Failed the VCP today

[DougParker]

Took my first crack at the VCP today and failed. For the last three weeks I've been studying 3 hours a night. Used the vmware PDF's, TrainSignal vids, Vcp exam workshop and a cool android app from upward mobility (really good). I got pretty good scores on the mock exam and on the slog exam so i was pretty confident going into it. I've been using vSphere for the past 2 years and thought I was ready for the test. Time was an issue for me.  I finished with 1 minute remaining. I rushed through the last 15-20 questions. I didn't realize until the end you could skip questions and come back to them. Not sure if that would of helped, but maybe.. I'm pretty disappointed but I'm going to double my efforts. Figured I would go through the vSphere manuals from the class again lesson by lesson.  My next test is on the 28th and I plan on taking a more methodical approach using the blueprint.

[vmroyale]

Hello and welcome to the forums.

Bummer, but it sounds like you learned a lot of things that will definitely help you on the 28th.  If there are specific things you know you didn't do well on, definitely focus on those areas for next time too.

Good Luck!

[Troy_Clavell]

If it helps, you aren't the first to sit the exam and not have a passing score, and you won't be the last.  Take the good from the exam experience.  You are now familiar with what to expect while sitting the exam.  Take the print out supplied and practice your not so strong points and you'll be ready on the 28th

You may also, if you have not seen, take a look at the below blog

http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com

..and finally, know that next time you sit the exam, you'll pass!

[AndreTheGiant]

Sorry for the fail.

About the time and questions problems... I suggest to use the review tool to skip difficult questions (or where you are loosing too much time) and see them later.

Andre

[scott28tt]

Sorry to hear you didn't pass first time...

I always encourage my students to try and think of the exam questions as being either things you know or things you don't.

Read the question, think of the answer without looking at those on the screen, if the answer you had is one on the screen, click it and move on!

If you don't understand the question, read it again, or mark it for review.

If you don't know the answer, mark it for review.

If you're not sure of the answer, click the one you think it is, and mark for review if you want to come back and look again.

And as for preparation: blueprint, blueprint, blueprint - did I say it enough times? You will have seen that you can be tested on anything that's mentioned in the blueprint, so that's what to focus on - if you're studying something that's not in the blueprint you're learning what's "nice to know", not what's "need to know".

Best of luck for the 28th!

Scott.

[DougParker]

Question for you guys/gals.  On the blue print under ESX/ESXi San Storage.  There is a line item under knowledge, "Determine boot LUN size in a given situation".  I'm a little confused.  I would imagine I could just create a 10gig LUN, but I'm unable to to find any hard data on what size vmware recommends.  Any suggestions?

[scott28tt]

I'd be expecting questions on partition sizing in relation to "Determine boot LUN size in a given situation".

Check out the ESX and ESXi setup guides in the vSphere documentation for more:

http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vs_pubs.html

Scott.

[DougParker]

Is there actually a review button you hit if you want to skip a question?  I don't recall seeing one the last time I took the test.

[sneddo]

There is, IIRC it is in the top right of the screen.

Use it wisely, it made my second run through a lot less frustrating!

[DougParker]

Thanks, 10 hours until my test and I'm still craming!!

[AnthonyChow]

Good luck to you Doug

[DougParker]

Passed today with a 389!!  It took three times but I finally got it.  I've been using vmware for two years and studied for three months.  Feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  I'm not even bummed I have to work this weeked...well maybe a little.  Thanks for all the good advice offered on this board.

[AnthonyChow]

Congratulations and have a nice weekend.

[EdWilts]

DougParker wrote:

Passed today with a 389!!  It took three times but I finally got it.  I've been using vmware for two years and studied for three months.  Feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  I'm not even bummed I have to work this weeked...well maybe a little.  Thanks for all the good advice offered on this board.

Congratulations!  I took the exam twice - the first time on the 2nd day of my vacation, thinking I could enjoy the rest of my vacation.  I was wrong and spent another 70 or 80 hours studying before I wrote it the 2nd time (and passed).  I know all about that feeling of relief!

Welcome to the VCP club.  Now you can start thinking about your VCP5

[rcase13]

For those that have taken three times to pass did you notice the second test was significantly harder than the first? When I took the exam the first time I had a feeling I wouldn't pass. I just wanted to get a feel for the test. I already have my VCP3 and I thought the first VCP4 test wasn't especially hard. It had topics like VDR and FT that I haven't had exposure on. So I went home feeling good that I would pass it the second time. I scheduled the test for the following week and crammed all week. I have read all the PDFs and have gone through countless scenerios in my lab at home. When I sat the second test the test was twice as hard as the first. I was sweating when I got to the end. I knew I had failed it before I even clicked the finish buttton. I actually scored worse on the second test. Now I am bummed and all my confidence is gone. I scored real high on the VCP3 and I have been using VMware since version 2.0. I scored a 100 on the mock exam with only a few tries. I guess it's time to invest in testing software. Is there one that's better than another? The mock exam was a joke and nothing like the real test.

Anyway let me know what to expect on the third test will it be a nightmare like the second one or easier like the first test...

Thanks,

Bummed...

[scott28tt]

I have to say that having read the posts on this board almost daily for the last 4-5 years, most people report that they easily passed the second time after having failed the first time. The selection of items in each individual sitting of the exam is random from a large pool of items, so you could have found the second exam tougher, easier, or about the same as your first exam. It is totally down to you to decide how to prepare each time of course, personally I would question whether "practice tests" are useful, as they tend to be braindumps and as such can be very unreliable. I wrote an exam prep workshop which we deliver in/from the UK at Global Knowledge, that can help to focus you and give you some test-taking tips and practice. Email me if you want to know more. Scott.