Cisco's $10 Million in Scholarships for Cyber

Hi,

same, December as well. Anyway, when we are starting in like 2 months, I would like to raise a question about study resources. As well as others I would like to pre-study something, so I can pass faster and kill some Christmas boredom.

So my question is, does anyone has an experience with the official guides? I have just looked on Amazon to check the price and reviews and some bad reviews catch my eye. Amazon Link is one of them. Can somebody who has already experience review the books a bit? Honestly I have already bought technical books before and actually a good portion of them are really bad. People really write garbage very often. The errors in the link above are really ridiculous sometimes and I do not want to spend 70 USD for badly written - un-reusable resources of nonsense. I will prefer to pay those for online resources or different book if the quality is questionable.

EnderWiggin

Dec 28th here as well

hxhx

I got accepted as well. I will be in the December cohort. It was possible to choose two cohorts in 2018 (April-August, August-December)

I look forward to learning with you all.

Our records indicate that you’ve successfully completed the Prequalification Exam with a score 75% or higher in the required timeframe. Your score was 83%.

Congratulations! You've completed the hardest part of the application process. We are now inviting you to Step 3: the Student Preference Survey. The information you provide us with will allow us to schedule your start date in the program. Students must complete this final step in order to be accepted into the program.

Please complete this survey no later than December 9, 2017.

Please note: We are actively accepting applications for Cohort 5 which begins December 28, 2017, and ends April 28, 2018. If you would like to participate in this cohort, you will need to complete the entire application process no later than December 8, 2017. No exceptions will be granted for students requesting to participate in Cohort 5 after this date.

Please Read and Review the Following Frequently Asked Questions

I submitted my survey - does this mean I'm accepted to the program?
Yes! Candidates must complete all 3 steps of the application process before they are accepted into the program. Once you submit the Enrollment survey, you will receive your acceptance and cohort confirmation notice via email.

When will I hear back regarding results of the Enrollment survey I just took for the Cybersecurity Scholarship program?
Results for this Enrollment survey are processed every Monday. Candidates will be sent a confirmation email within a week of their submission with directions regarding their cohort start date. The entire application process takes approximately a month to complete. Some Candidates have a longer application experience if they take more time to complete the directions outlined in each step.

Is there a time limit on the Application process?
Yes. We ask all candidates to take no more than 30 days to complete each step of the application process, or 90 days to complete the entire application process. We will do our best to reach out to any candidates that appear to have stalled in the application process.

If it is determined that you have stalled, your application will be marked as “Inactive” and you will need to contact us in order to have it reactivated.

What if something goes wrong?
Create a ticket here: https://ciscocert.secure.force.com/english/MainPage. It will be filed with the right person to help you with your question. We are in this together!

hxhx

Do they mail out books or is everything digital?

SleepCZ

hxhx wrote: »

Do they mail out books or is everything digital?

No. everything is digital. Books are optional, considering their buying, but could not find any review. Seems like an expensive paper weight.

PC509

December cohort as well. I am really looking forward to this! Hope to study and interact with some of you!

Elegyx

Looks like there's a few of us. Starting the December cohort myself.

fitzlopez

SleepCZ wrote: »

No. everything is digital. Books are optional, considering their buying, but could not find any review. Seems like an expensive paper weight.

They give you an online course, pretty good one BTW. The books you buy yourself, either ebooks, paper ones or both. Like in my case that I didn't notice that the paper book included testing software.

The mentors tell me that the online course and reading of the NIST documents should be enough. The labs are great, but I always like to have a reference book.

SleepCZ

Yeah, that's what I would like as well. Having a reference book even for a train reading. But I have read comments and it seems that the books are not as good as you would expect from official guide books. Any idea a book?

esr0159

So a lot of us are starting in the December 28. Hope to interact with you guys

Wonder if we should have a study group ?

techlvr81

I was accepted also to the program! I picked the December 28th cohort as well. Really looking forward to this.

xagreus

I'm also in the Dec. cohort.

Cisco Press's deal of the week this week (eBook Deal of the Week | Cisco Press) is the Official Cert Guide, Premium Edition (ebook + practice test) for SECOPS 210-255. It's $25 instead of $50. I bought it a few minutes ago so I haven't had the chance to look over it yet, but for half price, I figured it was worth a shot. On Amazon, the OCG alone is $41 for hardocover and $31 for the ebook.

IronmanX

I did the test on Friday.
I didnt notice a timer so now im paranoid i went over.
I did the test during my lunch at work took my time. When i got close to the end i looked for a timer and didnt see one. I figured i was 5 mins away from 45 min limit so i did the last dozen or so questions quickly.

Scored almost 90% thought i would get an email today so now im paranoid i went over or something.

Anyone go over the time limit?

hxhx

IronmanX wrote: »

I did the test on Friday.
I didnt notice a timer so now im paranoid i went over.
I did the test during my lunch at work took my time. When i got close to the end i looked for a timer and didnt see one. I figured i was 5 mins away from 45 min limit so i did the last dozen or so questions quickly.

Scored almost 90% thought i would get an email today so now im paranoid i went over or something.

Anyone go over the time limit?

I looked for a timer and couldn't find it either. I was wondering if the bar on the bottom was the timer, but not sure.

They have been sending emails around 10PM CDT on Monday night and Thursday night. Don't know if they are adjusting for time changes or anything else.

wayne_wonder

Everyone is waiting on the emails today it seems loads og people in the facebook group are yet to receive theres

IronmanX

wayne_wonder wrote: »

Everyone is waiting on the emails today it seems loads og people in the facebook group are yet to receive theres

Thanks for the info.
I received the survey money results saying "Nicely done"

wayne_wonder

IronmanX wrote: »

Thanks for the info.
I received the survey money results saying "Nicely done"

Yeah I got the same last Thursday was expecting to be doing step 3 day but no email

orcwar

Congratulations!

You’ve been accepted to the Cisco Global Cyber Ops Scholarship. Our records indicate that you are enrolled in:

Cohort 5 (Start Date 12/28/17 - End Date 4/28/1

As your cohort start date approaches you will receive email communications from the Program with directions on how to get started.

Students will not receive access to the My Learning portal until their cohort start date. The MyLearning portal contains all of your scholarship materials including:

Self-study eLearning course materials for SECFND and SECOPS
Exam vouchers to pursue the Cisco CCNA Cyber Ops certification
Technical discussion boards
Session dates for Mentoring
And access to so much more

Thank you all for pointing this scholarship to me!

PC509

You beat me to the post!

I just got the same email!

Cohort 5 as well!

Good luck! If you see dharper100 or PC509, that's me!

LSagee

I'm in too. Cohort 5. Looking forward to seeing you all.

IronmanX

I received the Step 3 notification at noon.

Thinking I'm going to pick a later cohort.

I see the options in step 3 are:
Cohort 5 (Start Date 12/28/17 - End Date 4/28/18
Cohort 6 (Start Date 04/02/18 - End Date 08/02/18
Cohort 7 (Start Date 07/06/18 - End Date 11/06/18

aldoilici1

Quick question for those who already took the exams ... what's the voucher's expiring date? ... And do I have to actually take the exams during that 4 months window or just schedule the tests (and "consume" the vouchers)?
Thanks!

TheFORCE

Got the email for the step 2 per-qualification exam early morning and took the exam as soon as I woke up. Skipped 2 questions accidentally or the mouse click didn't take. Still managed to pass it and now waiting for the 3rd email this Thursday. hoping I get selected also.

wayne_wonder

I start in Cohort 5 December 28th looking forward to it and getting this done and dusted by April cant turn down anything free and relevant to your role

TheFORCE

wayne_wonder wrote: »

I start in Cohort 5 December 28th looking forward to it and getting this done and dusted by April cant turn down anything free and relevant to your role

It's a great opportunity that will definitely help lots of people.