Took my 640-802 today...

...and scored a 818. So, guess I need to freshen up on a few things, but now I know what to expect. The biggest killer for me was my time management. Got hit with 2 labs pretty early and had to speed thru the multiple choice questions to finish under the time limit.

Being able to subnet quickly helped me finish the exam, but I'm pretty sure I didn't fully read the questions on some cause of the time.

But the experience has helped and I'll know what to expect next time.
What I used to study for this was Todd's CCNA study guide, subnettingquestions.com, and packet tracer.

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Fish!

A good rule of thumb that has helped me tremendously is to spend no more than 10 minutes on a simulation. You DO get partial credit for work in simulations, so they don't have to be perfect to get points. My attitude is that on a sim if I haven't got it after 10 minutes I probably am not going get it. That time is better used on other questions.

The CCNA composite exam is as much about time management as it is knowing the information COLD. The bar is set pretty high on that exam.

The Lammle books are awesome. I am partial to his FastPass book myself.

djhss68

Geez, what's the passing score for the composite? Is it different for ICND 1 and 2.

Kaminsky

gig wrote: »

...and scored a 818. So, guess I need to freshen up on a few things ...

How close to the pass were you with that score ?

msethk

You gotta make an 849 on the 640-802 for those who are asking...

SrAtechie

Good luck on your retake! I'm sure you'll nail it on the next go-around. I have a couple of friends who just took the 802 and they all had commented about the time (or lack therof) during their exams. I took the two test route thinking that I'd have an easier time but it didn't help much. I had a minute left and 4 questions for ICND1 and 6-7 questions with a minute left for my ICND2 exam. And as you mentioned, you have seen the test and now have lost the fear of the unknown. That right there is probably worth another 30 points on your next score because you won't suffer from the test jitters!

mikej412

gig wrote: »

...and scored a 818. So, guess I need to freshen up on a few things, but now I know what to expect.

Um, so that means I should say "better luck next time"... right?

Cisco Come Back 2009 Promotion

The promotion was for people who let they Cisco Certification expire.... but the wording is kind of ambiguous and people have been using it like the old SecondChance promotion. You may as well give a shot and see if you can get a free retake -- it's worked for other people.

SrAtechie

What? Only for people with lapsed CCNA's? Madness! Who would do such a thing! Seriously, I thought the same thing. It was actually the secretary at the testing center who mentioned it to me. I told her I didn't think it applied to me but she was insistent. So I bet her a box of donuts that it wouldn't work. I had to call her back the next day with a very important question. "Hey, I'm coming back next week for my retest. So... did you want sprinkles, or did you want them chocolate covered?"

gig

Actually the passing score is 825, so just 7 points off...
But, I'm confident I'll do much better next time.

Lammle's book covered everything I saw in the exam, so there really wasn't any surprises, just need to do a little more studying on my weaker subjects. Which happen to be VTP, VLANs, and WAN. Everything else I've pretty much got down pat.

LT72884 wrote: »

better luck next time bro. Did they ask about admin distances for different routing protocols?

Lets just say you should know them

mikej412 wrote: »

Um, so that means I should say "better luck next time"... right?

Cisco Come Back 2009 Promotion

The promotion was for people who let they Cisco Certification expire.... but the wording is kind of ambiguous and people have been using it like the old SecondChance promotion. You may as well give a shot and see if you can get a free retake -- it's worked for other people.

Thanks for the link! Will give it a go, hoping to knock it out in the next week or 2 so its still fresh in my head.

genXrcist

Good luck on your next attempt! I squeeked by on this one with an 836. I ended up with 7 minutes left because I skipped an entire sim cuz I knew I wasn't going to get it right. By doing that I gave myself enough time to really ensure I was understanding the rest of the questions and sims. My thought is that made all the difference as I was able to do well enough on the rest of the exam to overcome skipping the Sim.

Again, best wishes!

peteralf

Get back on the horse!
Where did you get packet tracer? I've looked at the Cisco site but you need to be a student or buyer. Looks like an awesome teaching tool.

masterUniverse

The latest version of Packet Tracer is 5.1. I guess you have to be a student to get it because once I login, I could see it. It is a very nice simulation that can do a lot of thing for CCNA.

luke_bibby

Hmm, has anyone used the comeback2009 promotion thing for a failed associate-level exam?

I might try my luck on the CCNAS exam if so

Fish!

You can use the 'SPECIALIZE' promotion for one free re-take a failed CCNA:S, CCNA:V, or CCNA:W exam. This promotion directly applies to these three exams. This promotion is not ambiguously worded, unlike 'COMEBACK2009'.

Cisco Specialize Promotion

Megadeth4168

Sorry... I was going to try to use the comeback for my ICND2 but I passed the exam. So I really couldn't confirm if it would work. You were really close, sounds like you should attempt using the Comeback promotion anyway.

mystic.sara

....i have already taken the exam but didnt quiet make it there..i scored 822...
...what really got me was that CISCO site itself didnt update about the exam ....what came in my exam was just 44 Qs...and the topology questions were totally different..I wanted to ask you how you studied for the topology or that 1 questions consisted of many sub-questions relating to it..

i want to go for it the second time....but i want to be fully prepared
U r help would be very much appreciated

blackninja

mystic.sara wrote: »

....i have already taken the exam but didnt quiet make it there..i scored 822...
...what really got me was that CISCO site itself didnt update about the exam ....what came in my exam was just 44 Qs...and the topology questions were totally different..I wanted to ask you how you studied for the topology or that 1 questions consisted of many sub-questions relating to it..

i want to go for it the second time....but i want to be fully prepared
U r help would be very much appreciated

I don't think Cisco have changed the exam since last year when the 802 was introduced. The exam spec doesn't specify exactly how many questions you should expect or the exact type of questions in the sims.

Check out:

640-802 CCNA - IT Certification and Career Paths - Cisco Systems

The exam can include anything on the topics and in any exam format i.e. sims, simlet etc.

Did you use "Practice questions" to prepare for the CCNA?

I used the Official Cert Guide's, CBTnuggetts and a lab to study and pass the CCNA

gig

Well, retook the exam today and I'm happy to say I passed with a 902.
Used the comback2009 promo code and it worked like a charm.

mikej412

gig wrote: »

I passed

Congratulations!

Are you going to use the money you saved to fund your Celebration?

gig

Absolutlely!

Megadeth4168

Congrats!

And mikej412... I see a pattern here with celebrating...

.. Collecting the entire set is only an excuse to

more right?

jodan20xx

I took my 802 last week and passed with a 917. If you need any specific pointers I would be glad to help =]