Almost a year ago now, I decided that I wanted to re-obtain a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer, (MCSD), accreditation. Here I describe how much it cost, and whether it was worth it.
Why?
Before answering how much it cost and whether I’d do it all over again, it’s probably worth addressing my original reasons for studying for an MCSD, they were:
- To test myself – was my 40 year + brain capable?
- To learn some new stuff
- Help with my blog & YouTube brand
Looking back, the 1st two are still valid reasons, but when I think about the last one, I’m not sure that anyone reading my blog or watching my YouTube channel would really care whether I had an MCSD or not, more on that later…
Does anyone care?
Anyway, with my reasoning sorted out, I then needed to understand the exams that were required.
The Exams
The exams I selected for my MCSD were:
- 70-483 – Programming in C#
- 70-486 – Developing ASP.NET Web Applications
- 70-535 – Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions*
* This exam was retired after I passed it, so I was half expecting to have to sit another exam, probably 70-487 Developing Microsoft Azure Web Services. This turned out not to be the case though!
Exams 1 & 2 will actually earn you a Microsoft Certified Solution Associate, (MCSA), accreditation which is a prerequisite for the MCSD.
Approach & Cost
The Bare Minimum
Even if you choose to obtain all your learning materials from free sources, (nothing wrong with that by the way!), at a bare minimum you’d need to book and pay for your exams. (I’m excluding scenarios where your employer pays for your training etc.).
With that in mind, at the time of writing all the exams listed above were $165USD, therefore your absolute minimum outlay would be $495USD.
My Approach
I’ve already written about my approach to studying for an exam in this article so won’t detail again, to summarise though I:
- Obtain, (legitimate), practice exams
- Obtain Books / reading material
- Book the exam
For me, taking the official Microsoft Courses were not really an option due to the fact this was a self-funded endeavor, so:
- I’d have to pay the ~$3000USD course fees myself
- Unless I could do a boot camp over the weekend, I’d need to take time off work
Too rich for my blood…
Instead I’d typically buy the “official” Microsoft exams* coupled with both free online resources and paid-for books. So the full-breakdown of my expenditure is listed below (in US Dollars):
* I used the Pearson / Measure Up exams which I believe are officially endorsed by Microsoft. While they are not identical to the real exams, they do cover the course material quite well and provide decent explanations of the exam answers with links to further reading materials.
Exam 70-483 – Programming In C#
Exam Bookings
I passed this exam 1st time, so only incurred the following exam fee costs:
- $165 USD Exam Booking Fee – Attempt #1 – Passed
Practice Exams
- $99 USD – 30 Day Practice Exam
Books
$31 USD – Programming in C# Exam Ref
Note: I used the First Edition by Wouter de Kort, I believe there is a 2nd Edition, which I personally have not used.
The book is actually pretty decent, it covers the exam material well, and while I don’t believe you’d pass the exam easily if this was all you’d used, it does prepare you well, (of course it depends on your level of experience with c#).
Overall I’d recommend it as part of your exam-passing arsenal.
Total cost for 70-483 – Programming in C#: $295 USD
EXAM 70-486 – Developing ASP.NET Web Applications
Exam Bookings
I failed this exam the first time – argh! So for my second attempt I bought an “Exam Replay”. This means if you failed, you’d get 2 “free” re-sits, thankfully I passed on my 2nd attempt so didn’t need the replays…
- $165 USD Exam Booking Fee – Attempt #1 – Failed
- $225 USD Exam Replay – Attempt #2 – Passed
Practice Exams
- $109 USD – 60 Day Practice Exam
Books
I did manage to get a used copy of the 1st edition official exam reference guide off of Amazon, see below. The 2nd edition I think is a mythical beast, it’s existence was ephemeral to the point I’m not even sure it did even exist…
$60 USD – Developing ASP.NET MVC 4 Web Applications Exam Ref
As for the books its self, it was ok, but clearly out of date. The exam curriculum has moved on a bit since it was written, (hence the mythical 2nd edition I guess?), but it still covered off substantial portions of the exam.
For the current price its running at I’d say it probably wasn’t worth the purchase, but it did flesh out some gaps missing in other books.
I did look into why there appeared to be no “official” Microsoft Exam reference guide in print for this exam, and stumbled across this Microsoft Blog article on that very subject!
They recommended the following book as the guide you should use, so I purchased a copy..
$22.50 USD – ASP.NET Core Application Development
The book started well, I even liked “story-telling” approach they took. However as I worked through it there were some issues:
- It did not really appear to map to the exam curriculum
- It focused on ASP.NET Core only, the exam covers “classic” ASP.NET 5 too
- The central code example was HUGE and difficult to get working, (i.e. they didn’t build the example up over time – not in a way that you could logically follow anyway).
I’d not recommend this book as the resource to use if you want to pass this exam.
$42.84 USD – Pro ASP.NET Core MVC 2
While this book did not tout or sell its self in anyway as a 70-486 exam guide, looking at the reviews on Amazon it seemed like the “Rolls-Royce” of ASP.NET Core books, so I thought I’d buy it for the ASP.NET Core aspects of the exam – I wasn’t disappointed. It’s super comprehensive, but in terms of a full companion guide for the 70-486 exam it had the following issues, (note this is not a criticism of the book – it never sold its self in such a way):
- The exam covers “classic” ASP.NET 5 as well as ASP.NET Core…
- Does not fully cover other aspects of the exam curriculum
Again I want to stress: this is a great book, and I’m glad I used it to support my learning in the ASP.NET Core components of the 70-486 exam. Highly Recommended for learning ASP.NET Core.
Total cost for 70-486 – Developing ASP.NET Web Applications: $625 USD
EXAM 70-535 – Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions
Note: As mentioned above this exam has now been withdrawn, however at the time of my MCSD journey it was a valid exam option.
Exam Bookings
I was really new to Azure when I started studying for this, so was not at all confident in passing the exam, with that in mind I purchased the “Exam Replay Bundle”. This was similar to the “Exam Replay” I had to use for my second attempt at the 70-486 exam, but it also included a 30 Day version of the official exam too. For the extra $100 on top of the standard $165 Exam only fee this seemed like a good deal.
Amazingly I passed the exam first time, (I was surprised), so didn’t need to use the replay features of my Exam Replay Bundle
- $265 USD Exam Booking Fee – Attempt #1 – Passed
Practice Exams
- Included in the Exam Booking section above
Books
$25.85 USD – Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions Exam Ref
The book covered the exam material, but as with all things Azure, it goes out of date quite quickly. As this exam isn’t available anymore, probably not worth writing much else!
Total cost for 70-535 – Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions: $290 USD
Overall
This means overall, in terms of “hard-currency”, my approach to the MCSD cost me: $1210 USD.
That figure does not include the inherent value in the free resources I used, (e.g. MSDN, Stackoverflow etc.). It also does not include the most valuable resource of all: time.
My Time
I didn’t track the time I spent studying, but it would be quite significant. A typical preparation period for an exam would be around 6 weeks, with 1-2 hours of studying most week-day nights, with some study at the weekends. So lets say conservatively: 10 hours study per week over 6 weeks for 3 exams = ~180hours.
Now I’m not sure what you make an hour in your job, (and I’m not going to tell you what I make either!), but let’s use the hourly minimum wage here in Australia as an example, which is around $19 Australian Dollars, (or $13.5 USD at the current exchange rate).
That would equate to $2430 USD – as a minimum…
Therefore overall, the MCSD cost me: $1210 USD + 180 hours of my time, (which equates to more than the minimum figure of $2430 I quoted above).
So was it worth it?
Well looking back at my original, (personal), reasons for embarking on an MCSD:
- To test myself – was my 40 year + brain capable?
- To learn some new stuff
- Help with my blog & YouTube brand
Did obtaining my MCSD validate those reasons? Well – yes it did.
Both the first and second points are really important. Some people do crosswords, or Sudoku to keep their minds active, I guess I do Microsoft exams! There’s also a really nice feeling of accomplishment when you pass, (especially if you’ve failed previously). It’s a bit of a rush to be honest when you click “submit” and wait for the exam result. It’s a good feeling, (well when you pass!)
Of course I learned a lot of new stuff too – I’m especially pleased with my uplift in both:
- “Azure” – I’ve put that in quotes as this is a vast subject – and I know parts of it better
- ASP.NET Core
You could of course uplift your knowledge on these without doing exams, but for me the fact that you have to test yourself aids in the learning process.
The final point is an interesting one: to help with my blog and YouTube brand.
As I said at the start, I don’t think the fact I hold an MCSD is going to particularly increase the readership of my Blog, or views on my YouTube channel. It may have a positive impact on my credibility in the eyes of some people – but of course not everyone…
And that brings me to my final point.
Who are you doing it for? Yourself? Others?
That’s really the question you should ask yourself before embarking on the journey. For me I’ve come to the conclusion that the personal reasons, are much more important than trying to impress others.
This is probably good advice in life generally…
Les enjoys understanding how things work, proving concepts then telling people about it! He lives and works in Melbourne, Australia but is originally from Glasgow, Scotland. He's just obtained an MCSD accreditation after almost a year, so now has more time for writing this blog, making YouTube videos, as well as enjoying the fantastic beer, wine, coffee and food Melbourne has to offer.