So if you read my last entry, you know that I feel that not having enough practical experience (I have never liked the phrase "real world"...it sounds too philosophical) is a possible reason for failing an exam. The funny thing is the opposite is also true. In other words, too much experience and not enough book knowledge is a prescription for failure too!
Scoff if you want to but in my line of work, I get a lot of students that come in and say they are mostly self taught but want to "fill in the gaps". The problem is the gaps are where the questions on the exams come from. If you have one of the Microsoft course books, look at all the sections marked "Note:" or "Warning:" as well as "Important:"... I would be willing to bet that you will see a lot of those on exams. Never forget the purpose of certifications as far as Microsoft (and any other vendor) is. They want you to make their products look good. If you don't know the little quirks, you can't do that.
Many of us have been there. We have been teaching ourselves over the years, learning things because we have to, so we can solve a problem or keep our job. That type of learning is extremely effective but it is spotty. There will always be things that you never ran into or don't really understand in any detail, you just know how to make it work. Those things will be your Achilles heel during your test.
So am I saying you have to take every class? No. Try a practice test or two to see what areas you are having trouble with and then, armed with that info, look up the outlines of the classes to see which one is best to meet your weaknesses. Another option would be an accelerated boot camp type class. I don't like boot camps for inexperienced candidates. They tend to have a lot of trouble keeping up, but if you are someone that just needs to fill in the missing parts, one of these classes should be ideal
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Ron got his start with computing way back when he first started programming on his Atari 800 computer back in 1980. He decided right then that he computers woukld be his career. He has been working in the IT field for 18 years. For the last 12 he has been an MCT at New Horizons in New York City where he has taught over 500 classes to more than 3000 students. He is also an MCSE and an MCSD.
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SQL experience
You can get more than enough practical experience in SQL at SQL Exercises, and absolutely free.