Failed a comptia network+ test today

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I failed my test even though I knew most of the material and been preparing for this exam for a while now. I got a 577 out of 720? How do you guys usually prepare for exams in general?

@penny-witherspoon,

We're here to help! Don't let this discourage you. Now you have a better chance at passing the exam since you understand the type of questions they'll be asking you.

You know need to ask yourself if it was KNOWLEDGE that you didn't have or something else.

If it's a knowledge gap. Take the areas that you scored the weakest in and study more on those areas. Review those concepts and ask questions here. The ITProTV membership is the smartest membership out there and can you!

If it's something else, You felt rushed. You got frustrated. It just meant that you just were ready for the exam. Take some of the practice exams in a timed format to help you prepare better for the exam.

Let me know if I can help you in any areas in particular!

There is a method that has increased the chances of success for exam candidates.

• Materials
  • ITProTV Courses
  • Practice Labs
  • Exam Prep Books (Exam Cram Net+, Mike Meyers Net+, Todd Lammle Net+)
  • Flashcards
    • Traditional (Handwritten)
    • Electronic (FlashcardMachine.com, Quizlet, Cram, GoConqr)
  • Practice Exam

A piece of advice for the practice exams:

Practice exams should be the last step in expanding your base knowledge. They can and have been a double-edged sword. There is on one hand their (practice exams) ability to make you study more. The practice exams can help you to discover the areas/domains of the objectives that you are weakest in. However if the exam candidate takes the practice exams over and over, eventually he or she will become too familiar with the question pool and start to memorize the questions and answers. When this happens the candidate can get a false sense of security, by thinking they are strong in the objectives when in reality they have just memorized the question pool.

The advice I would suggest is to understand what the question is asking you and learn the concepts. You should also read the wrong answers to get a better understanding as to why those answers are wrong. This can expand your knowledge even more.

Please keep me posted on your progress I would be more than happy to help you through this process.

I would also look into CompTIA's CertMaster practice exam.

I haven't taken the Network+ yet (finishing my final studying now), but I noticed a few things that helped me with my other certifications:

1. The test tries to trick you in wording to make sure you aren't just memorizing, but actually know the concepts. Dont rush through the test and don't over analyze each question.
2. Practice live. Studying alone won't really do the trick, you need to see it live. The more you use it in real life, the more it'll come second nature.
3. Use the failed exams as a way to focus your studying. Get the bundle's that come with the CertMaster and retake. It'll save you money in the long run.

Hi Penny,

I second the ExamCram books as a place to get lots of practice on questions that are multiple choice or fill in the gaps. I have been using one for Cisco CCNA Routing & Switching and it it very good. It also has a summary cram sheet for quick reference reminder of the certification material.

A tip Wendall Odom gives for after a failed exam is to soon after the exam write down all you can about it, what areas did you find easy and what areas did you find difficult.

You can then concentrate on the areas you found difficult.

You can also look to see if CompTIA weight any of the exam objectives as more important than others, and then make sure that you have those really under your belt.

 - Cisco tell us the weightings. I don't personally know if CompTIA does.

Wendall Odom says that an exam failure can be the first step to passing next time, because the exam tells you what you don't know and what the certifier (e.g. CompTIA) thinks is important.

I hope that this is helpful Penny.

Kind regards,
Tony