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FREE Microsoft Certification Exam - Dreamspark - Microsoft Academic 72

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FREE Microsoft Certification Exam - Dreamspark - Microsoft Academic 72
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A Banana4scale on 27/02/2011 - 21:35 dreamspark.com (3147 clicks)

Microsoft DreamSpark well known for its generous free program downloads is now giving all uni students( maybe others eligible for DreamSpark) to take one free microsoft certification exam. It is the 72 series which the the academic version of the 70 series.
Instructions given on page

NOTE: If you fail the first time Microsoft is allowing you to have a second chance and redo the test using this offer
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/student-career/en/us/caree…

Good luck to all students for the exam!

Computing Certification Exam Dreamspark Hamsters Microsoft Technical Skills

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closed Comments

  • MiCCAS on 27/02/2011 - 21:54
    +3

    Bugger! I swear I just came on here to post this!

    It's a fantastic offer anyway :)

  • alebox on 27/02/2011 - 22:07

    am i misreading it, but it looks like the offer is for a free retake if you fail, but you still have to pay the original exam fee which is 55% off?

    • scrimshaw on 27/02/2011 - 22:08

      You are misreading it. The title clearly reads:

      STUDENTS! Get a FREE Microsoft Certification Exam
      and not
      "Get a free retake"

      Anyway, I can't seem to get a Prometric account — I get a Page Cannot Be Displayed error after submitting my information.

      • alebox on 27/02/2011 - 22:24

        Upon applying I get this

        ". Go to the Prometric Web site (http://www.prometric.com/Microsoft) to register online. Using your Free Exam Retake voucher code, schedule and pay for your initial exam. If you do not want to register online, you can contact the Call Center or go directly to your local Prometric Test Center to register and pay for your exam.

        1. Take your exam.

        2. If you do not pass, use the same voucher number, make anther exam appointment by going to the Prometric Web site (http://www.prometric.com/Microsoft), Prometric Test Center or contact the Call Center or test center and use the same voucher number for your free retake exam.

        NOTE: The Microsoft Certification exams for students are available worldwide except in China and India. You must take both your first exam and (if necessary) your retake exam by June 30, 2011. Students without a valid student ID card will have to pay full professional price for the exam.

        Good luck on your exam!

        Prometric"

        Am I STILL misreading? It def says pay, but the email prior also says this "Your Microsoft Certification exam voucher plus one free exam retake has been e-mailed to you."

        confuzzled :S

  • Fuzor on 27/02/2011 - 22:11

    Where do we take courses for these exams?…sorry I'm not in the know with this certification.
    I'm in construction but would like to get certified but this seems only for an exam.
    Dont even really know what programs they're gonna test you on. Help anyone?

    • pandaman on 27/02/2011 - 22:21
      +4

      ive looked into this about a month ago. there are testing centres in australia where you sign up to do the exam. to be honest with you, the information regarding this isnt that helpful. The course centres offer you classes that are separate to the exams (you have to pay more that is).

      and from what ive seen, you dont get as many different types of exams in australia, the choice is smaller. hopefully im right in saying this, but you cant for example do a course in the well known Office programs, the only office program is Sharepoint. the only other one for regular users is in Windows 7, as a sort of system administrator but i think it's more basic.

      personally i wanted it for MS Office, better to have this on the CV than saying "im fantastic at making spreadsheets and using Word".

      heres a list of what you can do.

      http://www.seeklearning.com.au/microsoft-training.asp

      this is a guide and doesnt have to be from there, but its the most helpful list ive found. if you go through Prometric you'll find the testing centres.

      • pandaman on 27/02/2011 - 22:24
        +2

        on my link at the bottom there are Office courses. these arent certifications, they are just courses. kind of like a driving lesson, but not a driving test for a driving license.

        • Fuzor on 27/02/2011 - 22:34

          thanks redhat

    • Hirokuro on 27/02/2011 - 22:22

      there's quite a few centers in every state.

      You have a choice to select where you want to take the exam during the checkout.

  • Ughhh on 27/02/2011 - 22:21

    Anyone have an idea what the test will be like or what its on exactly? And dont say IT or im gona e-smack ya.

    • Hintswen on 28/02/2011 - 00:34

      Microsoft product(s) :)

      I've already taken a few of these exams, it really all depends on what exam you take.

  • [Deactivated] on 27/02/2011 - 22:34

    Brilliant. I'm definitely taking advantage of this. Booking now. :D

  • mini2 on 27/02/2011 - 22:42

    Word of warning - if your Live ID login had already got a free Dreamspark MS voucher from 2 years ago, you are not eligible for another as I've just find out as the code I've used 2 years ago appeared on my screen :-(

  • pandaman on 27/02/2011 - 22:49

    heres a testing centre in australia that offers microsoft certification.

    http://www.nhaustralia.com.au/certifications/microsoft.aspx

    as you can see, unless you're in the IT business, these are pretty useless.

  • ruddj on 27/02/2011 - 23:12
    +1

    I've done quite a few of these exams. There are designed to test your knowledge of a particular MS Product or Skill set.
    Info on Certification: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/exam.a…
    The 72- are the same exam as their 70- version, just at the cheaper student price.

    These are mainly if you are looking for a career in IT, most of the certifications relate to system / server administration or software development. There are other areas such as MS Office, but these are not covered by this offer.

    The tests are delivered at a testing centre on a computer and are usually multiple choice, but have a variety of question types depending on exam. Too my knowledge nearly all exams are available at all testing centres.

  • lukelegend on 27/02/2011 - 23:25

    whats is the easiest test to do?? the 072-270 win xp looks like an easy one ??

    • ruddj on 28/02/2011 - 07:48

      Trouble is 270 is old, and probably about to be retired. Much better to do a Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2 exam

    • abc on 28/02/2011 - 09:23

      In 2 years no one will be using Windows XP it it not supported by M$ after April 2014.

  • pandaman on 27/02/2011 - 23:36

    is it me, or is this jsut a free retake? the email says free retake, and the amount is still 85$ even after i put in the voucher which is acknowledged.

    anyone have the same thing?

    • pandaman on 28/02/2011 - 00:03

      no just me. all good.

  • tanoshiiki on 27/02/2011 - 23:44
    +1

    Sounds interesting. How much study would you have to do for a useful certificate? I have a background in software engineering, but I haven't applied it for at least a few years now.

    Edit: Just found this, which will make non-current students ineligible… I signed up to DreamSpark using my alumni .edu address (and it was accepted!)

    Academic Exam (072) Policy

    Academic exams are only offered to students and faculty members currently affiliated with an academic
    institution. In order to book an academic exam, you must provide a valid Academic ID number in a form of
    Student Id number or Faculty Id number and the name of your academic institution.

    In addition, you must present a valid student ID/faculty ID, transcript, tuition receipt or class schedule
    (within the last year) along with a valid photo ID to verify your current affiliation with an academic
    institution or ITA when taking your test. Failure to do so will result in cancellation of your appointment.

    Student exam prices vary by region and are not available in China or India.

    • lechuck123 on 28/02/2011 - 09:33

      Thanks for the info, that counts me out, I've only got my Alumni .edu email address too.

  • tomo88 on 27/02/2011 - 23:50

    kool share, unforunately for me its very IT focused (as would be expected). But like a few others here I was hoping for some sort of Office Word/Excel certification, just to chuck on the resume.

    for those who want to see whats available, I couldn't find a list of all the 72- exams, but if you follow the steps as per the webpage up to

    Select the exam number and the exam language for the exam you would like to take

    • Click Next

    then you can scroll through all the ones you can choose.

  • POWERevolution on 27/02/2011 - 23:55

    only free for students?
    can others apply?

    • ozhunter on 28/02/2011 - 00:12
      +1

      Only for students

      • Your code can be redeemed for one Microsoft Certification exam.
      • This offer is only applicable to students, and is worldwide (offer not valid in China and India).
      • Students must have a valid student identification card with photo in order to take the exam. Students without a valid student ID card will have to pay full professional price for the exam.
      • You must use the code and take your exam by June 30, 2011.
  • the_pharmacist on 28/02/2011 - 00:15
    -2

    can someone do it for me and send me the certificate after

    • POWERevolution on 28/02/2011 - 00:19

      how can that be? isn't that the cert got the name of the person who done it?

    • Hintswen on 28/02/2011 - 00:37

      After the exam is passed the person who passed can request to have the certificate mailed to them (I believe the first is free but if you need a reprint they charge you). It is also linked with your login, which I believe allows people to verify that you have passed the exam.

      The certificate is in the name of the person who took the exam and cannot be changed.

      • pilchard on 28/02/2011 - 21:00

        the_pharmacist could change their name to the name of the exam taker. :p

    • ruddj on 28/02/2011 - 07:49

      Also you need two forms of ID to take the test, at least 1 photo ID.

  • Orte on 28/02/2011 - 00:23

    Thanks, passed on to friends who are still at uni doing IT/CompSci/CompEng/whatever they like to call themselves these days. I have to wonder though, how useful are these certificates?

    • Hintswen on 28/02/2011 - 00:40
      +1

      Frankly I don't think they are that great, but it's worth a shot because if you pass you can say you are a MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional)

      You will even get your own MCP Card to prove it :) (it looks like a club membership card)

      oh, there's also a MCP Store, but last time I checked there was nothing worth buying there

      • Telios on 28/02/2011 - 20:01

        That's not how it works anymore Hintswen.
        I hold several MS creds and previously, if you passed an exam you were given a MCP card.

        But that system ended with the last generation of exams, if you pass you will join the MCP community, but you WILL NOT be given a membership card.

        You gain credit towards the new gen of certs (MCDST or similar). Once you pass several of the required exams then you will be recognized as MCDST (desktop), MCSA (Sys admin) or MCSE (Sys Engineer) etc etc.

        Then you get a card.

        • Hintswen on 28/02/2011 - 22:20

          woo lucky me, I got my card nice and early ^_^

  • bendertiger on 28/02/2011 - 02:02
    +5

    The IT industry…god I am glad I got out of it. No job offers, had extreme skills which people thought I was overstating…could diagnose and fix a computer like nothing else. Not to mention customers complained about my charging $20 an hour with no-call out fee.

    Anyway, I ended up thinking more and more about the shotgun method.

    1. Get a shotgun
    2. Set shotgun down in a circle, spin it by the barrel
    3. Pull trigger…

    I figured that it'd either blow the computer to bits, blow the customer to bits or myself…

    Good thing I never had access to a shotgun! Even now when I help out a couple of 'friends' it snowballs and you get all manner of jerk-off's on your door asking for help, expecting you to do everything for them for no pay. Hell, I'm happy to help out if your really screwed and your data is sinking in eight kinds of spyware, but if you expect me to WRITE DOWN on paper instructions on how to list things on Ebay when I've bookmarked their 'how to' page…you can get stuffed!

    • Mixhael on 28/02/2011 - 03:16
      +2

      I partly understand how you feel…
      And so does the Oatmeal:
      http://theoatmeal.com/comics/computers

      • Hintswen on 28/02/2011 - 10:14

        nice comic, tempting to order the poster :D

    • Rastabaxus on 28/02/2011 - 08:51
      -1

      Get help, seriously. This is really unhealthy.

      • bendertiger on 28/02/2011 - 09:23

        Umm…why are you telling me to 'Get help, seriously. This is really unhealthy'…I don't get it, what part of 'I am glad I got out of it' you don't understand?

        Also, the 'shotgun method' is a very poor way of repairing a computer, that ironically, doesn't have anything to do with wielding a shotgun

        • Rastabaxus on 28/02/2011 - 10:20
          -1

          So you're saying that if you didn't get out of it we'd have a shotgun death?

          I guess you just have a dark sense of humour? That's fine, I certainly don't want to anger anyone who jokes about shootings.

        • bendertiger on 28/02/2011 - 10:27

          No…I didn't have access to a shotgun, it was a light hearted take on the pain of the industry. There are people out there who keep thinking we only 'tinker' with computers for the hell of it and don't realise how much skill there actually is in doing it.

          But yes, after the crap I've been through in life, it does change your humour settings

    • abc on 28/02/2011 - 09:26

      That's why you dont help out the consumer sector it sucks ;-)

    • Hintswen on 28/02/2011 - 10:12
      +1

      That is why I try not to fix computers for relatives/friends. Unfortunately I get suckered into it sometimes.

  • Cheap Rich Guy on 28/02/2011 - 03:09
    -6

    I'm in IT. I charge $100 p/h and $100 call out. I do everything from complex business networks to single home computers. People don't have a problem paying me that because I have a proven history of solving problems.

    • Rastabaxus on 28/02/2011 - 08:51
      +3

      Useful insight into this bargain right there. Cheers.

      • Cheap Rich Guy on 28/02/2011 - 13:12

        haha no worries. Just thought I'd give an indication of the kind of money that can be made if you've got the knowledge.

        • bendertiger on 28/02/2011 - 17:38

          I had the knowledge, no doubt about that. I just don't like screwing people, I didn't have much expenses and wanted to help people out. I could of easily ran the business on $20 an hour, it just blew my mind people still thought that was too expensive! I was told that since I drove an old car (but immaculate) people thought my work was s**t! Boggles my mind how the idiots thought like that…another reason I got out of it!

        • Windows7forever on 01/03/2011 - 18:35
          +1

          and if you were driving a new car they might think you were rich or had lots of money by 'ripping people off' on the services you charge. can't win either way. push bike is best.

  • Rastabaxus on 28/02/2011 - 08:57

    I've done many of these exams (they used to be free for me). They vary greatly in difficulty, as some as absolute walkovers and others are quite tricky.
    I think they're worth doing for 2 reasons. One is that they make you actually learn parts of the product you didn't know (or care) about, and two is that many employers value them as "evidence" that you know what you are doing (hey I'm not going to justify that but it's a reality).
    I'm currently a distance student and I don't get a student photo ID, so looks like I don't qualify which is a bummer.
    Please be aware this is part of the T&C you have to show current student photo ID at the testing center.

  • eruption on 28/02/2011 - 09:49

    Any Vic Uni students having trouble getting a voucher code? The school doesnt seem to be listed

  • A Banana4scale on 28/02/2011 - 09:59

    For people not having current photo id, this is strictly speaking not legal but..
    if you have got a friend in uni who's id is about to expire and the way your university renews student id cards is by placing a new sticker on top of the old expiry date, you could put in on your id and it would be valid

    • Windows7forever on 01/03/2011 - 18:35

      hehe, nothing like a bit of ID fraud.

  • tettybear on 28/02/2011 - 11:06

    I am from UTS and I am having trouble getting a voucher. There are like 2 UTS in the list(University of technology sydney) and (university of technology,sydney). I chose Uni of technology, sydney.

  • Hirokuro on 28/02/2011 - 11:27

    What exam is the most worthwhile thing to do?

    • ruddj on 28/02/2011 - 11:57
      -1

      I recommend 70-680 TS: Windows 7, Configuring
      http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-680

      When you pass Exam 70-680: TS: Windows 7, Configuring, you complete the requirements for the following certification(s):
      MCTS: Windows 7, Configuration
      Exam 70-680: TS: Windows 7, Configuring: counts as credit toward the following certification(s):
      MCITP: Enterprise Administrator
      MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator 7
      MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Support Technician 7

      Also 70-640 (TS: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring) is a good base for server side stream.
      http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-640

  • kme3193 on 28/02/2011 - 20:27

    Hi - I can't find the link to get the voucher? Anyone point me in the right direction or are they all gone?

    • issh on 28/02/2011 - 20:29

      sign up/login
      go to certificates
      go to microsoft certificate
      then go click get code(or something like that) below the banners
      should be able to see it

  • noskich on 06/04/2011 - 14:35

    So, has anyone scheduled any exams yet? Do you do it through the Prometric site? Thanks.

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