I started off studying for the 70-300 Analyzing Requirements and Defining Microsoft .NET Solution Architectures exam, just like I did with all the other exams. Here is a overview of what I did and some of what I should have done different to pass it on the first try.
1. Bought the MCSD .NET Solution Architectures Exam Cram 2 and the MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit: Analyzing Requirements and Defining Microsoft .NET Solution Architectures
2. Read both of the books from cover-to-cover
3. Loaded up the exams on the CD's that come with both of the books (WARNING: all questions where multiple choice on these - the exam is all case studies)
4. Once I thought I was ready (used my judgment from taking previous exams) I scheduled the exam
5. Saved the case studies in the back of the Exam Cram book for last - took them and did not do so well (should have been a warning sign)
6. Took the exam and scored something like 560 --> Passing incase you don't know is 700
7. Went to local Irish pub to forget about the failed exam
After some long thinking about the exam, I came to the conclusion that I knew the material but I really sucked at taking the test - so I better learn to take case study exams. In order to prepare to take the exam again I came up with a 2 week plan: spend 1 week reading some supplemental material to get to know the material better and 1 week to improve my test taking skills.
The exam cram book has a lot of resources listed in it for additional reading, so I started reading articles about ORM, MSF and since I didn't want to feel like all I was doing was the exam, I finished up Microsoft ASP.NET Coding Strategies with the Microsoft ASP.NET Team - which turned out to be pretty good supplemental material for ASP.Net questions. The more reading I did the more I was convinced that I already knew the material. So now learn to take the test...
How do you learn to take a Case Study exam? Practice, Practice, Practice! It is just like the other exams, you have to get to the point where you know which choices are not correct (and you can explain why), know which items are included in what you are supposed to be designing and know which items are included in the case study - but you don't need to do anything with (ie: if you are enhancing the system you don't need to rebuild it from the start). So you need practice tests to learn, the more the better and more comfortable you will be taking the exam.
My advice on how to learn to take the 70-300 and how to tell if you are ready:
1. Complete numbers 1 - 5 above
2. If you score over 90% of the questions right in the Exam Cram case studies - sign up and take the test (your smarter than I am)
3. If you don't score over 90% on the case study questions in Exam Cram, but know you know the stuff and only need to learn to take case study exams - buy the Transcender (see note below)
4. Once you are passing all the practice exams on the transcender and can deduce right and wrong answers (like mentioned above) - you are ready.
On my first pass through the transcender exams I scored something like: 754, 710, 600 (all not passing by transcender's scale - 850 to pass). On the second pass is when everything clicked. I could explain which ones where right and which ones where not and score above 900 on all the exams the second time through.
STRATEGY YOU CAN USE ON THE EXAM: While taking the exam, flip through all the case study reading you have (give you an idea of the time you will need to read), then go straight to the questions to see what the hard ones are, jot down some notes (ie. need an relation model of how Book, Author, Publisher, Customer are related in case study or need to know the steps in the process to upload a text file into a database), then go back and read the case study (now that you know what you will be asked about later), take good notes and the take the questions. One word of caution though: keep your eye on the clock so you don't run out of time. This strategy worked well for me on the exam. Also consider the time of the exam. My first on was at 11am, with breakfast only, my mental stamina for case studies didn't go over so well. My second exam I scheduled for 9am, I had a good breakfast, got there an hour early to review the MS press book (had a Zone bar while doing this and some water), then ate a banana (simple sugars = good for you) and took the exam. I was much more alert this time around.
With the transcender and the strategy I came up with, my score went from 560 to 800, so it does work (or did for me anyways).
Note on Transcender: I hadn't bought any transcenders until I failed this exam because I heard they where basically the exam and I wanted to know that I passed because I knew the material not because I had seen the answers first. If you too think this, then think again. The transcender practice exams where practice. The style of the practice exams are really close to the real exam BUT THEY ARE NOT THE EXAM (the case studies are not the same and the questions are not the same) - just great practice and a great way to determine if you can pass the exam. The transcender comes with 3 exams (9 case studies in total). The Transcender is $139 - more than the exam, but take it from me: it is better to pay $139 + $125, than to pay $125 (exam), $139 (transcender) + $125 (exam)