Finally passing MD 101 after two attempts — what actually worked for me

by Tyler B. 9 views3 replies
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Tyler B.OP
May 27, 2026

So I just got my passing score on MD 101 yesterday and honestly I'm still kind of in shock. Failed my first attempt back in March with a 673 (passing is 700) and I was devastated. I'd been studying for about six weeks using just the official Microsoft docs and figured that would be enough. Spoiler: it wasn't.

The second time around I completely changed my approach. I spent about four weeks going through a proper MD 101 practice test set every single day, at least 30-40 questions. What really helped was focusing on the areas I kept missing — Intune device compliance policies and conditional access configurations wrecked me on the first exam. The study guide I used this time broke those down way better than the Microsoft docs alone.

If you're preparing right now, my biggest exam tip is don't just memorize features — understand the WHY behind each policy setting. The questions are scenario-based and they will absolutely trick you if you're just pattern-matching. Happy to answer questions if anyone's in the same boat I was.

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rachel_s
May 28, 2026
Congrats on passing! I'm about three weeks out from my attempt and conditional access is killing me too. The scenario questions where you have to pick between compliance policies vs. configuration profiles are brutal. I've been doing about 50 practice questions a day and my weak spots are really showing. Did you use any specific resource for the Intune sections or just general practice tests?
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Jessica L.
May 28, 2026
I passed MD 101 last October and the biggest thing nobody told me was how heavily it tests co-management with ConfigMgr. If you're coming from a pure cloud background like I was, spend extra time on the workload sliding scale stuff. Also the exam has changed a bit since 2024 — endpoint analytics showed up way more than I expected. Budget at least 8-10 weeks if you're working full time.
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rachel_s
May 28, 2026
Two attempts is nothing to be ashamed of honestly. I know guys who took it three times. The curve from 673 to passing is mostly just filling the specific gaps, which it sounds like you did. Good luck to everyone still grinding.

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