Call me crazy?

nmilot

When I was hired at my current job about a year and half ago, I was asked to obtain my CCNA. I was hired right out of college, during college I had an internship with this company as a pc tech. When I was hired, they asked me to start studying to become a network engineer. Before that point, I had never touched a router, but since then I've become very comfortable with them, accessing them on a daily basis.

A year ago I passed the intro exam, rather easily. Rather than jumping right into the ICND, I dragged my feet, and 1 year later I'm finally getting ready to take the next exam. I've gone back and read some of the major chapters of the Intro book, and I just finished reading the ICND book (by cisco press).

Rather than go ahead and take the ICND exam, I was thinking of simply taking the full CCNA exam. The reason being, I feel that I know and understand just about all of the Intro exam material. Subnetting has become second nature, and so has configuring routers and switches. When it comes to the ICND materials, I am not as confident. Now, if I were to take the ICND exam, anything from the intro exam is fair game correct? There would just be a much greater concentration on the ICND material. The full CCNA would include materials from both books as well, with less of an emphasis on the ICND material correct?

I've been using the cisco press books and a transcender exam simulation as my study materials.

Whatdya think?

mikej412

You're crazy! Okay, that takes care of your first request - now lets see...

If I remember correctly, the single exam was weighted heavily in favor of the ICND material. I'd guess only maybe about 20% was INTRO material, and a lot of that probably came from the overlap between the two exams.

If you don't feel comfortable with the ICND material, you might want to hold off on the test until you do.

nmilot

Thanks for the reply. I guess I was hoping it was more like 50/50. Oh well, I've got another month before my exam, and I'm not doing horrible with the ICND. I just finished up the book today. As I've been finishing it up over the past two weeks, I've been taking the transcender exam on a daily basis. I'm averaging in the low 80's on it, but I need to find another way to study. I'm beginning to memorize the majority of the 310 questions provided.

KGhaleon

I took the full CCNA exam and failed twice, so I wouldn't normally recommend it unless you really know your material. I studied every Cisco book I could find and only got around 700-800. There are a lot of factors involved that could effect your ability to pass. The exam is certainly harder than the Intro and ICND, and combines various topics. Make sure you know the information well enough and are able to subnet quickly. You don't get a whole lot of time for these exams, so I recommend managing your time efficiently.

Before starting make sure you write down anything you need to recall and watch your time. I usually speed up when I have 30 minutes left.

KG

nmilot

How'd you manage for time with the ICND? Was there anything that really tripped you up in the Full?

milliamp

If you are pretty solid with subnetting you should be OK on time.

mikej412

nmilot wrote:

Oh well, I've got another month before my exam, and I'm not doing horrible with the ICND.

Oh well, I guess I can't call you crazy anymore. If you've got subnetting down cold, and the hands on experience with routers and a month to study, you're doing fine.

You could try the Cisco Press CCNA Flash Cards/Practice Exams. Use the flash cards while studying, and save the test(s) to guage your preparation when you start to think you are ready for the real exam.

Since I've taken a few Cisco tests, I don't worry about the timed practice tests -- I go into the select categories tab and select the test selected categories button at the bottom (usually middle) and go through all the question untimed. I jot down notes on question topics I guessed at (even if I got right) and questions I got wrong. If my running score shows I'm not doing well, I stop and go study some more and come back to the test later. I figure if I get 85% on the practice test and study more on the weak area I'll do okay on the real exam -- and so far that has worked for me.

nmilot

Thanks for all the feedback.