Knocked Out SWITCH 300-115!

Passed 300-115 on January 20th. Started studying for it before the Cisco Press books were available. In the beginning I relied on configuration guides and my own experience. Mid-December I started using the Official Certification Guide and some CBT Nuggets videos.

Glad I was able to get one out of the way.. now to move forward to ROUTE and TSHOOT.

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Comments

ccnpninja

congrats and good luck on your next exams!

plonkermong

Congrats dude I read all of your SWITCH Blog posts.

Do you mind answering a few questions?

1) How were you doing timewise? Comfortable or rushing through the questions.

2) Did you feel like there were any topics not listed on the blueprint or book?

3) Any tips for me now that you have seen the q's and completed it! Nice job.

EDIT: 4) Would you mind telling me if VACL, PACL were on the exam. It's not listed on the blueprint but was in the old exam...

All the best
PM

Danielh22185

what exact book did you use because I will have to pick that up as I am going to have to focus on passing this exam as well. Thanks!

bharvey92

Nicely done, I studied the old Switch course, I'd like to know the difference between old and new!

rowelld

I'll try to answer your questions without breaking NDA:

1) How were you doing timewise? Comfortable or rushing through the questions.

I was fairly flexible with my study plan. I didn't rush myself as I have failed this same exam previously when it was 642-813. I started studying for it in October 2014 and felt very confident one week prior to January 20th 2015.

2) Did you feel like there were any topics not listed on the blueprint or book?

I think the book did a great job with the topics. I wasn't surprised with any questions in the exam.

3) Any tips for me now that you have seen the q's and completed it! Nice job.

I would lab as much as you can. Read the objectives and ask yourself how well you know the objectives. Try to answer the objectives with a lab or write down what you know. If you can't explain what you know from the objectives then I would hit the books again.

EDIT: 4) Would you mind telling me if VACL, PACL were on the exam. It's not listed on the blueprint but was in the old exam...

I think this violates NDA but I will say.. you should know VACL and PACL. You will need it in the real world.

rowelld

I used Cisco Press - SWITCH 300-101 Official Certification Guide. If you're thinking about using this book I did write a review of it on my blog.

rowelld

bharvey92 wrote: »

Nicely done, I studied the old Switch course, I'd like to know the difference between old and new!

There are some new objectives in there such as StackWise and some other objectives I can't recall of the top of my head. Before the new books came out I did reference the older exam textbook for some topics such as EtherChannel, STP, etc. Those topics don't change much. t

rowelld

ccnpninja wrote: »

congrats and good luck on your next exams!

Thanks ninja

I appreciate it.

Bryando

Congrats on the pass!

Danielh22185

rowelld wrote: »

I used Cisco Press - SWITCH 300-101 Official Certification Guide. If you're thinking about using this book I did write a review of it on my blog.

Great thanks! Looks like I am in the same boat as you were. I failed the v1.0 test and will be taking v2.0 test to complete my NP actually as I am sitting for TSHOOT this week.

rowelld

Danielh22185 wrote: »

Great thanks! Looks like I am in the same boat as you were. I failed the v1.0 test and will be taking v2.0 test to complete my NP actually as I am sitting for TSHOOT this week.

I actually like the v2.0 test more than the v1.0 because it doesn't have all those planning questions in it. That's where my weakness was in v1.0. While I can plan in the real world, I just wasn't able to answer those questions.

Danielh22185

rowelld wrote: »

I actually like the v2.0 test more than the v1.0 because it doesn't have all those planning questions in it. That's where my weakness was in v1.0. While I can plan in the real world, I just wasn't able to answer those questions.

I HATED those questions. They were SO vauge. Horribly written if you ask me. I didnt do so well with them either.

rowelld

Danielh22185 wrote: »

I HATED those questions. They were SO vauge. Horribly written if you ask me. I didnt do so well with them either.

Even the SWITCHv1 objectives were vague. Did not like it at all. I really like the v2 objectives. It allows me to properly study for the exam rather than having to read everything single piece of material that may or may not help with the studies.

Danielh22185

rowelld wrote: »

Even the SWITCHv1 objectives were vague. Did not like it at all. I really like the v2 objectives. It allows me to properly study for the exam rather than having to read everything single piece of material that may or may not help with the studies.

Is the question wording any better? Or can we expect the same vauge like natured questions?

rowelld

Danielh22185 wrote: »

Is the question wording any better? Or can we expect the same vauge like natured questions?

Working is much better than v1 exam. I understood most of them. I had one question I had to read about 4 times to completely understand.

Danielh22185

rowelld wrote: »

Working is much better than v1 exam. I understood most of them. I had one question I had to read about 4 times to completely understand.

That's good to hear. I felt Switch v1.0 was a bit more crytpic with the question wording than Route v1.0