A+ certification help

[sneekypete]

Hey everyone I have been trying to study for the A+ test on my own now for about 3 months. I seem to be hitting a brick wall here, I read chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4, and by the time I get to 5 I forget what the hell I read in chapter 1. There is just so much info to cram here is there a better way to study for this test. I am an entry level under paid PC Tech working for a consulting firm. I have hands on expieirience with working on PC's but alot of things in the book I have (Mike Myer's A+ Certification Passport 2nd Edition) talk about IRQ's an I/O, every P4 chip all this stuff, how much of this is really used on the test. Im starting to get discureged on being able to ever pass this test ideas anyone. Oh and I am unable to take a class cause my company will not pay for it and I don't have 2K to drop on a cert class.

[J_Search]

sneekypete,

I can't give you advise about test content, but I've been studying for the CPA exam for a little while now so I can give you some efficient study tips.

From what you're saying, it sounds like you are just reading the chapters once, then moving on. Unless you have an incredible memory, this will never work. To realize why, you have to understand how the brain makes memories. Without going in to detail, it basically revolves around 2 things; association or repetition. 1. You either associate the new material with a current long-term memory, or 2. You study something repetitively until it becomes a long-term memory.

1. This is basically how "memory tricks" work. I recently watched a documentary on some guy who memorized like 24 decks of cards (some crazy amount) in perfect order. So the guy interviewing him was like WTF? And the memory dude offered to do an experiment with the interviewer. He gave the interviewer a list of 30 objects. He said you’ll memorize these in perfect order in less than 5 minutes. He explained it like this:

Pretend you are standing outside your current house, or your house as a child, which ever one you remember better. Now visualize yourself placing the first 2 objects on the list outside the door of the house. Walk in the door and place the next two objects on the list in the first room. Move to the second room and visualize yourself placing the next two objects, so on an so forth. So this is the method of association. Not much help for the A++ but a nifty little story you can now cherish. Haha or I’ve wasted your time. Nonetheless, to the important stuff.

2. To truly succeed, you need to be repetitious about your material. Reading and re-reading is ok, but not truly efficient. As you read the chapter, create note-cards of the main and sub-topics. You could write down concepts and explain them on the back, or just write definitions. Not sure what’s on the exam, but you can certainly get a good idea of what to make note cards out of while you’re reading.

Now every night, yes ever night, cruse through your cards like a champ. You’ll begin to know them so well, you won’t even have to look at the back of the card to see if you’re right. But I’ll warn you. You’ll begin to get complacent with quick answers, and sometimes you’ll get sloppy and forget. So always ensure every so often you’re still correct. So by the end of the book, you should have a massive collection of note cards to continually study. You won’t have to lug that book around with a bunch of extra text you don’t really need once you’ve read the chapters. But if you’ve written anything down on a card that you don’t remember, or it’s a little fuzzy, you can always go back and refine your cards.

Anyway, I’m no expert, but this technique has helped me. I had a lot of trouble in HS with reading comprehension. I would read it and for get what it was I read in the previous sentence. So needless to say with the repetition technique I’ve come a long way. Hope it helps. And don’t stop, keep going, you can do it , and good luck!

J_

[redlobo]

I don't know about that specific book, but I have some of the Mike Myer's Windows 2003 Server Passport books. Generally these books are cram types and the information is dense. Perhaps that book isn't interesting enough to keep your attention. Perhaps when you are reading it, you are seeing the words but not processing the information and making associations to your computer and how it would fit in.

Also, why is it taking you 3 months to reach chapter 5? Perhaps you really don't have the time to prepare for a certification exam. When I was looking at taking my Windows 2000 Server exam I was running into the same problem. I would read a few chapters and let a week pass and then pick it up again maybe read one more chapter. Well, of course I forgot some stuff from before.

Don't forget to practice what the book is talking about. You need to open up your operating system and look at the IRQs and I/Os. See the information on your computer so that you can understand how it is working.

RedLobo

[Fasola]

Hey everyone I have been trying to study for the A+ test on my own now for about 3 months. I seem to be hitting a brick wall here, I read chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4, and by the time I get to 5 I forget what the hell I read in chapter 1. There is just so much info to cram here is there a better way to study for this test. I am an entry level under paid PC Tech working for a consulting firm. I have hands on expieirience with working on PC's but alot of things in the book I have (Mike Myer's A+ Certification Passport 2nd Edition) talk about IRQ's an I/O, every P4 chip all this stuff, how much of this is really used on the test. Im starting to get discureged on being able to ever pass this test ideas anyone. Oh and I am unable to take a class cause my company will not pay for it and I don't have 2K to drop on a cert class.

This was funny, I mean I busted out laughing, because I am going through the exact same thing and I have the exact same book.

The problem with me is I don't own a computer, but If I did I would use the disk in the back of the book and go through the practice tests on the disk first and look the answers up in the chapters, then do the same for the practice test in the book.

[J_Kay]

One thing that might help, is to underline or highlight important things in the chapter you're reading. That gives the brain another way to process it. Or you could take notes as your reading, sounds like double the work, but I bet you'd remember more. Give it a shot for a chapter and see how it works out. I'm not familiar with that book, but some books have review questions for each chapter. Try running over those after reading each chapter. Then once you've gone through a couple chapters, go back to chapter 1 and try the review questions.

[Mike051983]

I am new to the field of IT I just recently received a cert. in PC Repair and I am currently attending college for my MBA in IT of SCI. Now I have been currently looking for a job in the PC Repair field with no luck. I am also in the process of getting A + certified for I was told that I won't find any work with out it. Yet looking at some of the threads on this web page people are getting jobs without it. Am I doing something wrong or is it for the reason that I am changing fields? I have been in light industrial for 4 yrs and was growing tired of it and if that is the reason how can I change my luck. I am really getting discourage and open for any advice on this.

[dyrwolfe]

cramsession.com is a awesome site it is really helpful right now for me it is mostly mute memorization.... also osmosis is a good way to go study everynight before you go to bed.... i mean burn yourself out and you will dream about it... leave it under your pillow and some how it helps it seep into your head it helps me out for tests like that

[TEEKAT]

Cramsessions is awesome!! I've been studying for the A+ cert for a 1 1/2 wks & I'm on Ch. 5 & this website is a major Plus!!

[Dani50]

Hi SneekyPete,
Do you make any notes? Do not try to re-write the text but write down key points and make a list of definitions especially all those letter strings. Sometimes reading a page can be overwhelming but I have found that when you get down what the terms actually mean it is not as big an idea as first it seems. Some are just slight variations of others. Use index cards or 'mind maps' or MS 'Onenote' to organise the information into chucks about a paticular topics. Just reading is too passive. You need to put the information somewhere and combine it with other bits of information. You probably also need to give yourself more time - move your deadline on a bit. Hope we've been able to encourage you not to give up yet.

Dani