250 for switch exam ouch!

itdaddy

man it has been a long time since I took a cisco exam thought it was only 150 per exam. it is 250 per ccnp exam? maybe ccna is only 150 huh? wow is it same for all CCNP exams 250 each or are they higher?

25 july 2014 642-813 switch date set studying my arse off hahha
I a trying for CCNP all by end of year 2014

ninjaturtle

I took the CCNP SWITCH a couple months ago, and I surprised at the cost. $250 for one exam, of a 3 exam set!!! Wow!! They sure know how to pull the money out of us. Cisco sees the value of certifications, and the increased number of candidates testing. I certainly feel you pain mate. But as always, we have to bite the bullet on this one.

PS - Are you the itdaddy of itdaddy.wordpress?

tomtom1

@ninja
Did you get it? If so, any tips?

ninjaturtle

heya tomtom1! Yes, I did pass my CCNP SWITCH exam. I see you have your CCNP ROUTE, which I'm working on now. So technically you've already cleared the rough waters. I hear the ROUTE exam is way harder than the SWITCH exam. Lab your topics like no tomorrow! That's the best advice I can give you, which I'm sure you've heard. Make your lab switches do some heavy workloads. I used the SWITCH Lab Manual and that helped a lot!

After reading the CCNP SWITCH Official Certification Guide I supplemented it with the CCNP Guide notes, and Rene Molenaar's SWITCH book. It complemented the material very well.

OfWolfAndMan

I actually didn't find this out until yesterday. So much for saving a few bucks. I'd like to see how much more they raise the price in the next three years.

itdaddy

yes I am itdaddy of wordpress..I have not done my blog in years but same guy
I hope that is good
thanks..yeah 750 for 2 exams ...I hope I can make the money to cover it haahahah yeah bite the bullet is correct...I love when theysay 90 minutes for 43 questions yah right. 43x 2 because of all the multiple sim questionsand teslets it is more than 43 I can tell you that hahahaha wish me luck hear goes my best

ninjaturtle

I had a feeling it was you!! Very good indeed!! I miss your blog! Your blog inspired me to build my own lab at home, and now it's taken a life of it's own. I actually need another rack it's so full.

Yea, the question count is so misleading. Those 3 or 4 sim questions with the "hidden" 5 question inside them aren't accounted for in the count. Nice Cisco ...nice! But all the more glory when you pass the exam, hidden questions and all!!

I strongly recommend the CCNP Guide Notes, which servers for all 3 exams. If you review those and lab up the topics, you're solid!

FloOz

Ugh there goes 500 bucks combined for both the CCDA/CCDP exams. I mean I am not strapped for the cash but I much rather save the extra cash for CCIE workbooks.

ninjaturtle

I plan to pursue the CCIE after my CCNP, and i was astonished at the cost of the workbooks! This is why a lot of people have work pay for their studies, but my job only pays for a couple certs here and there.

Between the books, workbooks, videos, rack rentals and possibly bootcamp for the CCIE, I better start saving up now!

Danielh22185

$250 really? I thought the NP exams were $200 each. Or am I missing something here?

OfWolfAndMan

As of the 20th of June, this is the updated prices:

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-12825

Danielh22185

ugh.... Well switch better not take me 4 attempts like Route did...

CodeBlox

Freakin money hungry...

theodoxa

OfWolfAndMan wrote: »

As of the 20th of June, this is the updated prices:

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-12825

That sucks. A few weeks ago, I was looking into scheduling a test date for SWITCH...For some reason, I had thought it was $250 all along, but was pleasantly surprised to see that it would be $200. Unfortunately [not realizing that prices were going up,] I decided to just wait a few more weeks before setting a test date. Had I known they were going to raise the price, I'd have scheduled it right then [and rescheduled as necessary]. Apparently, they must've been charging the old price if you scheduled it by the 20th, because I was looking at test dates after the 20th.

atorven

Money hungry indeed, I don't understand why the non-R/S exams at the associate level cost more than the processional level exams.

ninjaturtle

Danielh22185 wrote: »

ugh.... Well switch better not take me 4 attempts like Route did...

This worries me, as I've heard that ROUTE is a difficult exam. That's why I took SWITCH first. I failed SWITCH once, and did way more labs before the 2nd attempt and passed. How about ROUTE? Was it the lack of labbing, or were the question just simply tricky?

CodeBlox

Questions are very tricky and while I passed, I had 44 secs on the clock... Very hard exam.

Danielh22185

ninjaturtle wrote: »

This worries me, as I've heard that ROUTE is a difficult exam. That's why I took SWITCH first. I failed SWITCH once, and did way more labs before the 2nd attempt and passed. How about ROUTE? Was it the lack of labbing, or were the question just simply tricky?

I studied my ever living butt off! Take a look at my thread on my NP progress. There was defiently no lacking of anything on my part. I had a few hundred hours of labbing, read 3 books, cram cards, CBT and INE videos, GNS3 videos, etc. It was just very difficult for me personally. Many new things for me. I am also rather new to the networking field, been in it solid about 2 years. Only had my CCNA 2 years now as well. Don't let my personal experience translate to how the test will ultimately be for you. Granted I also missed passing by 15pts and by 5 points on my 2nd and 3rd attempt so it wasn't like I was completly not getting something.

I have heard it's is the more difficult of the two so we shall see when I take my switch exam in about a month.

ninjaturtle

No, I totally agree with you you can't compare your testing experience with another. I just keep hearing about the difficult, so I can't but help worry a little. You did quite a nice spread on your study material. Very nice!! Which 3 books did you use? I would think the Official Cert Guide, Foundation Learning Guide, and the third? I think the CBT and INE videos combined with the reading is a very strong foundation, overall carved into stone with lots of labbing.

Gosh I hate failing by just a few points, it drives me up the wall! You get so close, but no cigar. It definitely makes you want it more though, at least for me.

FloOz

ninjaturtle wrote: »

I plan to pursue the CCIE after my CCNP, and i was astonished at the cost of the workbooks! This is why a lot of people have work pay for their studies, but my job only pays for a couple certs here and there.

Between the books, workbooks, videos, rack rentals and possibly bootcamp for the CCIE, I better start saving up now!

Yeah, luckily my company provided me with all the INE CCIE Videos. Which is definitely better than nothing

N2IT

@ Daniel OMG - you spent 800 or 1000 on route? Either way WOW

Danielh22185

N2IT wrote: »

@ Daniel OMG - you spent 800 or 1000 on route? Either way WOW

Don't remind me...

tomtom1

Danielh22185 wrote: »

I have heard it's is the more difficult of the two so we shall see when I take my switch exam in about a month.

I'll take my exam at the 25th of July. Daniel and I are building up some momentum together as study peers so I'm hoping we can both take this exam in one pass. Still need to do some labbing to get there though!

OfWolfAndMan

I can't imagine what other prices will start getting ridiculous if they start raising the minimum wage to $15 (Which passed in Seattle btw).

theodoxa

OfWolfAndMan wrote: »

I can't imagine what other prices will start getting ridiculous if they start raising the minimum wage to $15 (Which passed in Seattle btw).

$3 McDouble
$4 Large Fry
$8 Quarter Pounder with Cheese
$8 Six Piece McNuggets Happy Meal
$11 Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal
$12 Ten Piece McNuggets Meal
$13 Denny's Grand Slam ("$12.99 Are You Out of Your Mind" - I wonder how many people will get this?)
$30 Denny's T-Bone Steak and Eggs

JeanM

atorven wrote: »

Money hungry indeed, I don't understand why the non-R/S exams at the associate level cost more than the processional level exams.

CCNA 2x 125-150 or 1x300
CCNP R&S 3x 250

Now, CCNP Voice 5x 250

gorebrush

Heh, my CCIE Lab is $1900 (mobile)

I can get all the written exams paid for by my company.

Danielh22185

gorebrush wrote: »

Heh, my CCIE Lab is $1900 (mobile)

I can get all the written exams paid for by my company.

I was waiting for someone going after CCIE to chime in on those prices. I don't think i'll ever have the spare cash to pay for IE unless my company pays for it. That or a GOOOD tax return! :0

gorebrush

At the moment I am able to pay for it out of my own pocket - I've got a few K put aside.

My dad has said he will pay for my passing attempt (way to go) and I think I could probably get my workplace to cover it. We'll see.

Danielh22185

gorebrush wrote: »

At the moment I am able to pay for it out of my own pocket - I've got a few K put aside.

My dad has said he will pay for my passing attempt (way to go) and I think I could probably get my workplace to cover it. We'll see.

Sounds like you have a good support system in place for it. Good luck with it!

pitviper

wow, I was just going to say that the 2 I took earlier this year were $200 a pop, but it looks like I wrapped them up just before the hike!