Maximum PC

I took a class in high school, wanted to know if anyone in the froms is a Microsoft Certified System Admin, what did you take.

I understand you had to take the Certificate for the Operating system. I am also studying the A+ exams. Do you need a college degree in a field. thank you.

To be certified, you need to pass their (microsoft's) exam. That's it. You can take the exam alone or after the course ... obviously, it costs more to take the course but the pass rate for those who don't is pretty low.

Pass the exam, you get the cert. You don't automatically get a job, though. I strongly recommend some post-secondary training, though whether you go to a jr. college, get an Associate's degree, or go all-out and get a BS in CS from MIT is up to you .. but your pay rate and success in the industry will generally be tied to your level of education.

I agree with Jipstyle...what effort and investment you put in your education will pay off in the end. But it's a long haul...you will come out of school ready to go. Don't sell yourself short, but don't expect to make $100,000 right away even if you come out of MIT.

Start researching companies you want to work for NOW, and then decide who you want to work for and try and create a relationship with those companies - try to get on work placement/internships with them. Or work in the lower dungeons (like tech support/helpdesk, Tier 1) while you're going through school, and then work your way up.

However, in the end if you're a smart guy, and you can get the job done, and you have some luck you can be a consultant and still be very successful with no education.

Actually I believe that earning your MCSA certification requires passing 4 out of 7 or 8 exams. I know that MS has set aside certain exams for the administration of their desktop and server OSs, and for the MCSA you have to pass any 4, one of them being a desktop exam. For instance, for your MCSA, you could take the

70-270 (Installation, Administration, and Troubleshooting of XP Pro)
70-290 (Installation, Administration, and Troubleshooting of Server 2003)
70-291 (Network Infrastructure for Server 2003)
70-294 (Security for Server 2003)

If my memory serves me right, you can use A+ and Network+ certs as credits for one of the exams. (I would get your A+, Net+ and use the credit, as these exams are quite easy if you know about hardware and networking, respectively).

As far as education goes, most employers seem to want BS and not much else. If you're jumping into the water without a few years experience as a system/network admin, then you'll almost need to focus more on the education. Start off as helpdesk or a DST position (Desktop Support Technician), and get some experience in professional IT under your belt. With some experience, an AS (BS preferred), and some solid certs (MCSA+CCNA will land you a job quick), you needn't worry about getting a decent paying job. Jipstyle and Wolfmann already said it more eloquently. I'd just thought I'd add my 2 cents in.

Just a note...70-294 is Active Directory Design, not security. It's the only "Design" course for MCSA. MCSE has that and requires 7 exams in total, one of which must be 70-293 (Network Design).

The M$ security exams for the 2003 line are 70-297, 70-298, 70-299 (the latter two are really the one's you want...298 is Security Design, and 299 is Security Admin/Implementation).

70-291 is Administering and Implementing Network Infrastructure. It's the actual hands on for 70-293...but believe it or not it's the most difficult of the MCSE 2003 exams.