Cisco Networking Academy

Hey guys, just recently found this forum doing some research on what equipment I should buy for my CCNA studies and wanted to ask what some people thought of this course.

A quick background on me. Most of my computer knowledge is self taught. I went to a one year "computer school" a couple of years ago thinking it would help me find a job since self taught experience means nothing on a resume. Ended up being a waste of money, but that is in the past.

I eventually found a job working as a consultant for a very small computer company here in Northern NJ. I mostly did on-site support and server installs/builds. None of our customers were really big enough for an advanced network. Most of my experience is with Microsoft Server technology.

I took 2 months worth of Cisco classes at that computer school and enjoyed it, but since I never got to use this stuff in the real world, I forgot everything I had learned. I got laid off from work last December and haven't had any luck finding a job. I figure since I have tons of free time I would attempt to work towards getting my CCNA and hopefully start a career in Networking.

I saw the local community college offers the Academy and thought about enrolling(they are starting semester 3 in the summer, so I assume I would have to wait until semester 1 to enroll, correct?)

Anyway, I'm basically wondering if this course is really worth the 1+ years and $3500 it is going to cost me to take it. I know I could probably learn most of this on my own if I REALLY pushed myself, but....

My biggest fear is that I will take this course and employers will still not hire me because of my lack of real world experience.

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Comments

notgoing2fail

You said you enjoyed Cisco for 2 months when you were learning it. So how well did you learn it?

Do you think you can pick yourself up from those 2 months and get back into the swing of things?

$3500 is a lot and you can get MAJOR equipment for that money. Do you trust yourself? Will you spend $1000 on equipment and learn Cisco yourself? Or do you need a teacher to push you?

sonic99

notgoing2fail wrote: »

You said you enjoyed Cisco for 2 months when you were learning it. So how well did you learn it?

Do you think you can pick yourself up from those 2 months and get back into the swing of things?

$3500 is a lot and you can get MAJOR equipment for that money. Do you trust yourself? Will you spend $1000 on equipment and learn Cisco yourself? Or do you need a teacher to push you?

I don't doubt myself being able to learn on my own. That's why I want to read some opinions on the course. It's 3.5 hours each day, 2 days a week for 14 weeks each semester.

With such limited classroom time and my experience with IT I'm a little unsure of how much I could really benefit by attending the school vs learning at home.

mikej412

There have been a few thread about the Cisco Network Academy.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/49234-cisco-academy.html

The Cisco Network Academy is good for the people who need the structure of a class and the threat of homework deadlines to get the work done. It's also good for people who want to check out Cisco without building their own home lab (until they decide they're going to stick with it).

The academy courses at a Community College are cheaper than taking the official courses -- and you have more time to learn the material. If you don't self-study before the official class (or a bootcamp type class) you'll probably spend most of the class lost and trying to catch up to the instructor.

And if you're one of the Instructor's top students, they may be able to hook you up with some of their industry contacts if you're looking for a job. If you're not one of the top students, or your instructor is "just a teacher" and not an IT Professional, then you still have access to the Community college Job Center.

When I decided to go for my Cisco Certifications I decided to attend my local Cisco Network Academy since I hadn't taken an exam in years -- and for the Lab access.

hermeszdata

mikej412 wrote: »

There have been a few thread about the Cisco Network Academy.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/49234-cisco-academy.html

The Cisco Network Academy is good for the people who need the structure of a class and the threat of homework deadlines to get the work done. It's also good for people who want to check out Cisco without building their own home lab (until they decide they're going to stick with it).

The academy courses at a Community College are cheaper than taking the official courses -- and you have more time to learn the material. If you don't self-study before the official class (or a bootcamp type class) you'll probably spend most of the class lost and trying to catch up to the instructor.

And if you're one of the Instructor's top students, they may be able to hook you up with some of their industry contacts if you're looking for a job. If you're not one of the top students, or your instructor is "just a teacher" and not an IT Professional, then you still have access to the Community college Job Center.

When I decided to go for my Cisco Certifications I decided to attend my local Cisco Network Academy since I hadn't taken an exam in years -- and for the Lab access.

Mike,

You nailed it here (as usual).

To the OP:

What it boils down to is "What level of committment does one have?"
Are you willing to give 1, 2,3, or more hours EVERY day dedicated to study?
Are you willing to lock the door to your office and dare anyone to disturb you while you study?

This is a career path that takes dedication to learning and understanding the fundimentals and how to apply them. Can you commit to, neglect your family/girlfriend, for the time necessary to complete this endeavour? If not, Academy or self study will result in the same! Frustration and failure!

I am fortunate in that my "better half" understands that my studies will facilitate a better income for us! She does not like the time I spend away from her, but when she comes into my office and I hold up a hand for her to stop, SHE DOES!

There are no easy answers/solutions. Everything depends on you and your level of committment.

The only thing that prevents me from sitting CCNA, CCNA Voice, CCNA Secrutiy is the cost of the exam(s)! I am self employed and was injured in a car accident on 4 December 2009. I am only able to work @ 35% of what I did before the accident! NO work, no income! I have survived by selling personal belongings. With that said, I hope to sit CCNA within 2 weeks!

Good luck,

John

notgoing2fail

hermeszdata wrote: »

Mike,

The only thing that prevents me from sitting CCNA, CCNA Voice, CCNA Secrutiy is the cost of the exam(s)! I am self employed and was injured in a car accident on 4 December 2009. I am only able to work @ 35% of what I did before the accident! NO work, no income! I have survived by selling personal belongings. With that said, I hope to sit CCNA within 2 weeks!

Good luck,

John

I am self-employed as well. I'm finishing up winding down a 4 year venture that I was working on with a couple of other partners.

Anyways, sorry to hear about the accident. I've been financing my studies 100%, every book, every equipment, we are all putting in a lot of faith into Cisco.

Hopefully the original poster of this topic can read what we're writing and see what kind of commitment it takes...

notgoing2fail

sonic99 wrote: »

I don't doubt myself being able to learn on my own. That's why I want to read some opinions on the course. It's 3.5 hours each day, 2 days a week for 14 weeks each semester.

With such limited classroom time and my experience with IT I'm a little unsure of how much I could really benefit by attending the school vs learning at home.

I'm not sure how busy you are, 3.5 hours a day isn't much. It's probably good for starters. Eh, I guess 3.5 hours is ok, but hey, once you really catch the Cisco bug, you're going to put in more than that.

It may be good to go to the academy to really brush up on your fundamentals or you can just come here!!

But I don't know 3.5 hrs a day and it's only 2 days a week? hmm....

You know my mind is really getting old, I just realized, I took a Cisco academy at my local college too about 10 years ago! LOL...

sonic99

notgoing2fail wrote: »

But I don't know 3.5 hrs a day and it's only 2 days a week? hmm....

To me it just doesn't seen like enough time to cover a topic like this..

Thanks for the comments so far though. I did some research today and they have an open house next month I am going to attend and hopefully get a better look into what this program is about.

notgoing2fail

sonic99 wrote: »

To me it just doesn't seen like enough time to cover a topic like this..

Thanks for the comments so far though. I did some research today and they have an open house next month I am going to attend and hopefully get a better look into what this program is about.

That sounds like a good idea.

I don't really think those hours are good enough to be honest with you.

You have guys that spend 3-4 months on the CCNA with many more hours a day and many days a week....

mikej412

sonic99 wrote: »

To me it just doesn't seen like enough time to cover a topic like this..

When I did the Academy courses you were expected to spend about 10 hours outside of class per week doing the course work. Some people need more, some less.

steve514

My two cents -

I personally found the Cisco Network Accademy to be overpriced for what you actually get. Doing the self-taught route will teach you much more than those classes most likely will from my experience.

If you need the structure to learn though, then by all means go ahead. Everyone has a different learning style and in the end you've got to do what is best for you. Cheers!

curtisdaley

I studied CCNA1 and 2 in High School found CCNA very fun, we we're 16 and 17 at the time, the Lecturer would supervise us wiring up the lab equipment and would over see us doing the work, if needed he would step in and guide us to the problem, help us work out the problems and solutions to ourselves, he would answer questions if needed! We self read the theory stuff though and just had guidance on the practical, we could seek support on theory though!

CCNA2 was even funner, we were 18 and 19 at the time lecturer used to teach from the bored, explain classful and classless routing protocols, ip addressing, blah blah blah, supervised practicals, i found both semesters fun!

Both semesters took 3 to 4 months to complete, as we we're studying alongside other modules/subjects in school, i used to spend 15-20+ hours a week studying at home!