CCNA or ICND1 +ICND2

skocos

I'm interning at a network infrastructure company. My boss told me the best plan of attack from what he's seen is to take them separately and just study on your own. He told me how many people that used to work here failed because he thought preparing for the whole thing at once made it that much more difficult. I'm just curious as to how many people take it that or didn't and wish they would have. I'm probably going to take his advice either way as soon as I take the N+ in July.

networker050184

You have to learn it all anyway unless you plan to just "learn to test" and forget it all after the exam. I say less time in the exam room the better but a lot of people seem to like the two exam method.

YFZblu

Unless you have experience with Cisco or you are re-certifying, I recommend the two exam method. From what I hear the time constraints are a huge issue with people taking the CCNA composite exam.

Illumanati

skocos wrote: »

My boss told me the best plan of attack from what he's seen is to take them separately and just study on your own. He told me how many people that used to work here failed because he thought preparing for the whole thing at once made it that much more difficult.

Given the above and below "quotes", the two exam path makes way more sense. Releatively less material means more time to cover less material and also covering it in less time. For example, you don't have to know ALL the details of the WAN protocols, wireless or maybe troubleshooting etc.

1. You're going to have to remember this material for the rest of your life and not just to pass the exam so you might as well give yourself enough time for it to really sink in and for retention for the long-haul. Remember what we learned in grade-school, "Read, Recite, Review." Well, there is less accountability when there is less material as well as long-term absorption and not "learning just to test".

2. You desire to walk-in with the attitude "I got this" which means an extreme amount of confidence and no nervousness that you won't perform at your highest level. This lends itself well to the two-test path where there is less material you have to deal with.

3. If you have never taken a timed exam where you have to answer each question in about a minute to minute and a half then two test method lends itself well to your lack of experience. (related to #2)

4. This is a tough exam and you want to improve you odds of passing it the first time and no retakes like the many accounts of failures here for both ICND1 and/or ICND2 and especially full composite exam. (related to #2)

5. Given the above 4, do you really want to risk failing, have a "failure in Cisco's "registrar"" or would you rather get the confidence of passing relatively easier ICND1 exam and increase the likelihood of passing ICND2 even more?

The answer is clearly the two-exam approach both from a getting the confidence of passing a timed exam POV, long-term learning POV, confidence to pass ICND2 (which is tougher) and avoiding failing composite. (toughest route)

networker050184 wrote: »

You have to learn it all anyway unless you plan to just "learn to test" and forget it all after the exam.

What I want to know from those who have passed ICND1 and/or ICND2 is what and where is the cutoff of material that is not covered in ICND1 but begins in ICND2 or is there a way to tell exactly. I would assume Sub-netting, routed protocols (IP) and basic routing protocols (RIP) and some Cisco IOS is in ICND1 while maybe all the WAN protocols, wireless and maybe advanced troubleshooting with Cisco IOS is in ICND2? Is it this clear-cut?

YFZblu

Illumanati wrote: »

What I want to know from those who have passed ICND1 or ICND2 is what and where is the cutoff of material that is not covered in ICND1 but begins in ICND2 or is there a way to tell exactly. I would assume Sub-netting is in ICND1 and maybe some WAN protocols, wireless and maybe advanced troubleshooting is in ICND2?

That's the thing, there isn't really a cutoff - ICND1 focuses on routing and switching logic. To pass ICND1 you mainly need to know how data traverses a LAN and between LANs, and you need to know how to subnet. You still need all of that knowledge for ICND2, so I don't see a test taker forgetting ICND1 material but still passing ICND2. That would be impossible IMO.

ICND1: Switching logic, routing logic, switch port security, RIP, RIPv2, Subnetting, cabling, pinouts, PPP, HDLC, Wireless

ICND2: Switching logic, routing logic, STP, VTP, EIGRP, OSPF, Frame Relay, ACL's, IPv6, VPN, VLSM, Autosummarization

veritas_libertas

networker050184 wrote: »

You have to learn it all anyway unless you plan to just "learn to test" and forget it all after the exam. I say less time in the exam room the better but a lot of people seem to like the two exam method.

I actually think I'm learning and maintaining more by the two test method, rather than cramming for the entire CCNA. I'm not arguing against what you are saying, just giving what my experience has been like so far.

matt333

the two test route is the way to go. I highly recommend it

skocos

Thanks everyone! If my mind wasn't 100% sure made up before it definitely is now!

NotHackingYou

I did the two test route and it worked out well for me.

Illumanati

skocos wrote: »

Thanks everyone! If my mind wasn't 100% sure made up before it definitely is now!

Don't be so sure. If tomorrow you get a nice CCNA lab setup or you buy some pricey online lab sim and you get into a nice groove of watching videos and reading things and you start to roll quickly, you might have a shot at the one exam but it all depends on YOU and YOUR PROGRESS LEVEL and the RESOURCES you utilize. In school, you got progress reports before you got Final grades. If you can progress where you can give yourself progress reports on CCNA then you might have a shot at the one exam.

The only problem I have with ICND1 is it seems too easy and I feel the hard stuff is stacked on ICND2 namely the WAN protocols. However, since subnetting is in ICND1, it might balance out but I'm starting to think subnetting isn't all that hard and the hard part is going to be remembering the details of the WAN protocols. It's all about your progress and how you do in sample exams. Once you make significant progress where you can give yourself a progress-report, take sample ICND1 and full exam and determine from there. You can't actually decide until you make significant progress and by then you might change your mind and feel confident enough to do the full CCNA!

bermovick

To be honest, I really see NO reason to go the one-test route. Sure it's fewer questions total, and only 1 trip to the exam center rather than 2, but you also have to worry about remembering EVERYTHING, and I've heard somehow you feel the time constraints a lot more.

First off, each exam is 1/2 the price, so if you happen to not pass, you're only out half as much.
Secondly, and especially if you're new to cisco, the sheer amount of material involved makes it easier to break it into smaller chunks.
Even if you're recertifying, I don't see why you wouldn't just take the $125 icnd2...

I have yet to take a cisco exam, no matter how ready I felt I was when scheduling, where I wasn't positive I had failed about halfway through. Perhaps I'm just being conservative, but the 2-exam route just seems the better deal no matter how you look at it.

zrockstar

I am going for the composite exams, but I just finished the Cisco Net Acad at my college, so essentially I have been studying for a year. If I was to self study though I would definitely go the 2 exam route, especially coming fresh of Network+ studies because a lot of that basic info will transfer over to the ICND1. Sounds like you have a good plan going the two exam route, I would stick to that unless you start getting into the material and feel like you know everything already.

elderkai

I learned it all and had a lot of time with the material, then I studied and labbed a bunch the two weeks or so upcoming to each exam date. I would have to agree that separating the exams gives you more time to let it soak in, in my opinion.