Failed ICND2 200-101 by 10 points, not sure where to turn.

dactyl

I just took the ICND2 and failed by 10 points - got an 815. I knew within a few minutes of starting I was going to fail because there were multiple questions right at the start that I simply didn't know enough about. I was pretty shocked because after doing the Cisco Net Academy at college, I purchased Boson's practice tests and went through them until I knew them inside and out. When I took my ICND1, I did the same thing, and the Boson test seemed nearly identical, if not harder than, the actual exam. I scored a 940 on ICND1, and I attribute most of that to the Boson practice exam. For ICND2, however, there were multiple questions on the real test for which there was no real correlation in the Boson practice exams. I know RSTP was one problem area, but it wasn't the only one. My question is, given that I only failed by 10 points, where should I turn now? I already have the Boson exams mastered. Is there some other practice exam which would help supplement where the Boson exams lack? Is there some quick "cramming" resource I can read to brush up in general? My goal here is to go re-take it as soon as possible since I was so close, but I want to be more prepared. Unfortunately I see there is an Exam Cram book for ICND1 and for 200-120, but I can't seem to find one for ICND2 specifically.

networker050184

I think you are defeating the purpose of the practice exams by taking them over and over until you master them.

If you haven't read the Odom books yet I'd start there.

dactyl

Thanks, I'll check it out. I don't mean that I memorized the answers. Boson provides a detailed explanation for every question, so I went through taking the test and reading the explanations until I understood enough to get through it without mistakes or having to reference the explanations anymore, learning why the answer is what it is, rather than just what it is. Due to the detailed explanations, the Boson exams are a learning tool just as much as they are a way to gauge what you already know.

gorebrush

The Cisco exam cert guides are a good bet if you haven't read them either.

stunnedsoup

Man, so close!

Like you said...you are right there. If I were in your shoes I'd see what I struggled with (I guess RSTP in your case) and study that. Honestly, if you continue to stay fresh and take it again in a week or two I think you'll pass. I could be wrong but after seeing tons of posts of people not passing it the first time they always improve their score the second time. So it seems that as long as you are diligent and have a plan of attack you have nowhere to go but up.

Best wishes buddy! please keep us posted!

koz24

Odom all the way for ICND1 and ICND2. You should also study the blueprint. Print it out and review it before the exam. Write down the page #s for easy review but if there is anything on there that isn't 100% clear you should spend time on it.

lammle

The net acad is notorious for not preparing students for the exam, but that might not even be their direction.
As posters mention below, the cisco press books or the Sybex CCNA Lammle book (yes, shamfull plug) is what most people use.
I'm curious on what you used to study with. Only Boson?
I would never recommend one source of study for the CCNA. Multiple books, or video series and multiple sources for practice questions.
maybe you used something else and didn't mention it? also, what did you use for hands on? Yes, the ICND2 slams you on STP objectives. What are you using for hands-on practice?
thanks,
Todd Lammle

PsychoData91

I ran into the Net acad trap as well. The biggest part that pisses me off is that, if you do well enough, on the final they give you a voucher for half off the exam (at least they did for me, and several other classmates) which seems to me that the netacad program feels we're prepared to pass the exams. And yeah, I realize I shouldn't be butthurt beccause I didn't do independant study outside class and my own eam prep exams, but I was making a 97% + on the school exams and finishing the PTers at 100%, so it seemed like I was covered. I didn't fail by much, but turning $150 of tests (200-120 w/ voucher) into $450 made me skittish about burning money

Also, the voucher, as I understood it, was only good for one test. If you used it to get half off your ICND1, you saved $75; if you used it to get half off ICNDX (200-120) then you saved $150, so you wanted to get your monies out of it and tried the combined exam which is too hard for most first timers

I hope to go and pass my 200-105 in the next week

ITsubced

dactyl wrote: »

[...] I purchased Boson's practice tests and went through them until I knew them inside and out[...]

In my opinion, i think you misunderstood how to use Boson's practice tests.
You should not know them inside and out , i feel it is a terrible way to prepare your exam.

You have to study, review topic and do practice tests to make sure you understand and know how to use your knowledge (without using boson. Use free test instead, the one provided with the cisco books for example or with a lab).

In the final steps, few days/weeks before the real exam, you take the Boson tests (there are a few) with the following mindset:

1) You have to pass the test on the first try. You did ? Good job, you know it right
2) If you did not, then fix your mistakes and reviews/labs the topics you need to
3) Take another boson test and pass it on the first try.
and so on...

Boson test are really good way to see if you are ready or not for the real exam.
If you know them from the inside and outside, i am not sure it is relevant to buy them

adrianm68

The other thing is that the test can only cover such a small part of what you are supposed to learn. I always leave an exam thinking "why didn't they ask anything about xyz" but its because the exam can't go for 3 hours...so they must limit what they ask. So learn everything, but know if you fail, and you think you know the material, book it in again and go whilst the knowledge is in your head.

OctalDump

I'm going buck the trend here. For my CCNA, basically all I had was Net Acad books and some light revision with the "31 days before ICND2" and some (not a lot) of hands on Cisco experience (mostly with 800 series routers). So I think it is possible to use those materials and do well on the exam. Actually, for the ICND2 exam, the net acad books I used were for the previous version.

As for the practice exams, I've heard both ideas, that you should treat it as you would an exam, and that you should keep doing it, revising the bits you get wrong, until you do know it back to front. I think what you want to avoid is "knowing" the answer but not understanding anything. But you ran into one of the problems that these tests sometimes suffer: not adequately covering the objectives of the real exam. You knew your stuff, it just wasn't the same as the stuff on the exam.

I think that pass is close enough that if you focus on the bits that you found challenging in the exam, you should be ok next time around.

The 31 days before book was good for last minute revision, but I'm not sure if there is a current version.

DAVIS NGUYEN

Sorry to hear that. Good luck for next time!