Passed today!!

in CCNA & CCENT
Passed today with a 960/1000. During the test I thought I had failed for sure. I didnt get a sim until two questions from the end. I actually only got one sim. I know alot of people say that they aren't in the cisco curriculum, but I had read that they updated the test questions not too long ago. I read up on these three subjects and was glad that I did. Had a number of questions on the test regarding those three topics. My recommendation is to read as much as u can from the Cisco website about these topics. I read just about every article they had. I studied with a home lab and a few different study materials. The study materials included Testout, CBT Nuggets, and as much info as I could get from this wonderful site and all the others. I used the Boson Netsim 6 also, but I found it to be problematic and discarded it and only used it for Frame Relay and ISDN sim's, which I couldn't do in my home lab. 
WOW! Feels like a giant "cert" monkey off my back. I feared this exam for a number of years. It really does deserve alot of study. It is not an easy exam and you have to know what you are doing to take this exam. You can not go in just off of reading the books and pass the exam IMHO. You have to have some face-to-face time with the sims and/or real-world labs.
I unfortunately forgot to check the "tab" and "?" questions that so many people have had. I was thinking all the way down to the testing center to make sure and check to get a solid answer on these questions, but for anyone that has taking cert exams before, you know how everything kinda gets flushed outta the brain once the exam starts.

WOW! Feels like a giant "cert" monkey off my back. I feared this exam for a number of years. It really does deserve alot of study. It is not an easy exam and you have to know what you are doing to take this exam. You can not go in just off of reading the books and pass the exam IMHO. You have to have some face-to-face time with the sims and/or real-world labs.
I unfortunately forgot to check the "tab" and "?" questions that so many people have had. I was thinking all the way down to the testing center to make sure and check to get a solid answer on these questions, but for anyone that has taking cert exams before, you know how everything kinda gets flushed outta the brain once the exam starts.

Comments
This is exactly what i did. I read Lammle once, tried to configure Frame-Relay, ISDN and OSPF overnight and marched on to battle. I might have missed one or two but i'm reloading and coming back for more.
Me> Hey Testmaster. When can we do this again?
Testmaster> As soon as you have made enough money to waste.
Can you please let us know the three subjects (as per your message) that you prepared well?
You need not tell us the questions but giving the names of the topics should be ok perhaps.
Thats great you did that. Maybe it's just me then. I am more of a learn by example person. I love to read books but more to the science fiction topic then tech books. I seem to barely remember that much when I read as compared to when I see it via a CBT or do it by simulator.
I thought I had put it in my message, but after re-reading it I see I left it out. I apologize. Too many celebratory beers.
Hey wirerat thats a hefty score you got there.
81% of pure cisco in my head.
Ahhh. I misunderstood you. I thought you were saying you had just read the book and passed the test. I agree with you on the braindumps. What is the use of getting a certification if you really don't understand the technology behind what the cert is for. Seen too many people get hired that had the certs and once they got into a "rock and a hard place" type situation they crumbled. Tells you real qucikly that they used the braindumps and so on to get the certs. Makes it harder for you and me as the real pros to get jobs sometimes. In regards to your comment on the wording of the questions, I agree completely. I had read that it was hard to "decipher" some of the questions. I was expecting to spend quite a few moments just trying to figure out exactly what type of answer was being looked for, but the questions just didnt feel that way.