Failed today, some thoughts.....

Took the exam this morning and failed with a score of 821.

Planning and Design 75%

Implementation and Operation 93%

Troubleshooting 67%

Technology 64%

I'm planning on retaking asap - but the test center is closed till early Jan, so theres some christmas study time for me.

I thought I'd offer some thoughts on the test format.

Overall it was quite good, although in the simulations TAB and ? are *NOT* allowed, I've read on these very pages that it is supported, but it wasnt today.

Also in the simulations, I found the questions to be a little hard to understand, during the sims (Which I'm fairly sure I did okay in), I spent too long trying to figure out what they wanted me to do, and rather less actually doing it.

Another thing about the simulations which I didnt like too much was the fact that you cant have the console visible while looking at the topology diagram, all the flipping two-and-fro unsettled me a bit - I suppose this is just personal preference.

A few posts on these forums have asked about a simulation package that is like the one in the test, well I dont think there is one, I've tried Boson and RouterSim, each have their good and bad points, but they're not really like the exam sim - I think its probably best to use physical devices if possible.

I got a bit panicked towards the end of the test and hurried through the last bunch of questions, I think this is where I dropped those vital marks.

I've done a bit of maths on the score and worked out I cant have got many wrong, its a bit of a shame but also gave me a bit of confidence that I havent got far to go.

The plan is to get more time in the lab and try and drill in the commands so I can work faster, leaving me more time to really concentrate on the more intricate questions.

Dave

PS. My Study Methods...

CCNA Fifth Edition - Todd Lammle (This is a great book, I had to read chapter 3 -Subnetting about 5 times though.)

CCNA Fastpass - Todd Lammle (This is like his other one, but condensed, good for revising the key points before the test)

CBTNuggets Videos (For when I get sick of reading, quite good, but the presenter is a little nasal in tone.)

Learnkey Videos (More polished than the CBTNuggets, presenter Michael Storm is great - gotta love those branded Cisco shirts).

Lab setup: 2x2600 Routers (Soon to be 3), 2x2900XL Switches (Might get another to implement a bigger STP/VTP setup)

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Comments

MrD

Hey keep your head up. It sounds like you have a good study plan and know how to execute. Just keep practicing/studying and I'm sure you'll pass next go round. As far as the sims go...get used to it, because they are in all 4 CCNP exams...fun in the sun my man!

davetuck

Thanks for the kind words, I'm definatlely gonna stick at it. I secretly enjoy the study, its really given me something to get my teeth into! - just need to sharpen them up a bit

Pash

Yeh keep at it dude. For the sims, in the exam i used my writing board to note down the important IP's for the question as I was going along, and then used those ip's to troubleshoot after configuration. But I agree its fairly annoying having to switch between the two. As for the ? and TAB commands not working. That is strange, can I ask what training centre you went to? As at my Prometric testing centre those commands were allowed, although i only used the TAB to save time.

Good luck next time.

mikej412

davetuck wrote:

I think its probably best to use physical devices if possible.

I think you figured out the "trick" to the CCNA

Good Luck on your next shot!

Managing time is really important. Else you will panic towards the end. When I took the test I divided the time permitted into four. Similarly I divided the possible number of questions into four. Like this I knew the number of questions I should definitely cover within each quarter. This helped me a lot.

Be very through in subnetting else you will lose time.

DW [banned]

You did not miss by much. You'll get there.

Good Luck!

mp3spy

Yea I have to agree on that one....

Switching back and forth between the topology and the actual console drove me nuts. It just put more tension on me. But now that I am aware of that I will be prepared for it. Those ugly ass CRT monitors the tests are on don't help either but now I may be a lil picky

Good Score, I 'm positive you will nail it the 2nd time around. I am planning on taking a 2nd try at the exam next week. My test center is open I believe....

Good Luck..

davetuck

Pash wrote:

Yeh keep at it dude. For the sims, in the exam i used my writing board to note down the important IP's for the question as I was going along, and then used those ip's to troubleshoot after configuration. But I agree its fairly annoying having to switch between the two. As for the ? and TAB commands not working. That is strange, can I ask what training centre you went to? As at my Prometric testing centre those commands were allowed, although i only used the TAB to save time.

Good luck next time.

I took the test at a prometric center as well, perhaps it varies between sites or maybe they only just stopped support recently.

kenny504

No cisco press books??......all u need is to review cisco press now...no third party....Go directly to the website and correlate ure resulting percentages with the exam objectives......And CCNA TV. and the prep center.... I mean ure basically there naw....getting ure ccna now is as simple as putting cisco.com as your home page on your web browser.

You'll get it the next time....so start walking and talking like a CCNA. Congratulations.!! and good luck..

erikd65

You were close! Keep going at it, you WILL pass!

Pash

davetuck wrote:

Pash wrote:

Yeh keep at it dude. For the sims, in the exam i used my writing board to note down the important IP's for the question as I was going along, and then used those ip's to troubleshoot after configuration. But I agree its fairly annoying having to switch between the two. As for the ? and TAB commands not working. That is strange, can I ask what training centre you went to? As at my Prometric testing centre those commands were allowed, although i only used the TAB to save time.

Good luck next time.

I took the test at a prometric center as well, perhaps it varies between sites or maybe they only just stopped support recently.

I think it might be the sim engine version then. I mean you sound like you don't need the ? anyway and i think the TAB is bad if you need to warm your fingers up this time of year

As the above have mentioned the cert is yours soon, well done.

Merry Christmas