Finally passed the CCNA today.. what a bear of exam!
Mr. Varaldo
Member Posts: 4 ■□□□□□□□□□
in CCNA & CCENT
After a couple of failed attempts (821/1000, 835/1000), I passed today - must have had some good angels helping me because I passed with 849, the minimum allowed!!! 
For the first 15 minutes I was bummed out that I passed with such a low score, but then I thougt about how many freaking nights I spent reading the books and practicing on the routers, time I could have spent with my family, and concluded - f that! A pass is a pass, no more CCNA nights for me, at least for three years!! 
I have to say, this was the toughest exam I ever took. I think what did it today, is that I nailed both sims. I still can't figure out what multichoice questions I didn't answer right... the results only give you percentages of the main areas you're not doing right (funny thing is that I had high percentage on , say, operations on the first exams, and low on the troubleshooting part, and then, the next exam, it would be totally reversed!!! That's because there are so many topics you have to know.
Anyway, I wanted to thank -again- the Webmaster for putting together the excellent study guides!!! I love those, you get the "meat without the fat".
It took four months for me to pass this mofo of an exam: I took a 6-week course at my local computer/certification training facility, and then studied for more than three months. I used the Wendell Odom CCNA Library (didn't like it very much, he's too much of a theorist imho), the Cisco Flash Card book (very cool and useful, but the sims on the test that's on the cd are way, way easier than the ones on the real exam!!), and the obligatory Sybex book by Todd Lammle (included with my class cost) which everybody seems to like - I did like it too, because it's a lot easier to read than the Odom books, and it's just ONE book as opposed to the Wendell Odom's volumes.
Oh, another thing: the books, the simulators, and the real routers and switches are well and good, but last week I also picked up one of those packages you can get on line from vendors like Transcender, ****, etc, that simulated the real exam, and I'm glad I invested the $62 because they give you real practice on the real format of the exam, which is also key - Cisco like tricky questions!. I bought the SavvyEngine one. I liked that the best because the questions looked like the ones on the exam. I also downloaded all the free demos I could get.
Basically to pass this exam you need to draw from different sources, i.e., the books, the simulators (or the real gear if you have it, but I don't think it's necessary to buy the real gear... I have the gear (2 1601s, 2 2500s, and a 3550) but could have learned everything through the simulators), and the question packages from the Internet.
My supervisor now suggests that I go for the CCNP (AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!! ) because that's what he is, but I was thinking to take a break from Cisco and get a Microsoft cert such as the MCP. I need a break from Cisco for crying out loud LOL I work in a department that sets up WAN connections to NHQ from various sites, and also deploys all VoIP solutions, 7940/60s and CallManager, Unity etc. I know I want to specialize in VoIP, since I work with these really knowleadgeable guys and if I work hard and try to understand what they are doing (and keep on the cert path), I can get the experience... but if the next Cisco CCNP exams are as difficult as the CCNA, I think it'll take me a looooong time to get there 
, but hey, I proved to myself that I could pass the CCNA coming from a non-technical background (Sociology BS college degree, WHAT was I thinking 10 years ago?) , so I'm ready to accept the challenge!
A final tip for those of you studying for the 640-801: DON'T DESIST!!! I was starting to get VERY frustrated, because I wasn't passing, and it seemed to me that I kept studying the same things over and over again... also, don't make my mistake, don't act nervous at the exam... you will run out of time if you freak out on one question or two, and waste time on it.. try to stay calm, relaxed.. and try to nail both sims - they obviously count for more points than the multiple-choice questions. My sims today were RIP (easy) and configuring a 2950 (not so easy because as we all know the switches' IOSs are funky) finding out the data you need from another switch on the network, but I also got OSPF sims, and access-list sims when I failed) Also important, of course, subnetting, Frame Relay (lots of frame relay!), OSPF (a lot of questions on this too!), Access Lists (make sure you read the questions carefully, the answers all tend to look the same, especially after an hour sweating on the exam), router commands, NAT/PAT, switches and STP, with VLANs an VTP thrown in for good measure, and some ISDN (yes, they do ask ISDN!).
Good luck to you all and I'll say it again, don't worry if you fail one, two, three, four or more times... if you keep trying and are determined, you will pass this exam - I'm living proof - LOL
By the way, my colleague who's also a CCIE voice, says I should now go for the CCDA, if I want to specialize in Voice Over IP... do you have any suggestion on what my next step should be? Since these Cisco exams are so demanding, I wouldn't want to make a wrong choice... Thank you in advance
For the first 15 minutes I was bummed out that I passed with such a low score, but then I thougt about how many freaking nights I spent reading the books and practicing on the routers, time I could have spent with my family, and concluded - f that! A pass is a pass, no more CCNA nights for me, at least for three years!! I have to say, this was the toughest exam I ever took. I think what did it today, is that I nailed both sims. I still can't figure out what multichoice questions I didn't answer right... the results only give you percentages of the main areas you're not doing right (funny thing is that I had high percentage on , say, operations on the first exams, and low on the troubleshooting part, and then, the next exam, it would be totally reversed!!! That's because there are so many topics you have to know.
Anyway, I wanted to thank -again- the Webmaster for putting together the excellent study guides!!! I love those, you get the "meat without the fat".
It took four months for me to pass this mofo of an exam: I took a 6-week course at my local computer/certification training facility, and then studied for more than three months. I used the Wendell Odom CCNA Library (didn't like it very much, he's too much of a theorist imho), the Cisco Flash Card book (very cool and useful, but the sims on the test that's on the cd are way, way easier than the ones on the real exam!!), and the obligatory Sybex book by Todd Lammle (included with my class cost) which everybody seems to like - I did like it too, because it's a lot easier to read than the Odom books, and it's just ONE book as opposed to the Wendell Odom's volumes.
Oh, another thing: the books, the simulators, and the real routers and switches are well and good, but last week I also picked up one of those packages you can get on line from vendors like Transcender, ****, etc, that simulated the real exam, and I'm glad I invested the $62 because they give you real practice on the real format of the exam, which is also key - Cisco like tricky questions!. I bought the SavvyEngine one. I liked that the best because the questions looked like the ones on the exam. I also downloaded all the free demos I could get.
Basically to pass this exam you need to draw from different sources, i.e., the books, the simulators (or the real gear if you have it, but I don't think it's necessary to buy the real gear... I have the gear (2 1601s, 2 2500s, and a 3550) but could have learned everything through the simulators), and the question packages from the Internet.
My supervisor now suggests that I go for the CCNP (AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!
) because that's what he is, but I was thinking to take a break from Cisco and get a Microsoft cert such as the MCP. I need a break from Cisco for crying out loud LOL I work in a department that sets up WAN connections to NHQ from various sites, and also deploys all VoIP solutions, 7940/60s and CallManager, Unity etc. I know I want to specialize in VoIP, since I work with these really knowleadgeable guys and if I work hard and try to understand what they are doing (and keep on the cert path), I can get the experience... but if the next Cisco CCNP exams are as difficult as the CCNA, I think it'll take me a looooong time to get there , but hey, I proved to myself that I could pass the CCNA coming from a non-technical background (Sociology BS college degree, WHAT was I thinking 10 years ago?) , so I'm ready to accept the challenge!A final tip for those of you studying for the 640-801: DON'T DESIST!!! I was starting to get VERY frustrated, because I wasn't passing, and it seemed to me that I kept studying the same things over and over again... also, don't make my mistake, don't act nervous at the exam... you will run out of time if you freak out on one question or two, and waste time on it.. try to stay calm, relaxed.. and try to nail both sims - they obviously count for more points than the multiple-choice questions. My sims today were RIP (easy) and configuring a 2950 (not so easy because as we all know the switches' IOSs are funky) finding out the data you need from another switch on the network, but I also got OSPF sims, and access-list sims when I failed) Also important, of course, subnetting, Frame Relay (lots of frame relay!), OSPF (a lot of questions on this too!), Access Lists (make sure you read the questions carefully, the answers all tend to look the same, especially after an hour sweating on the exam), router commands, NAT/PAT, switches and STP, with VLANs an VTP thrown in for good measure, and some ISDN (yes, they do ask ISDN!).
Good luck to you all and I'll say it again, don't worry if you fail one, two, three, four or more times... if you keep trying and are determined, you will pass this exam - I'm living proof - LOL
By the way, my colleague who's also a CCIE voice, says I should now go for the CCDA, if I want to specialize in Voice Over IP... do you have any suggestion on what my next step should be? Since these Cisco exams are so demanding, I wouldn't want to make a wrong choice... Thank you in advance
Comments
Thanks for the great post. I found it very helpful.
haha j/k
Congratulations! Way to go!!!
congrats on ur CCNA success
I'm gonna take it for the first time next week.
How many questions are in the exam?
I had my THIRD attempt at the CCNA today and got CRUSHED. Badly.
I went in to the exam thinking I knew pretty much everything inside-out - apart from OSPF and NAT...guess what I got hammered on?
Yep - one of my router-sims was totally based on OSPF and I just went blank and had to skip the whole lot. I had a total of SIX OSPF questions in the whole exam. My first attempt got me 770, second attempt 820 - this third attempt got me a poor 670.
The thing that bugs me about the CCNA is (and this is my humble opinion), no matter how much you know or think you know, those questions on the CCNA are designed to trip you up, rather than test what you actually know - make no mistake.
Had lots of those 'here are six possible answers: one is wrong, one might be right, two could be right, two are definately right. Choose the best three answers' - typical Cisco questioning which I believe no other company deals in that stringently.
Also, topics such as OSPF, NAT, Route Summarization are not covered deep enough for the type of question posed in the exam.
I'm not sure if/when I'm going to take this exam again, $125 a go and you start to question if your bank-balance is actually worth it - I might change track completely and go down the MCSE route....
but i think i will keep on trying....
it's a tough test...can't say that i like the cisco testing style much. i thought micorsoft was tricky but cisco takes it to a new level, plus the race against the clock is nerve wracking for me. has anyone been able to (or bold enough take time to) enter comments on questions while taking the test?
but congrats on your pass (it's a real accomplishment)....and thanks for the inspiration.
I scored an 827. If I had been just a little sharper on that last sim I would be typing a completely different reply to this post right now, but I'm all studied up for this thing so I'm not waiting long to retest, perhaps Thursday or Friday. Man, it will be soooo nice to get this thing behind me!
i have been going through something similar when i realize a few of the questions that i answered incorrectly...thinking i know that, i should have remained calm and thought about the answer a few seconds more...but the time really does a number on me.... i remember praying not to get a sim after question 40 when i already had two and about less than a minute per question left.
ended up finishing with a precious 1.5 minutes that i wish i could have used on a couple of questions
but oh well... the quest continues.
Actually, when you think about it, the stupid things aren't difficult - its the lack of time that throws a wrench into the works.
one question, Which transcender did u pick-up. i was also looking into a using a transcender.Thanks again in advanced.
but honestly, how did the one you bought perform?
am planning to do the 640-801 by end of January.have read the whole of todd lammel's book.am now on Odom's ICND. am also trying to get my hands on some trancenders especially the one's giving me proper labs.have any suggestions?
-luik
cheers