Achievement Unlocked: MCSA

As of this morning I’ve been in Vegas for eight days now, attending a Microsoft Windows 2012 boot camp. The class is designed to get you through two Microsoft certifications: MCSA (Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate) and MCSE (Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert). You can think of an MCSA as an associates degree and the MCSE as a bachelors.

In six days, this is what we covered:

Everything in these books is fair game for test material. For the Windows Server 2012 track, the required tests are “Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012” (70-410), “Administering Windows Server 2012” (70-411), and “Configuring Advanced Windows Server 2012 Services” (70-412). Each test is taken separately (unless you are upgrading from a previous certification) and consists of roughly 55-60 questions. The questions range from recognizing command lines and switches to selecting the proper order of tasks. (“You have a web server hosted on a cluster that you want to migrate to another cluster. On the left are 10 possible actions. Pick five of them and arrange them in the correct order.”) Coming in to this thing I had heard horror stories about memorizing command line switches but on the test you begin to look forward to those.

Yesterday around 3pm I clicked “done” on the last test and after whirring and churning for a bit a screen popped up: “Congratulations, you have passed the exam!” With that test, I officially became an MCSA!

For some reason, I had it in my mind that boot camps were “the easy way” to pass these tests. Having been here for just over a week, I can tell you that there’s nothing easy about it. To anyone considering attending a boot camp I would say you need to already be exposed to the material (either through work experience or reading or setting up a lab at home). You had also be prepared to put some time into studying. We have had one or two 8 hour days in class but we’ve also had a few 12 hour days. Everybody here is operating on 4-5 hours of sleep per night — some people are staying up late to cram while others are getting up at 4 or 5am to hit the books. I’ve been doing a little of both; reading the material every night until midnight and then waking up between 4 and 5am to study some more.

Less anyone think boot camps are easy, our class is hovering around a 50% pass rate.

After finishing yesterday’s tests, Lee, Ellston and myself got to (for the first time) venture out away from the hotel. We had margaritas in Margaritaville and dinner at the Bellagio Buffet. Both were great and a minor break from the firehose of information we’ve been gulping was both needed and deserved.

Today, it’s game on. Yesterday was yesterday; beginning today, we’ve got 4 days of class and 2 more tests left to reach the finish line. Here we go!

7 comments to Achievement Unlocked: MCSA

  • Jason Wells

    I did my MCSE boot camp back in the Windows 2000 days. It was 14 days of hell.

  • Zeno

    I did CISSP boot camp a couple of years ago. I know how brutal these things can be. Hang in there.

  • Mom

    I’m putting my money on you to pass with flying colors. And it doesn’t hurt that you get by on less sleep than most people I know, at least for a few days at a time. You can sleep when you get back to Oklahoma.

  • Em

    Margaritas foster creativity! You kids have fun!

  • Jason Lee

    Rob, I want to say congratulations again and I hope you get a big raise with those credentials after your name! You mentioned something in your blog, that made me grin. After taking over a dozen Microsoft exams in my life, I always found it funny after you clicked “Done”, how long it took to get the results back! I am not sure if it really takes that long, or time is standing still in anticipation.

  • liz

    I am so proud of you! ( it’s ok for a mother in law to feel that, isn’t it?)

  • Ladyjaye

    Woo-hoo! Way to go, Rob! Hang in there for part 2 and more days of cramming, but you can do it! :)

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