Half-Way Through ICND1 and cannot meet ICND2 old exam deadline - what to do???? Help.

I have been reading the ICND1 Official Cert Guide and I'm now halfway through. At the current pace I'm going with my studies, I feel l will finish and pass the ICND1 v1.1 exam without issues. However, making the Cisco deadline for the old ICND2 v1.1 exam set for 30 September 2013 will be hard for me.

What am I to do, I'm confused?

1) Do I cancel what I'm doing now and focus on the NEW CCNA Exams (v2.0), particularly the ICND1 v2.0 (100-101), and restart reading from scratch when the new books get released in a month or two??? OR

2) Do I continue reading and PASS the ICND1 v1.1 exam in June and then TAKE THE NEW ICND2 v2.0 exam AFTER 30 September deadline??? Is this allowed by Cisco????

I want to continue reading and pass the ICND1 v1.1 exam as soon as possible, while waiting for the new ICND2 v2.0 BOOKS to roll out (since ALL are not yet published - I checked Amazon and all new books are on pre-order). When the new books come out (in a month or two) I will start reading the new ICND2 v2.0 books instead and hopefully pass sometime AFTER September deadline. That's the solution I'm thinking but not sure if its allowed or feasible.

Thank for your advice Ladies and Gentlemen, all is highly appreciated.

Cheers.

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Comments

xza

really? I mean, I work fulltime and I finished odom's icnd 2 book in like 21 days. I figure I'll take the exam next month.

pamccabe

From what I understand, you can pass the ICND1.1 exam and then the new ICND2 2.0 exam and achieve CCNA. You can mix them like that. Oh, and you can take the new versions of the exams anytime from what I understand. The old ones just expire on Sept. 30th.

bigdhara

pamccabe wrote: »

From what I understand, you can pass the ICND1.1 exam and then the new ICND2 2.0 exam and achieve CCNA. You can mix them like that. Oh, and you can take the new versions of the exams anytime from what I understand. The old ones just expire on Sept. 30th.

If I can mix and match after September - this is great news thanks.

bigdhara

xza wrote: »

really? I mean, I work fulltime and I finished odom's icnd 2 book in like 21 days. I figure I'll take the exam next month.

Good for you, I guess, you are a prodigy and some of us are just ordinary I guess from your reply's tone. We too work full time have 4 kids to look after but cannot study at your super pace and FULLY grasp, understand and MASTER the Associate fundamentals required for a solid foundation in the Cisco World.

effekted

Yes you can mismatch exams. But as mentioned in numerous other threads, put forth the effort and dedication and you shouldn't have a problem doing both v1 exams by cutoff.

Main issue with mismatching is the knowledge gap between INCD1 v1 and INCD2 v2. If you aren't going to make the deadline for CCNA, you'll just need to put forth even more time and effort into INCD2 v2 compared to INCD2 v1.

Best of luck! Ideally I'll be 1-2 exams into CCNP by CCNA expiration.

Xyro

You're exactly where I am, half-way through Odom's book & facing tight deadlines. Like you, there is no way I can make that Sept. 30th deadline for ICND2, but I should be ok to achieve ICND1 by then.

Yes, Cisco allows you to take the old ICND1 & then the new ICND2. Those of us whom will have to end up doing it this way will just have to be certain that we fill in the knowledge gap between the 2 exams. I don't think that will be much of a problem though since, as I understand it, it's simply a matter of a lot of the (now) ICND2 material being moved to the (new) ICND1 exam.

acit1985

Cisco is best to do career. Competition is very less and good job opportunities are available.

wallpaper_01

bigdhara wrote: »

Good for you, I guess, you are a prodigy and some of us are just ordinary I guess from your reply's tone. We too work full time have 4 kids to look after but cannot study at your super pace and FULLY grasp, understand and MASTER the Associate fundamentals required for a solid foundation in the Cisco World.

No I don't think he was trying to insult you, I too have a full time job and I spend 4 days a week seeing my girlfriend leaving 3 nights to study, 3 hours per night. So maybe 9 hours per week? IF I pass ICND1 it will have taken me 1 month. I think ICND2 could take me 2 months. You have till the 30th Sep, so I think you could do it!

I'm using Todd Lammle's study guide, Packet Tracer, Boson Exam questions and CBT nuggets.

If you half the amount of study time I have (4 1/2 hours per week) it would take me 4 months to pass ICND2.

dazl1212

4x 1/2 an hour a night is about what I do. I have already done the N+ do you think it is possible I could do the ICND1 in a month?

ABuggs

bigdhara,

I know it can be tough when studying and trying to handle the everyday struggles of life, but when it comes to this industry just keep focused and stay learning. The bottom line is you will have to learn it eventually to be successful. You have about five months I think you can do it... I really do.

wallpaper_01

dazl1212 wrote: »

4x 1/2 an hour a night is about what I do. I have already done the N+ do you think it is possible I could do the ICND1 in a month?

Yeah Ive done N+ and straight off the bat I scored 60% on ICND1 without any studying (Boson Exam). 2 weeks for the theory and 2 weeks for the labbing... Then yeah you could do it!

dazl1212

Thanks for the info. I at least have subnetting near enough down. I think I'm going to try and do both before the cut off. I don't want a gap in my knowledge. Even if I fail I can get the Material for the new ICND2 and do the new exam. That way I'll have at least studied all the material either way.

wallpaper_01

Yeah I have my ICND1 in 2 weeks and think I will schedule ICND2 2 months later, so should be done by June if all goes well. Then might do Sec+ but not sure yet if to do that or maybe a MS server qualification.

dazl1212

Good luck man, keep us updated. Seems a similar route to me.

wallpaper_01

Yeah and also probably going for the same jobs as I'm only in Cumbria haha!

Good luck to you too!

dazl1212

Lol Cumbria is probably a little far for me. I mostly apply for jobs around Manchester or Preston.

bub9001

The way everyone is talking the new ICND2 or 200-101 isn't going to be all that much harder. It sounds more like the new ICND1 or 100-101 is going to get really hard. So if you get ICND1 640-822 finished up before Sept 30th, that filling in the gaps will be the biggest issue when testing for ICND1 200-101.

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.
William Penn

dave330i

I remember ICND2 being easier than ICND1, so if it'll take you 4 months to prep for ICND1, then 3 months should be enough to prep for ICND2.

ghoul

I've been trying to figure out which version to go with for a few days. After reading this thread I think I'm also going to buckle down and try my best to knock this out by the deadline. I just landed a network tech job, so I should get plenty of hands on experience to help me.

It's going to be a crazy summer, but at the very least I should be able to snag ICND1 by September 30th.
Now the question is... Do I get the book by Lammle or Odom?

Xyro

ghoul wrote: »

I've been trying to figure out which version to go with for a few days.

Just go with the newer version if you have not begun to study at all.

Now the question is... Do I get the book by Lammle or Odom?

Take a look at the style of each & go from there. I preferred Odom, as his work seemed more thorough to me; whereas, Lammle seemed more laid back & I do not care for that style of writing when it comes to technical books. I didn't like Odom's chapters on Subnetting but the rest of the book has been more than suitable thus far.

lrb

Get Odom, the books may be thicker and go a little 'above and beyond' the strict exam blueprint, but the more you learn for the CCNA exams the easier the CCNP will be when you roll around to it.

bub9001

ghoul wrote: »

Do I get the book by Lammle or Odom?

I have started Lammle's CCNA Study Guide, and plan on buying Odom's CCENT (ICND1), and his CCNA (ICND2) if time permits for me to finish the ICND2 before Sept 30th. I know that it is kind of over kill on books, but I need all I can get. I will say that Lammle keeps it light so not to lose you in the details. So far I like Lammle's writing style, but haven't seen Odom's so will reserve my opinion for when I do read Odom's.