Passed BSCI!

suffah

Whooo!

I studied for an unholy amount of time the past year (particularly in the last 3 months) and it felt so good to see a passing score after I clicked "End Exam". My hard work really paid off!

As usual it wasn't possible without this forum. I originally wanted to take the exam about a month ago, but after reading some horror stories I decided to push it back a month to really go over everything a few more times.

I'll make a more detailed update reply later with more specifics on how I prepared for the exam. I will say that The Official BSCI Self-Study Guide, The Lab Portfolio, Cisco's website, and Chris Bryant's video series are probably all you need to really, really know the stuff cold.

Thanks TechExams forum members! And thanks to the bloggers as well.

jovan88

Congrats man!

dynamik

Congrats!

On to BCMSN?

suffah

dynamik wrote: »

Congrats!

On to BCMSN?

Thanks guys and yep, BSCMSN! Gonna look into buying a 3550 or two, I hear they have dropped quite a bit in price on the used market.

Anyways, my main mode of study was just living in the IOS. At first I booted up my rack but it got too loud and quite frankly it was slow and ghetto managing configs and whatnot. I eventually moved over to GNS3/dynamips and it made a huge difference. I could have any random (CCNP) scenario up and running in just a few minutes.

I've complained about the Lab Portfolio in the past. My main beef with it is the way they present the labs. Every lab should have been presented as a "challenge lab" instead of walking you through the steps as they make you do the configs. An easy solution of course is to take notes and rewrite each lab into a challenge lab as you work through the book your first time. Then, when you go back to re-work the lab a few weeks later, you can really explore the commands without having the solutions hand-fed to you. I think over the course of 4 months I did each lab about once every 4 weeks, just enough to keep the material out of my brain so I had to do some thinking. The labs are pretty simple and straightforward but it's stuff you should know cold for the BSCI.

I also read the Self Study Guide 4 times cover to cover. This, along with Cisco's website pretty much solidified the concepts and theory. Chris Bryant's videos filled in some gaps nicely.

Honestly though just preaching the message to lab lab lab. It's been repeated here ad naseum but I feel like labbing it up is why I succeeded. Good luck to all.

Xenz

suffah wrote: »

Thanks guys and yep, BSCMSN! Gonna look into buying a 3550 or two, I hear they have dropped quite a bit in price on the used market.

Anyways, my main mode of study was just living in the IOS. At first I booted up my rack but it got too loud and quite frankly it was slow and ghetto managing configs and whatnot. I eventually moved over to GNS3/dynamips and it made a huge difference. I could have any random scenario up and running in just a few minutes.

I've complained about the Lab Portfolio here in the past. My main beef with it is the way they present the labs. Every lab should have been presented as a "challenge lab" instead of walking you through the steps as they make you do the configs. An easy solution of course is to make each lab into a challenge lab your first time through. Then, when you go back to re-work the lab a few weeks later, you can really explore the commands without having he solutions hand-fed to you. I think over the course of 4 months I did each lab about once every 4 weeks, just enough to keep the material out of my brain so I had to do some thinking. The labs are pretty simple and straightforward but it's stuff you should know cold for the BSCI.

I also read the Self Study Guide 4 times cover to cover. This, along with Cisco's website pretty much solidified the concepts and theory. Chris Bryant's videos filled in some gaps nicely.

Honestly though just preaching the message to lab lab lab. It's been repeated here ad naseum but I feel like labbing it up is why I succeeded. Good luck to all.

Agreed, there should really be an option at every certification level for challenges. I hear about the lab books like InternetworkExpert lab workbook and wish there was more material like that for the CCNA/CCNP.

The only time I ever felt like I was forced to learn or think about something differently was when you were forced into the deep end of the pool without floaties. I suppose the flipside to this is that you should have experience in a real environment and that could be your challenge so

The exam certification books have good open ended questions and scenarios though.

human151

awesome. *tips hat.

yeah its a great feeling pressing that end exam button.

I actually finished my 640-816 test with about 10 minutes to spare. For just a few minutes I just sat there and savored the moment...the moment of anticipation. Then click...Passed 882.

Its a wonderful feeling.

mikej412

suffah wrote: »

Whooo!

Congratulations!!

suffah

human151, haha I did the same thing. I finished with a bit of time and sat there glad I was finally done with it....I admit a part of my brain panicked though and started thinking "What if I failed?" I quickly hit the End Exam button after that.

networker050184

Congrats!

Cyanic

Well done!

captobvious

Congrats!

Good luck on the others.