What's Next ?

fieldmonkey

Ok, I finished the books by Odom (ICND2) and I have other resources but finding it hard to get a warm and fuzzy filling inside (enough to book the exam)...

As someone once stated on here, it's like the more I study the more it seems I forget at this stage....is that normal?

I've created study sheets and they seem too cluttered at this point and need to be consdensed to something more specific and more related to show commands needed for the exam and troubleshooting help. I have created study sheets based off the memory tables and I have been configuring some labs Packet Tracer and I guess I will go over the DIKTA questions soon, along with revisiting subnetting too....

What else can I do because I kind of nervous about scheduling the test, but I am soooooooooooo ready to get this one behind me. I also think I am losing all motivation at time and need a swift kick in my a$$ ... I didn't come this far to not schedule the test and I [EMAIL="d@mn"]d@mn[/EMAIL] sure don't wanna schedule it to only fail it.

Thanks for any feedback....

fieldmonkey

CiskHo

fieldmonkey wrote: »

As someone once stated on here, it's like the more I study the more it seems I forget at this stage....is that normal?

Normal for me

I say do one of two things:
1) Book test for next week and go take it.
2) Take a week off from studies. Then when you get back to it study for a couple weeks and then take the test.

Even if you fail the test the 1st time its not a big deal. You will come out a winner because you will see how the exam is structured and will know what to expect the next time around. Also, be prepared for a long/sim type question early on. Don't think they will save the heavy stuff for the end of the exam....

notgoing2fail

fieldmonkey wrote: »

As someone once stated on here, it's like the more I study the more it seems I forget at this stage....is that normal?

I've mentioned this myself but it's quite normal. There's just so much information to remember, that's why it was extremely critical for me to take the exam recently....

See more below...

fieldmonkey wrote: »

What else can I do because I kind of nervous about scheduling the test, but I am soooooooooooo ready to get this one behind me. I also think I am losing all motivation at time and need a swift kick in my a$$ ... I didn't come this far to not schedule the test and I d@mn sure don't wanna schedule it to only fail it.

I was in the same boat recently. I was at a peak, a breaking point in which, quite honestly, I just didn't want to look at another CCNA topic again. I was starting to feel the burn out yet, at the time, I hadn't taken the test.

I knew that if I took a couple days break, it was going to be over, I was going to lose interest and forget even more. It was a very very critical point for me to schedule the exam and go for it.

My concern was all this studying and the fear of failing the exam if I thought I was ready but really wasn't. There's really no way to know until you take the exam and find out....

mikem2te

Knowing when your ready for the exam is not easy, have you tried any of the exam simulations out there. The ones on the CD in the ODOM book are awesome.

I felt very much the same with my CCENT and ICD2. When I went to book the CCENT I expected to be able to have a pick of dates from within a few days notice onwards, not a chance, there was a six week wait - there was exceptional demand in Wales due to the Welsh Governenment making training money available to people who lost their jobs in the recession. Then one day I looked on the Vue site and there was a single exam slot free for the very next day, a cancellation slot I guess. I had no option than to give it a go - it forced me to get of my a$$ and I'm glad it did having passed them both.

I thought whats the worst that could happen apart from waste the exam fee and suffer a small confidence knock. Even if I did fail I would atleast know my weaknesses and therefore know what to concentrate on next to ensure it gets nailed the next time.

chrisone

Your CCNA Cisco press books come with very usefull practice exams from Boson. I would suggest you practice and run through those 10 times! if you fail a question they give you a reason why you missed it, why the correct answer is correct, and why the others are incorrect, followed by pages where you can follow up the answer in the book. Definitely do not sleep on those "FREE" practice exams provided to you when you purchased your books! G.L.

fieldmonkey

Thanks for all the great advice... just got off work, hitting the gym then gonna do the practice exam and assess where I'm at.

I see it isn't odd that I feel this way---I was starting to think I was just wetodd it.

fieldmonkey

Wow ... dissappointing so far ... Boson is kicking my a$$ ... I was all excited initally, after 10 or so questions and I'm in high 60's... Then I quickly discovered I had been putting off my subnetting practice wayyy too long....

Oh!! and those early chapters in ICND2, dealing with VLSM and route summarization, along with overall comprehension of VLANS, trunking and STP ... you know the ones you read through and say, "Cool, I get the concept" ... and you keep moving on...

Uh huh, yea, right!!! My score drop like a rock in water into the low 50's after hitting this speedbump! ... Guess who is revisiting those chapters this weekend after brushing up on their subnetting?!?!

weaponmaster

You can try this learning site from Cisco, but you have to register an account in order to do their practice test.

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/ccna/ccna_exam?tab=practice