Practice Test

To prepare for the Microsoft 70-761 certification exam, I pushed a training kit book from Microsoft Press. I have heard a lot of good things about this book. I bought the good one, which is actually for exam 70-461, "Querying Microsoft SQL Server 2012".

This book is around 700 pages, all of which I have read. Took a lot of notes. This material is what motivated me to write all the blog entries on SQL Server so far. I think I have a good high level understanding of the material. Might need to drill down on a couple more details.

The book comes with a CD-ROM that allows you to install sample test taking software. It seems like this is from MeasureUp. They partner with Microsoft to offer practice exams. These days I think they only offer an online subscription based service for practice tests.

My test exam had 44 questions on it. I got 36 of them correct on the first try. That was an 82%. Sounds good right? Nope. It was not declared a pass. You would think if you need a score of 700 out of 1000 that 82% is good enough. Turns out you need an 86% to pass. What kind of weird 1000-point scoring format is this? It is not the SAT test.

Bottom line is that I either need to hit the books some more, do some hands on coding, or practice exam taking some more before going in for the real deal.