UPDATE: Got a number of queries regarding prometric exam locations in Philippines (e.g. Makati) and schedule times etc.
To get those information please visit http://www.register.prometric.com/Index.asp
For my latest ASP.NET and ADO.NET 3.5 beta exams I took them at Ateneo Professional Schools[more]. Prior exams I have taken where in DBWizards, MISNET and once at EduPro.
I am very impressed with the said testing center. Clean, quiet (with ear muffs if the silence isn’t enough for you), decent computers and very nice staff. There are two exam rooms with a good number of cubicles (guessing around 20/room maybe) and although the next room was almost full, there’s not many in the room i was in. It could have been a factor to the experience I had but I still think that even if it’s jam packed, it would still be orderly considering the place is spacious.
They don’t accept payments at the venue though. You have to pay thru Prometric’s Site (http://www.register.prometric.com/), register if necessary (for free), schedule an appointment, select exam etc. Not sure which order they come but you get the point. Their currently only accepting payment thru credit card though. Not having to worry about payments and the likes and instead concentrate on administering the exam could have contributed to this positive comment too.
Also, annoying as it would appear to others, they check you ID strictly despite recognizing your face anymore (i took two exams in succession so had a short break). It might be simple or even ridiculous for some since I’m quite sure they recognized me but for me it shows some integrity and consistency in applying rules and procedures. Despite of this, did I mention they were very respectful? I guess I did.
One last thing is that obviously they allow scheduling of appointment online. There are a few centers listed in the prometric site but if you try to schedule an exam it will just show “no schedules available for this center”. The advantage for this includes: convenience, you are assure of your seat (unlike others where they actually just place the appointment days or even hours before and some unexpected issues now and then and being able to reschedule (at least a day before I think or a certain time a day before on a certain time zone) without having to pick up, wait for someone to pickup the phone, etc etc.
So, if the payment method is not a limitation for you. I would highly recommend this center and ill take exams there myself.Β See address below:
ATENEO PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS
MAKATI CITY 1227
Phone: 4265982
Site Code:Β PH000
2/F 130 HV DELA COSTA STREET, SALCEDO VILLAGE, MAKATI CITY
Goodluck to upcoming exam takers and I’m working on some review notes but just bought a new hard disk (system) for this. (ohh yes, I’m a certified hard disk destroyer, 3 hard disks so far this year 2008. don’t get me wrong, I don’t bring them around nor throw my PC, probably because I type and click too much, not to mention I blog too much) Expect a lot more notes on ADO.NET and ASP.NET (not the actual questions of course but close and varied enough to help learn and not just answer trivias) when I have my Visual Studio and SQL ready already within a few hours or days. I invite everyone to do the same too and share our notes with everyone not just in preparations for exams but to share the experience and joys of .NET. Watch out for them…
UPDATE: I got a lot of comments on this article and figured it might be helpful to do a quick how-to video (well it didn’t turn out to be quick but wanted to explain a bit more). See below
I hope it helps