Passed the ICND1

Hello! Today I passed my ICND1 exam!!! I got a 937!

Over the past three months or so I have studied the Cisco Press ICND1 and 2 books, the Sybex CCNA book, the ebooks from Chris Bryant, all of the CBT Nuggets ICND1 material, and the Train Signal videos. I also took the Cisco Press practice exams that accompanied the official course material, and I even splurged on the Boson practice exams for the ICND1. I do own two 2621 routers and two 2950 switches, but most of the hands-on experienced on which I relied was from a 10-week CCNA course I had last year in college.

The most helpful source of material that I had was the ICND1 practice exam from Boson (the paid-for test, not the Cisco Press one). The questions were extremely similar in style and wording to the real exam. I could have passed the test without it, but it increased my confidence tenfold and really told me that I was ready. The Boson exams were recommended to me by members of this Website, and I now completely understand why they are so highly praised.

I've been in the networking field in same way or fashion for the past five years or so, and I must say that some of the stuff I studied was overkill. However, the long list of exam objectives on the Cisco website made me leery about "skimming" through chapters or just trying to get the "gist" of something.

But I will admit that I was quite nervous these past few days, and when I pulled into the parking lot of the testing center I started getting butterflies in my stomach. I stayed in my car looking over my notes for about half an hour before I managed to force myself to enter the building. It felt like I was walking into my doom!

I'm going to be taking my ICND2 exam in one month, and I certainly plan on purchasing the ICND2 Boson practice test after I finish reviewing the course material.

Thanks for listening to my story!

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Comments

MAC_Addy

Excellent score! Congrats!

ChickenNuggetz

Congrats!

jamesleecoleman

Congratulations on the pass!

The ICND2 is a tougher test. The test goes into way more detail and it will introduce a few new things unless you've heard of the topics. I suggest you checkout Practice Subnet Skills: A Place to Practice Your Subnetting Skills because it will really really help you with VLSM (under the design section). Using this website increased my subnetting score on the ICND2 test. I also suggest looking for more material on Frame-Relay and it doesn't hurt to go more into OSPF,EIGRP,RIP, and ACL.

epicdean

I was thinking of picking up the Boson test exam it's a little expensive but so is failing.

Roguetadhg

Congrats!

Boson's tests are harder than the real thing. Really.

Osiapstndp

jamesleecoleman wrote: »

Congratulations on the pass!

The ICND2 is a tougher test. The test goes into way more detail and it will introduce a few new things unless you've heard of the topics. I suggest you checkout Practice Subnet Skills: A Place to Practice Your Subnetting Skills because it will really really help you with VLSM (under the design section). Using this website increased my subnetting score on the ICND2 test. I also suggest looking for more material on Frame-Relay and it doesn't hurt to go more into OSPF,EIGRP,RIP, and ACL.

Thank you for the information. It's always good to practice subnetting!

Epicdean, I highly recommend the Boson practice exams. They are very similar to the real deal and should increase your confidence! The ICND1 questions that they offer are more difficult than the actual exam. They go into topics and details that may be beyond your real test, but that only serves to enforce what you already know.

I was on the fence about buying them, but after I made the decision to go for it I was happy. Boson does offer a "don't pass, don't pay" program, and to be frank that is what made me get them. Also, if you have the Cisco Press books, and have registered the exams that are included with them, you'll get a $20 discount.

MrXpert

Congrats on your pass!
I used the Boson Ex sim max ICND2 questions (about 150 questions total). I personally found them easier than the real exam. Although the Boson ICND1 exam is much harder than the real thing. They seem to have done a volte face on the ICND2. The real ICND2 exam was very difficult and filled will excessive verbiage aimed at making life harder. I did pass it first time and passed quite well although 15 seconds remaining on the clock was just too close for my liking.

epicdean

I have both the Cisco press book how do I go about getting the discount. A lot of people at my work have been using test king but I want to stay away from the brain ****.

Osiapstndp

MrXpert wrote: »

Congrats on your pass!I used the Boson Ex sim max ICND2 questions (about 150 questions total). I personally found them easier than the real exam. Although the Boson ICND1 exam is much harder than the real thing. They seem to have done a volte face on the ICND2. The real ICND2 exam was very difficult and filled will excessive verbiage aimed at making life harder. I did pass it first time and passed quite well although 15 seconds remaining on the clock was just too close for my liking.

MrXpert, based on your experience, would you recommend the Boson ICND2 practice exam? Until I read your post I didn't have any doubt that I was going to buy it, but now you've got me thinking otherwise.

Can you possibly explain why you thought the Boson questions were easier than the real exam? Whilst I was taking the real ICND1 exam I could make connections between it and the Boson practice test - the style of writing and the content was dead on. I appreciate your help. Thank you.

epicdean wrote: »

I have both the Cisco press book how do I go about getting the discount. A lot of people at my work have been using test king but I want to stay away from the brain ****.

Epicdean, you create an account with Boson when you install and register the exams that accompany the Cisco Press books. If you're interested in purchasing the real Boson practice test you can sign in to the same account that you created with the Cisco Press books. After that your account will reflect that you purchased those books (and the exams that came with them) and you'll be eligible for a $20 discount for some of their exams - including the ICND1 and 2.

Add the exam to your cart - you won't get the discount but you'll see the "Special Offers" button to the right. If you click on that you'll be able to find which exam you want and add that specific one to your cart. Afterward you can delete the exam that costs $99 and keep the one that costs $79. There may be a better way to do accomplish this, but it's how I did it and it worked fine.

zrockstar

Grats bud, great score. I'm just wondering why you didn't go for the composite CCNA exam seeings how you already read and studied all the ICND2 material as well?

ASUSTeK

Great Job. Congrats!

SharkDiver

Congratulations.
Great score.
Keep up the momenum.

boredgamelad

Hey hey, we're ICND1 score buddies! I just got a 937 last week

. Congrats on the pass.

Aman_saini

Congrats man way to go

veritas_libertas

Congratulations!

MrXpert

Osiapstndp wrote: »

MrXpert, based on your experience, would you recommend the Boson ICND2 practice exam? Until I read your post I didn't have any doubt that I was going to buy it, but now you've got me thinking otherwise.

Can you possibly explain why you thought the Boson questions were easier than the real exam? Whilst I was taking the real ICND1 exam I could make connections between it and the Boson practice test - the style of writing and the content was dead on. I appreciate your help. Thank you.

Please don't misunderstand me; I firmly believe that the Boson ICND2 ex sim max questions are still worth the money. The way it looks and feels is similar to the real thing. Uses the same exam engine as what they had in ICND1. But overall I found in the Boson ICND2 there were not enough actual configuration questions and they were too easy imo. Quite a lot of the multiple choice ones seemed a bit easy too. The access list questions (i think there's about 4 but still not enough really) in the Boson are very good and do make you think. Worth the money still and it will help you prepare but my advice would be to ensure when you take the real thing you have labbed loads and done a few timed practice exams. I'd suggest also going into the exam with some kinda game plan as to how long you're going to spend max on each question.I have read on here many ICND2 takers who have found the biggest enemy to be time. You might have already thought of this so sorry if i'm trying to teach you to suck eggs. I still think back now and remember how I rushed through the last 8 or 10 questions and finished with just 15 seconds left. Man I was so lucky to finish that exam in time. Praise Kelsier, praise the survivor.

boredgamelad

I studied ICND1 and ICND2 using the Boson exams (among other things). I passed ICND2 today. Interestingly, I felt that Boson's ICND1 questions were harder than the Cisco exam, but Boson's ICND2 questions were easier than the actual exam. There were some situations presented on the actual ICND2 that were absolutely not covered on the Boson exam so I'm thankful for the lab time I put in. I agree with MrXpert's conclusions, though--the Boson test was worth the money.

Osiapstndp

Thank you all very much for the comments. I'm about a month away from taking the ICND2. I'm going to review and work out labs for a couple hours a day for a few weeks then I'll start spending time taking the practice tests from Cisco Press and Boson.

I'll report after I take the real exam!

andy4tech

Congrats on the pass,keep on moving pal...............best of luck in your icnd2