CCNA as a % of the CCNP?

Based only on the exams topics and the total pages in the official study guides I would say the CCNA is close to 30% of the work towards the CCNP.

What do you CCNPs would say? In terms of hours of study, how much of the CCNP work do you think is covered when you have the CCNA under your belt?

I was commenting with a few friends and it seems that in our country (Dominican Republic) the cisco certifications are among the highest ROI investments in education. We wanted an estimate on how many hours of study was the average to get the CCNP to make a proper comparison with some University degrees.

Just so you know, I am considering the CCNA about 1/11th -1/10th of a B.S., or maybe 1/5 - 1/4th of a M.S.

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Comments

Lizano

Well, I know you are talking materialwise, and in that sense, I think it´s actually prettry hard to determine that...

but given that in total you are required 5 exams for CCNP, CCNA being the first, it would be 1 of 5, which would make it 20% of the way to CCNP...now this percentage is estrictly exam-wise and does not take into account how much of the material that you need to become a CCNP is covered is CCNA.

Mrock4

I would say material-wise..CCNA is like 10% of the CCNP. I only say that because it probably overlaps most with the BSCI...but the BSCI covers IPv6, Multicasting, BGP, multi-area OSPF, authentication...etc...

That being said, if you get the CCNA, and go straight for your BSCI, you'll be very well off. It's a great starting point.

dynamik

I have limited experience (I've only skimmed the BSCI book), but I would say the CCNA is less than one of the pro-level exams. BSCI seems to be the most difficult for most people, so maybe that's skewed my perspective. I'd lean more towards 10% (or less) than 20%.

nel

Its hard to say really because since starting to read the bsci you realise how much more in depth the CCNP goes and how the difficulty does increase but i would say 10% looks like a decent guess although i havent covered the rest of the exams obviously.

AlexMR

Apparently my calculations were way off. It seems weird to me though. Right after i posted I checked the exam certificaion guides and based on total pagesthe CCNA is about 35%. All 4 exam guides for the CCNP are only 2400pages, while the CCNA is 1400+. I understand a lot of concepts are repeated in ICND1 and 2, but i dont think they all sum 15% of the total pages in the exam guides/official study material.

The only CCNP I know personally says the CCNP is more work than the masters he did. I still think some part of the difficulty part of the cisco studies comes because there are a lot of cisco certified professionals who havent been involved in university studies. What do you think?

I still have to take the exam but the only real difficulty I found in the CCNA studies was the length of the material. Now that two exams can be taken it makes it easier IMHO.

Mrock4

There's definitely no way the CCNA covers 35% of the CCNP. Maybe the scope covers the topics, but definitely not nowhere near as in depth. I agree with your suggestion that the difficulty in CCNA is the length (and question pool), whereas CCNP is the depth.

As far as the difficulty coming from guys without college experience...my good friend, who I share a friendly rivalry, has had a lot more trouble on the cisco exams than I have. He's got a masters as well, and is an extremely smart guy. I think it just varies person by person.

scheistermeister

AlexMR wrote:

I still have to take the exam but the only real difficulty I found in the CCNA studies was the length of the material. Now that two exams can be taken it makes it easier IMHO.

I complained about the length of the CCNA as well... Until I got to the BSCI. Talk about long ass chapters. Lets make the comparision from the Net Acad...

Chapter 4 Module 3 of the (old) CCNA: Wan Technologies

and then Module 3 from the BSCI: OSPF...

And yes, this leaves off where that one finished, NOT including any of the old sections under it...

And most of the CCNP is like that. The lightest material you will get will be in the ONT and it is still a lot more than the CCNA.

So... Do you still think the CCNA is 30% of the CCNP? I sure don't since I have been through both and would love to ONLY have the CCNA to cover again...

LOkrasa

AlexMR wrote:

Apparently my calculations were way off. It seems weird to me though. Right after i posted I checked the exam certificaion guides and based on total pagesthe CCNA is about 35%. All 4 exam guides for the CCNP are only 2400pages, while the CCNA is 1400+. I understand a lot of concepts are repeated in ICND1 and 2, but i dont think they all sum 15% of the total pages in the exam guides/official study material.

The only CCNP I know personally says the CCNP is more work than the masters he did. I still think some part of the difficulty part of the cisco studies comes because there are a lot of cisco certified professionals who havent been involved in university studies. What do you think?

I still have to take the exam but the only real difficulty I found in the CCNA studies was the length of the material. Now that two exams can be taken it makes it easier IMHO.

I see how you could compare the two in terms of page length but the CCNA also spends a lot of time explaining the fundamentals. I mean stuff like background info, history, and even very basic things to explain the underlying technology that led to its current state. The CCNP books definitely doesn't sugar coat anything, its like fact after fact, point after point and it seems like everything they go over just HAS to be on the exam. The CCNP definitely goes into alot more depth and I think it is even just as comparable in length for EACH of the exams, not just the entire thing. The CCNA skims just the top of each of the CCNP exams while the CCNP goes not only into depth but throws in a lot more of the industry technologies and goes into depth into those as well...

shednik

I don't think the CCNA in anyway will compare to a 642 level exam...I'd say less than 10% I haven't been actively studying recently but I'll tell you that the CCNA is only tipping the iceberg when it comes to R&S.

AlexMR

Thaks for all your replies, guys. Lokrasa, that kind of analysis was what I wanted! Thanks.

I know the DENSITY of the material makes a huge difference and I do understand that the CCNA texts use way too many pages explaining the essentials. I think the Sybex book by Todd Lammle is more to the point, more dense IMHO.

Based on your experiences it seems that teh CCNA is not close to 30% of the CCNP...it should take me maybe 2 years of total study time...wow.

Thanks again!

xwesleyxwillisx

I would say 10% is a good estimate if you are basing that off the depth of the exams. Any 1 topic in the CCNA is expanded upon tenfold in the CCNP.

A good analogy is a 1 mile long and 1 ft deep puddle (CCNA) versus a 1 mile deep trench for every CCNP exam/topic.

Paul Boz

There's absolutely no comparison between the level of difficulty between the CCNA and CCNP. When I studied for the CCNA I thought it was one of the harder exams I ever prepared for and I'm practically a career student

The CCNP though, was a whole different beast. The CCNA is probably around 10% of the overall knowledge required for the CCNP and that's being generous.

miller811

I would also agree with Paul. I thought the CCNA was tough until I attempted the BSCI. It took me over 6 months to pass the exam. Also you cannot judge the material by how many pages are in the book. You will need to use several sources of material to pass a professional level exam. I was shocked on my first attempt for the BSCI at the quality and depth of the questions. You need to know more that fact and figures and definitions like the CCNA. You need to be everything about every topic. I guess that is why it is called a profesional certification.

AlexMR

miller811 wrote:

I would also agree with Paul. I thought the CCNA was tough until I attempted the BSCI. It took me over 6 months to pass the exam. Also you cannot judge the material by how many pages are in the book. You will need to use several sources of material to pass a professional level exam. I was shocked on my first attempt for the BSCI at the quality and depth of the questions. You need to know more that fact and figures and definitions like the CCNA. You need to be everything about every topic. I guess that is why it is called a profesional certification.

That seems top be the reason of many bad reviews and comments about some of the official study guides: People say they dont cover the whole material.

As i said, I now have a better idea about what a reasonable timeframe for the certification is.

Paul, I have a B.S in civil engineering which is considered to be tough, and I think the CCNA is probably the hardest thing Ive had to study for an exam. Not because it is remotely close to the depth and complexity of some things I had to study in during my undergrad years, but because it is the largest amount of material I´ve had to study for an exam. Now that I am done with all it doesnt seem like that much, until I find that trick question (most times theory) that appears to be way too carefully searched (with the obvious intention of making the exam harder, more than requiring more in depth knowledge of the topics IMHO) in the preparation exams.

The CCNA topics are generally taught in 4 periods in colleges. Ive never had to take an exam for 4 subjects. That is the only thing that makes it hard, but im speculating, as i havent taken the actual exam yet.

Thanks again.

ITdude

Paul Boz wrote:

The CCNP though, was a whole different beast. The CCNA is probably around 10% of the overall knowledge required for the CCNP and that's being generous.

Since this is an election year, I just thought that I would second that!

Mrock4

always remember..a test is simply a test..it's designed so people can study, pass it, and call themselves certified in that subject..it's designed so you can pass...

.....the CCIE however..is not.

ITdude

Mrock4 wrote:

always remember..a test is simply a test..it's designed so people can study, pass it, and call themselves certified in that subject..it's designed so you can pass...

.....the CCIE however..is not.

Is the CCIE then designed so you can fail?

iworms

ITdude wrote:

Is the CCIE then designed so you can fail?

CCIE is designed so that after passing it, you can retire and do consulting.

ITdude

Ah okay, now I get it. Thanks for enlightening me!

Plazma

Mrock4 wrote:

always remember..a test is simply a test..it's designed so people can study, pass it, and call themselves certified in that subject..it's designed so you can pass...

.....the CCIE however..is not.

I would say that the tests aren't designed for you to pass.. but their not designed for you to fail either.. their designed so you can test your ability at a certain level and push yourself to the limit and beyond.

As for the CCIE.. the days of you getting a CCIE # and writing your own paycheck + retiring early are over.. though it still is one of the most prestigious certifications in the entire IT industry.