Unbelievable experience for me. I Paaassseeeed

Sa'ad

I did it people. I passed with a score of 900/1000 on my first attempt.

Planning & Design 100%
Implementation & Operation 79%
Troubleshooting 82%
Technology 86%

First of thank God for everything, ( for keeping me motivated and not give up so easily, and for making things workout for me). Secondly, thank you all at techexams with your encouragement and support, I don't think this would have been possible without your unconditional support.

I actually passed yesterday but the site was down I think so I couldn't post my exam report.

First of I rescheduled this exam 3 times b4 I decided to take it yesterday. So people 1 piece of advice, don't schedule your exams until u feel very comfortable, and don't delay it for too long either.

Anyways, here is my exam experience. Before I started the test I was so scared that I almost fainted. The first 5 questions were really hard that I was tempted to just walk out but that was cisco's way of frightening me I guess but I didn't fall for that so I didn't give up. After the first 5 questions I was so calm and the questions seemed really easy until I got to like mid 20's.

I gave up by the time I was half way thru the exam because then things got really hard once again, and I started to think about when I should reschedule for my second attempt. My first sim was related to switches I spent like 20 mins on it and just gave it up and moved on. Second sime was really easy had to do with OSPF and I think I did it with my eyes closed because I got it on question 39 and I had like 11 mins left, so I just rushed thru it. By the time I was on question 52 I ran out of time and the exam ended. I was almost so sure that I had failed. But when my exam score report was placed in front of me I felt like weeping out of happiness. Because this was my first computer cert ever and I didn't even go to school for it, didn't have any teachers or friends to help me when I didn't understand something. It was me, my books and of course this site. I had no networking experience b4 my ccna. I studied for almost 9 months on and off. Just about 3 weeks ago I almost gave up the whole thing and thought of quiting this whole cisco stuff, but then when I remembered the time and money I invested in this journey I was reluctant to give up.

Anways, even though I didn't answer the last 4 questions, and I didn't complete 1 of the sims I still suprisingly scored 900 on my first attempt, my hard work was paid off with honor and I tell ya, it feels gooooodddd to be a ccna.

Materials I used,
Sybex 5
Cisco intro/icnd
Boson ccna/ccnp (spent almost $300 us dollars on these alone which I still regret cause I could have purchased real equipment of off ebay with that money).
****
read some of the new examprep book (great book by the way)
I think if you only have the cisco press along with the new exam prep book you have all u need to pass the exam.

CCNP here I come.

mikej412

Congratulations!

Some of the questions may have seemed hard -- but obviously not hard enough to trick you.

I remember the pre-test jitters and durning-test jitters from my CCNA -- but you just have to work through it -- like you did. And I still get the pre-test jitters, but I'm fine now once I get to the test center. Part of my pre-test routine is now to turn off my cell phone and stop checking email the day before the exam (before the reschedule time) so that I can't get sucked into any work issues when I should be relaxing and reviewing for the exam. I used to take the day off before the exam -- but that hasn't been working out lately -- too may phone calls and interruptions.

As for the reschedule test shuffle -- yep, I do it if I don't feel ready -- and I do it if work may cut into the study time just before the exam.

Anyway -- you do get partial credit on the SIMs -- so it does seem like you took your best guess at it - or got every other question you finished on the exam correct.

As for the time management issue -- yep, that's important. If you have a minute left and some unanswered questions -- do you try to answer one more question correctly -- or do you randomly answer the remaining questions? I'd guess that if you have 4-5 questions left, you go for one more correct answer. If you have 10 unanswered quetions -- random guessing could get you 2+ correct answers (especially if there are multiple answer quetions and partial credit). We do know that with Cisco exams you don't lose points for guessing at an answer (and getting it wrong), but you lose the points if you don't answer.

I think my first 5 routers and a switch were under $300 on eBay -- and at 9 routers and 2 switches I was still under $500. If you're patient you can get some deals (like my maxed out 2513s for $25 each including the shipping!!!).

And finally -- the motivation! That's the tough one. I took the Cisco Academy CCNA courses so that I would have that "push" to study. I've been doing self-study ever since. Once you figure out what to expect -- it does get easier -- even while the topics and exam questions get harder.

Good Luck with the CCNP!