
> > roughly 3 per exam. Is it really worth it or is it better
> > to stick with buying the books and doing the self paced
> > training.
> >
> > Thanks for your input
> > Z
>
>
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| Jonojacker 2003-01-25, 10:31 pm |
| Cram cram cram. Courses aren't worth the time nor money. Jono, www.compcerts.com | |
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