Holy crow--ICND1 tomorrow (9/29).

Qbe

So how realistic are the Boson practice tests that come with Odom's ICND1/ICND2 books?

I thought I was pretty ready for the ICND1 and let the cancel/reschedule deadline pass. Finished up Train Signal ICND1, finished reading Odom for the second time, even sniped some cheap hardware on ebay for a little hands-on (Dynamips/GNS3 are great, but it's still good to have at least a little hands-on experience). I was doing fine with Odom's DIKTA quizzes and Bryant's sample questions...

...so this morning I decided to load up the Boson practice tests. WHOA. 50%??? 55%??? (Cram cram cram review review review) 61%????? Aargh. I guess I'm not as smart as I thought I was.

Granted, the Boson tests seem to like to hit me hard with RIP 1 and WLAN minutiae, but if their format is anything like the real exams I really wasn't prepared for the format. I've learned a lot of the factual material and can do subnetting practice problems quickly, but that's quite different from seeing a network diagram with 8 or 10 subnets and having to figure out which ones are incorrect.

Ten years ago I wanted to jump into IT, so I bought A+ and Novell CNA books, studied them for 2 weeks and passed both tests on the first try (and I'd never touched Netware in my life). This is a different world: you don't just have to know the material, you have to know how it should all work so you can find the spot where it's broken (and I felt a little thrill of victory in the practice test sim where I knew that I had to set the serial line to 'encapsulation ppp' without any indication of a protocol mismatch).

So I guess I'm resigned to my fate at this point. Tomorrow at 2 I'll go take the test and will do my best, but instead of the victory lunch on Tuesday I'm planning to be scheduling another try at the ICND1. And next time I WILL be ready.

But for now I'm off to review my notes one more time and get a decent night's rest (for the first time in a month). (And ignore my wife, who says "You always do this on the night before a test.)

jovan88

I've been told that you will find the Boson Exam to be harder than the actual test. As long as you know your stuff and can subnet you should be fine.

A sample of how the Cisco exams look can be found on the Cisco website and in the tutorial before the test starts.

Good luck, and don't stress because there's a 2nd chance offer!

the_Grinch

If I remember correctly most people say that if your getting 50 to 60% on Boson you'll have no problems. Good luck and rest up!

JavonR

I wouldn't sweat it man. Some practice tests are just terrible and thats a fact we just gotta accept sometimes.

I have my ICND1 exam booked for this Wednesday so we will see how it goes. I feel really confident on the material and usually score around 90%+ on all the practice exams I do. Then I will do other practice exams and only get 70%-80% as they are very poorly written etc. I particularly hate Odom's practice tests in the book as they seem so darn vague and are always select all that apply questions even though it doesn't even tell you that.

Make sure you post up your test results tomorrow, good luck to yah!

AlexMR

I was going to buy the preplogic test but they were rude on the chat and I didnt buy it. I will book my test for next tuesday, Sept. 30th. I think I am more than ready for this one, and actually I am feeling ready for the ICND2.

I havent seen the Boson exam but as somebody said it seems to be much harder than the actual ICND1 exam. It seems that not saying how many of the answers you are supposed to pick makes it a lot more difficult (i think it does but i dont know to what extent...).

Best wishes!

Phliplip112

i was having this same issues and i did fine on the exam. some questions on the exam aren't scored so that may or may not help you.

GL tomorrow

yuriz43

I'm taking ICND1 tomorrow as well.

I did the Boson practice test and had a similar experience.. I've heard many people say the Boson exam is harder then the actual test, so I guess we will see how it goes.

Qbe

Thanks for the feedback on Boson; I find it encouraging that I'm not the only one who was a little thrown by the Boson practice test.

On the other hand, the Boson test made me really buckle down and get serious about reviewing yesterday. It showed me at least a few things I didn't know. Since I didn't get any OSI questions from Boson, I do wonder how realistic it really is.

But there's no time to worry about it now. Only a few hours left. I'm warming up with some quality time at subnettingquestions.com (wow, I wish I'd known about that site weeks ago), reviewing some notes, configuring some equipment. Chris Bryant says not to cram on exam day, but for me that's one of the best times to cram--I always end up picking up some details that help me on the exam.

So thanks again for the input, everyone. Now that I've whined in public, I guess I'll have to post my score later, for better or for worse. I'm looking forward to putting this behind me..so I can move on to ICND2 and JNCIA??? What am I, crazy?


yuriz43: Best wishes on your exam today!

Glynixx

Good luck to both of you!

Hope to see your posts soon!

G.

mikej412

Good Luck!

Hoping for some success stories today!

Qbe

Whew.

Test was at 2. I dawdled over the exam tutorial and the survey to try to calm down, but fired up the exam when I realized the delay wasn't helping.

40 questions. I needed 804 points to pass.

I spent a half-hour on the first 10, then realized I'd better pick up the pace. No need to worry, though, because the last 15 were much easier than the first 25, and I finished in 55 minutes.

Final score: 925, and a high-five from the test center admin.

Yesterday the Boson test really threw me, but I'm really glad I tried it: as a result I reviewed some things that ended up on my exam today. It might not be a stretch to say that I might not have passed if it weren't for a) the Boson test and b) my Cisco equipment arriving on Thursday. The Boson test made me realize that the exam wouldn't just be a bunch of easy multiple-choice questions, so I dug in and studied more yesterday. The equipment gave me the opportunity to do some experimenting and get some hands-on IOS practice, which really helped.

So it's on to ICND2. This time I'm going to plan out a study schedule week-by-week, using Odom and Train Signal, doing lab work all along, and using Boson all along too. Since I've seen so many good things about CBT Nuggets, I might have to check that out too. Now that I know what the exam is like, I can direct my study a little more.

And I'm looking forward to hanging out here and asking questions/commiserating too. Thanks again to all of you for the input about Boson yesterday and the encouragement!

JavonR

Good job on the pass, hopefully I can have a similar experience on wednesday

AlexMR

Congrrats on the pass!!! I will schedule mine tomorrow for the day after!! I am feeling very confident and want to take ICND2 next week to have some spare time to take advantage of the second chance offer in case I fail. I am feeling very confident about this first exam and have my doubts about the ICND2. IThe difference between the two seems to be huge!

Congratulations!

rbutturini

Great job!

jovan88

Congrats on the good score, remember to get some very decent lab time in the for ICND2!

good luck

Megadeth4168

Congrats!