Sobering realization

Tricon7

I've finished the first two Cisco classes at my college, and made a B and an A. After taking several practice tests online I see that these classes have nowhere near prepared me for the CCNA cert test. They have merely familiarized me with the concepts and some commands; I now understand that most of the learning I need to know is going to have to be "on my own" through self-study. I should view the classes merely as extra help. I was really discouraged to fail so many tests, but then I thought it was better than going into the real test and failing it there. At least now I know I have a ways to go to be ready, and when I do decide to take the test, I know I should have all the knowledge I'll need (and save the money from not passing). Sometimes the online tests bear no resemblance to what you study from a textbook, the class commands on routers, or the online Cisco class tests. Just an FYI.

iproute

I experienced something similar after I took a boot camp style class. After I left the class, I scored a 60% on the CCNA-Intro practice test in the Cisco press books. I didn't see it as a disappointment tho, I saw it as 60% of being to where I want to be. You're right most of what you really learn will be on your own time. The reason for that is that you have lots of spare time to view, review, and digest the key material as often as necessary.

Look at it this way, you now have a foundation on which you can expand your knowledge for the CCNA and higher certs.

kafifi13

I did everything self study. I learned at my own pace. What material do you have. I'd recommend getting either the Cisco Press(what i'm using) and the Sybex 5th edtion and just study on your own.

Aquabat [banned]

yea, the classes will help beginners, but going at class pace and teacher pace, it won't prepare you. start self-studying if you wanna pass it

sprkymrk

Don't you still have 2 classes to go? Mine was split into 4 9-week courses and I felt it was a good 80% of what I needed for the exam.

tech-airman

Tricon7 wrote:

I've finished the first two Cisco classes at my college, and made a B and an A. After taking several practice tests online I see that these classes have nowhere near prepared me for the CCNA cert test. They have merely familiarized me with the concepts and some commands; I now understand that most of the learning I need to know is going to have to be "on my own" through self-study. I should view the classes merely as extra help. I was really discouraged to fail so many tests, but then I thought it was better than going into the real test and failing it there. At least now I know I have a ways to go to be ready, and when I do decide to take the test, I know I should have all the knowledge I'll need (and save the money from not passing). Sometimes the online tests bear no resemblance to what you study from a textbook, the class commands on routers, or the online Cisco class tests. Just an FYI.

Tricon7,

Is your college a Cisco Networking Academy?

Paul Boz

Just get a self study book and grind it out. I've found that it's by far the best way to learn this stuff.

kafifi13

Agreed. You will need to put in a couple of hours a night. Really commit to it.

Tricon7

This school is indeed a Cisco Academy school - a very good one, from what I hear (Jacksonville, FL). I just got the Sybex 5th edition book, so I'll be going over that.

I took a few practice tests, copied everything I missed and have pulled that particular topic so I can go over it until I know that subject well. Then I'll move on to another topic I have trouble with. I'd rather do it this way than try and memorize the answers to all the test questions I got wrong, as the testers can always pump out different questions. I do have Cisco 3 and 4 to go. I don't know if I can prepare for the 821 in time before the next classes start; if not, I'll be too busy to get ready for it, I think. I'll have to wait and take the 1 test at the end.

At least now I know what I have to do. Better that than false expectations.

sprkymrk

Tricon7 wrote:

This school is indeed a Cisco Academy school - a very good one, from what I hear (Jacksonville, FL). I just got the Sybex 5th edition book, so I'll be going over that.

I took a few practice tests, copied everything I missed and have pulled that particular topic so I can go over it until I know that subject well. Then I'll move on to another topic I have trouble with. I'd rather do it this way than try and memorize the answers to all the test questions I got wrong, as the testers can always pump out different questions. I do have Cisco 3 and 4 to go. I don't know if I can prepare for the 821 in time before the next classes start; if not, I'll be too busy to get ready for it, I think. I'll have to wait and take the 1 test at the end.

At least now I know what I have to do. Better that than false expectations.

Cisco 1 and 2 just lays a foundation. Cisco 3 and 4 are the meat of the program. You'll be prepared after that.

Tricon7

sprkymrk wrote:

Tricon7 wrote:

This school is indeed a Cisco Academy school - a very good one, from what I hear (Jacksonville, FL). I just got the Sybex 5th edition book, so I'll be going over that.

I took a few practice tests, copied everything I missed and have pulled that particular topic so I can go over it until I know that subject well. Then I'll move on to another topic I have trouble with. I'd rather do it this way than try and memorize the answers to all the test questions I got wrong, as the testers can always pump out different questions. I do have Cisco 3 and 4 to go. I don't know if I can prepare for the 821 in time before the next classes start; if not, I'll be too busy to get ready for it, I think. I'll have to wait and take the 1 test at the end.

At least now I know what I have to do. Better that than false expectations.

Cisco 1 and 2 just lays a foundation. Cisco 3 and 4 are the meat of the program. You'll be prepared after that.

Yes, but all the tests I had failed were only on Cisco 1 and 2, which shows the insufficiency of what I actually knew. I'm working on that now. Every waking moment.

slayer3

Tricon7 wrote:

sprkymrk wrote:

Tricon7 wrote:

This school is indeed a Cisco Academy school - a very good one, from what I hear (Jacksonville, FL). I just got the Sybex 5th edition book, so I'll be going over that.

I took a few practice tests, copied everything I missed and have pulled that particular topic so I can go over it until I know that subject well. Then I'll move on to another topic I have trouble with. I'd rather do it this way than try and memorize the answers to all the test questions I got wrong, as the testers can always pump out different questions. I do have Cisco 3 and 4 to go. I don't know if I can prepare for the 821 in time before the next classes start; if not, I'll be too busy to get ready for it, I think. I'll have to wait and take the 1 test at the end.

At least now I know what I have to do. Better that than false expectations.

Cisco 1 and 2 just lays a foundation. Cisco 3 and 4 are the meat of the program. You'll be prepared after that.

Yes, but all the tests I had failed were only on Cisco 1 and 2, which shows the insufficiency of what I actually knew. I'm working on that now. Every waking moment.

I just finished the fourth part of Cisco Academy yesterday. Cisco 1 and 2 deal a lot with subnetting and router commands. Get those down and the rest is pretty easy. I took the classes at night and my instructor has his own networking company and he deals with the Cisco stuff everyday so we were able to get a "real world" perspective of Cisco. But the number 1 thing he stressed was subnetting. We spent 3 straight weeks on subnetting and he would not go any further until all of us could do subnetting in our head.

Darthn3ss

i wish we'd of gone over subnetting a little more but i think i'll manage, if not i'll catch up. I'm just starting the CCNA 3&4 book, and i start classes in a few weeks. My main weakness is in CCNA 1, alot of the theory stuff that puts me to sleep. i guess it wasn't as bad as network+ classes. WAN technology from the 70s. oh so fun.

I kinda think that CCNA 1 & 2 should have been reveresed or mixed. Once i started playing with routers in CCNA 2, alot of the things in CCNA 1 started to sit in place, like subnetting, i could understand it in theory, but i was confused as hell as how to apply it. Same with some of the OSI stuff.

but yeah, CCNA 3 seems like its going to be lot less dry than 2, and specially 1.

Ciscopimpenator

Cisco Academy's have notoriously slow expectations.
The CCNA taught at my local college takes 1 year to complete. Most people try to finish the CCNA before then(6-9 months).
Always think to yourself that you are entering a competitive field where technology changes. It's better to grind it out sooner then later.

Steely

Ciscopimpenator wrote:

Cisco Academy's have notoriously slow expectations.
The CCNA taught at my local college takes 1 year to complete. It's better to grind it out sooner then later.

That is so true. I'm in my 4th class of the year and I feel really burned out by the Academy's 8 month long learning process. I will have to spend a month or two just reviewing and get my mind into the testing mode like I did for the CompTIA tests.

Tricon7

I've been studying quite a bit since finishing Cisco I and II and still flunking virtually every self-test I take for INTRO. A part of me feels like I'm starting from scratch and might as well take Cisco I and II all over again, even though I made a B and an A. I guess I can take self-tests over and over, but this won't necessarily have me learn all the pertinent info, as I once said, they can always throw different questions at you that you haven't seen on any self-test. So - after Cisco III (then IV after that) starts this week, I'll not only be studying for them, but also for I and II.

Somebody told me recently that I have a family; it does seem like I remember them, but it's a foggy memory, as I'm always in the library studying. Boy, did those community college classes so *not* prepare me for certification.

markzab

Tricon7 wrote:

I've been studying quite a bit since finishing Cisco I and II and still flunking virtually every self-test I take for INTRO. A part of me feels like I'm starting from scratch and might as well take Cisco I and II all over again, even though I made a B and an A. I guess I can take self-tests over and over, but this won't necessarily have me learn all the pertinent info, as I once said, they can always throw different questions at you that you haven't seen on any self-test. So - after Cisco III (then IV after that) starts this week, I'll not only be studying for them, but also for I and II.

Somebody told me recently that I have a family; it does seem like I remember them, but it's a foggy memory, as I'm always in the library studying. Boy, did those community college classes so *not* prepare me for certification.

Get it, learn it, pass it.

Paul Boz

I wish I got a royalty for every time I pimp that book here, haha. I swear by it.

Tricon7

Paul Boz wrote:

I wish I got a royalty for every time I pimp that book here, haha. I swear by it.

Yes, I have the book and I'm reading it now. Great tome. But I'm having trouble figuring out which chapters the INTRO test would cover and which the ICND would cover, as I only - for right now - need the INTRO material. Got any ideas, as I don't want to spend time studying material for a test I won't even be taking?

iproute

Tricon7 wrote:

Paul Boz wrote:

I wish I got a royalty for every time I pimp that book here, haha. I swear by it.

Yes, I have the book and I'm reading it now. Great tome. But I'm having trouble figuring out which chapters the INTRO test would cover and which the ICND would cover, as I only - for right now - need the INTRO material. Got any ideas, as I don't want to spend time studying material for a test I won't even be taking?

Think of it this way, the book is the same size (probably smaller actually) as just one of the two Cisco press books. There was no good way (that I could tell) to differentiate what was on the Intro from what was on the ICND in this book. The only thing that I could positivity identify as not being on the Intro are access control lists.

Here's what I'm doing (and this may not be the best idea). Read the book cover to cover (though I did skip around from chapter to chapter). Do the practice questions at the end of each chapter (you can get these from the CD that comes with the book as well). Get the Cisco press flashcards book and do the Intro (or ICND) portion sometime prior to the test. Take the Cisco press Intro (or ICND) practice tests once or twice a week or so until you can score 90%+ with no sweat. Make sure you really understand why you got questions wrong. Identify weak areas using practice tests and re-hit the appropriate chapter from the book (Sybex). Though I had the Cisco press CCNA books on hand, I barley opened them (except to extract the CD for practice questions).

Also, don't forget to take the practice tests offered by TechExams

The moral of the story: absorb the knowledge from the Sybex book, take practice tests to assess your understanding of said knowledge, re-absorb where necessary.

I'm of the school of thought that you should have all of the necessary knowledge prior to taking one of the tests.

Tricon7

iproute wrote:

Tricon7 wrote:

Paul Boz wrote:

I wish I got a royalty for every time I pimp that book here, haha. I swear by it.

Yes, I have the book and I'm reading it now. Great tome. But I'm having trouble figuring out which chapters the INTRO test would cover and which the ICND would cover, as I only - for right now - need the INTRO material. Got any ideas, as I don't want to spend time studying material for a test I won't even be taking?

Think of it this way, the book is the same size (probably smaller actually) as just one of the two Cisco press books. There was no good way (that I could tell) to differentiate what was on the Intro from what was on the ICND in this book. The only thing that I could positivity identify as not being on the Intro are access control lists.

Here's what I'm doing (and this may not be the best idea). Read the book cover to cover (though I did skip around from chapter to chapter). Do the practice questions at the end of each chapter (you can get these from the CD that comes with the book as well). Get the Cisco press flashcards book and do the Intro (or ICND) portion sometime prior to the test. Take the Cisco press Intro (or ICND) practice tests once or twice a week or so until you can score 90%+ with no sweat. Make sure you really understand why you got questions wrong. Identify weak areas using practice tests and re-hit the appropriate chapter from the book (Sybex). Though I had the Cisco press CCNA books on hand, I barley opened them (except to extract the CD for practice questions).

Also, don't forget to take the practice tests offered by TechExams

The moral of the story: absorb the knowledge from the Sybex book, take practice tests to assess your understanding of said knowledge, re-absorb where necessary.

I'm of the school of thought that you should have all of the necessary knowledge prior to taking one of the tests.

This sounds like the structured approach I need. The idea of reading the Sybex book in toto is a bit daunting, but I'll do it if I need to. Better get started now. Thanks for the advice.