It was really hard... Time was running out... But I... I...

agustinchernitsky

So the exam started... as usuall on time. I had 110 minutes to do 56 questions. I was actually quite used to that from all my CompTIA and MS certs.

Then I realized a couple of things:

1.- This is not a CompTIA or MS Exam
2.- No "back" button or review for each question (fire and forget)
3.- No calculator of any sort (I trained with one and I was counting on it)
4.- Time was running...

So after 10 surveys (they looked like 10), my first question came up. In my head I was thinking to my self "boy, if the exam is like this... I'm going to get fried". The second question wasn't any better... it was a Sim.

Now, compared to MS sims... this was a real one. The question basically says "it doesn't work, fix it... this is the topology".

To sum it up... 90 minutes later my feeling was "I don't care if I fail... many of my buddies at techexams failed the first time... Why wouldn't I?". I was actually answering the questions thinking "what the hell... it should be C..."

Until the "End Exam" button showed up. The moment of truth... Absoulute silence in the room. My feelings were negative... I felt the dark side arround me... I actually could hear Darth Vader breathing... The screen saying "processing the exam..." until a strange message appeared.

It said (or at least what I read first) "Congratulations!"... My first thought was "Man? Is Cisco congratulating me on failing? what the hell!"

But then, I finished up reading the screen...

"Passing score: 849"
"Your Score: 974"

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Nailed the bastard!!!

So, besides my little suspense story here, I would really really really like to appreciate the many many members of this great forums for their support and best wishes for this exam -> Guys, part of this score is because of your help!

To the ones studying for CCNA: study hard... do lab work... and never give up!

My breakdown:

Tech: 92%
Implementation and ops: 100%
Troubleshooting: 94%
Planning and designing: 100%

Study material: Sybex CCNA 5th ED., Cisco Command references and support pages and this great forum.

rakem

Well done dude. Nice story

mikej412

Congratulations!

And a nice score!

I've used the suspense story method a couple of times on some of my non-networking friends.

No Calculator! That's why a lot of people say you should subnet in head (though if you write your subnetting **** sheet out during the demo, you can still keep most subnetting questions under a minutes).

What about the important stuff -- are you off to celebrate?

keenon

agustinchernitsky

Thanks Guys!

YES BEER TIME!!!

Actually I am really really tired.

The calculator stuff was a surprise... I did everything in my head, but I was very used to have it

Glad you liked the story...

Off to CCDA and CISM.... Non-stop.

tuscani

Very nice.. I am surprised you scored so high considering how unconfident you sounded in your post.

agustinchernitsky

Hello justindu, I am surprised too. I thought I was getting at most an 850 or fried!

You should have seen my face...

Obliged

wowowow... congratulations. you really nailed it with that score.

any advice for the rest of us?

Slowhand

Good job! Got any voodoo left over so I can get a score like that?

agustinchernitsky

Well, advice is quite simple:

1.- Practice a lot. I used a rack rental called www.mindtechcom.com, used CCNP and once CCIE racks... over 40 hs of rack. With this you can practice everything:
- Frame relay (and creating a FR Switch)
- ISDN
- leased lines
- Routing protocols
- ACLs
- NAT

2.- Not only practice configuring the routers... but break them. This helped a lot. On the sims I already knew were to look for the problems. ie: Configure EIGRP without adv. a network and see what happens... configure with the incorrect AS... In other words... do everything wrong and try and learn what the router does.

I did this a lot, and used all sh cmd I could to see what changed. And believe me, in the sims... I took 4 or 5 mins to get everything up.

3.- Read the CMD references from Cisco. They usually tell you the defaults and there you learn what to expect if a configuration command is missing (actually it isn't, its the default there).

4.- Read Cisco support pages for NAT, Routing protocols (OSPF specially regarding NBMA) and FR.

5.- Don't be afraid of RP... they are easy once you understand them (it took me a little, but make your post here if you don't get it... we are here to help)

6.- Read and be confident

7.- Don't do like me on the exam... Maybe because it was my first Cisco exam... who nows... lets see what happens on CCDA.

When you feel like you are ready to take the exam, you should be able to configure ISDN, FR, Leased lines, NAT and subnet in your head without thinking... If you can't, re-read and practice!

Hope this helps... at least worked for me

May the force be with you friends.

DirtySouth

Congrats!! Thats great advice. I can't wait for that day to come for me. With my Cisco classes at my college, I get a lot of lab time to get my hands dirty so I feel confident in that respect.

agustinchernitsky

Well, thats what Cisco wants to know with the sims:

1.- Do you now your stuff
2.- Can you fix the problem
3.- Can you handle it under pressure when time is ticking.

PCHoldmann

Congrats!

I know the "I'm going to die" (or, at least, fail the test) feeling all too well. I got behind on BCRAN, (SIM that didn't quite behave like it should. That's my story and I am sticking to it ) and figured I was dead. Got a bunch of questions I wasn't 100% sure on, and spent about 40 questions with the firm conviction this wasn't the last time I was going to see this test. Makes passing that much sweeter! Good luck on the CCDA, I may have to pick that one up one of these days.

Peter

NetworkGod

aw man congratulations i'm real happy for you!

agustinchernitsky

Thanks Guys...

Well Peter my friend, CCDA looks a lot of reading... And we all know what that means with Cisco Press books

The thing with CCDA is that I don't know what to expect from the exam... I mean, with CCNA you know / expect it: the sims, the hard questions, the questions were you ask to yourself "was that a question?"... LOL!

Still, one step at a time... read... practice (if any)... ask for feedback about the exam in this forum... sit for it... suffer two hours... then go for a beer or directly for a cold shower

Saludos amigos!

Danman32

Congrats. Great score! Loved the story.
Kind of reminds me of the one stupid Geico commercial with the voice over announcer.

ITdude

Congrats on the pass!. Thanks for the interesting story...Good luck with CCDA...