hi guys

i am a programmer analyst working on windows applictions with 65% vb.net and
rest c#. i have been working like this for about 2 years now. i am looking to
do my mcsd 1.1 as i am working on visual studio 2003. i think later on after
my mcsd i can upgrade to dotnet 2.0.
Confused about which exam to give first. i was planning to give 70-300 first
then windows application and then web applications and then the rest. any
suggestions if that is a good thought.
also was wondering if i should take vb.net or c# dotnet.
i am planning to finish up my mcsd before december. is that an achievable
goal. ofcourse i am working full time. with regards to my knowledge, i am not
good knowledgeable with dotnet. i was mcsd with vb6.0.

any thoughts ideas suggestions welcome.
larrywest keepup the good work.

munika

 

Hey Munika,

You can take the exams in any order you feel comfortable with. There
is no order prescribed by MS. There is however a recommended order
according in which most aspirants take their exams. This order is
recommended because in this way, you start with the easiest and each
exam builds upon your knowledge and equips you better for the next
exam too, because there is a certain amount of intersection among the
exams.

According to this order, you would take your MCAD exams first and take
2 remaining exams to gain MCSD certification as well. 70-300 is
usually kept for the last by most aspirants because it a purely
theoretical exam

The order in which I took my exams:
1. Windows Apps.
2. Web Apps.
3. XML Web services
4. Any remaining Elective
5. Solution Architectures (70-300)

Which language you choose to take the exams in is again your personal
preference.

 

Thankyou very much cerebrus.
I think that is right i should start with mcad and then go with mcsd.
windows apps is the best thing to start i think.
thankyou very much.

i think ill try c#.
how much time do u think a starter with dotnet should take to complete
windows apps exam, so i can time myself.

munika

 

I thought your first post implied that you had been working on .NET
for the past two years. I wouldn't say you're a "starter", if you have
2 years of .NET experience !!

The candid answer to your question about preparation time would be :
It depends. On what, you ask ?

~ On how much time you are able to devote each day
~ On what all resources you intend to study from
~ On how many cycles of "study - self test - study" you intend to go
through
~ On your assimilative power, memory, comprehension and reading speed

That's just mentioning a few factors. As you can see the answer is
subjective. ;-)

On a side note, since you are familiar with both VB.NET and VC#, you
could give a few exams in one and the rest in another language. I did
so at my time (2 exams in VB.NET and 2 exams in VC#), just to prove to
myself that I was equally proficient in both languages.

 

Agreed - Two years of .Net experience should be enough for the exams. It
doesn't matter what language as the exams do not test the language syntax --
it assumes you already know the languages and only tests how they relate to
the .Net Framework.

True, I average about two months per exam, based on about 2 hours per day of
reading books and copied MSDN pages on the bus commuting and perhaps 3-4
hours on weekends playing with the software (plus work experience), so my
total is roughly 100-120 hours per exam [although the bus is not really
condusive to quality study]. Lately I've been only taking exams when I get
free or low-cost vouchers. I took five in June, passed four of them and got a
676 on the fifth, on which I spent less than two weeks studying for.

Same here. One of my pet peeves with the .Net Framework 2.0 exams is that
you can't prove to a prospective employer that you took two exams in C#, two
exams in VB.NET and one exam in C++, like you could with the .Net Framework
1.x exams (70-305=VB vs. 70-315=C#, for example).

 

perfect guys.
first of all let me thank you for all the good replies.

yeah i have been working for more than 2 years in dotnet but not much of
remoting and threads and all. mostly forms for the last 2 years have been
working with gui forms and some coding. my main aim is also to learn other
features for dotnet which is not being utilized at my current company. like
remoting, threading, asp.net and other. i am really so much interested in
dotnet.

Time :-
i am going to push my self to finish mcsd by december last week of this
year. yes i am working full time. but i think my first priority for the next
6 months should be exams. lets see how can i push myself. my employer has put
down a condition that i should finish my mcsd as soon as possible and he is
willing to compensate me for the money spend on exams. so i think this is th
etime to do it. what do u guys say.


thankyou again
munika

 

Lol, I wish my girl had the same opinion about me. ;-)

I'd be very interested to know what kind of condition your employer
has imposed, which has pressured you to complete your MCSD in such a
short time. We have been discussing this very issue at <http://
www.certguard.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=222>, so I invite you to
browse the thread and post your own experience there.