Passed my BCMSN exam today

Hey guys,

I passed the BCMSN today. I got an 835. Not as good as I would have liked but it is a pass and I'm on to my BSCI studies. There was a lot of information that the text or Train Signal didn't show. I have to say that the exam was a good bit more difficult than the CCNA.

Materials used:

Cisco Press - BCMSN
Train Signal
CBT Nuggets (only one or two videos)

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Comments

kalebksp

Congrats!

gbadman

Congrats man.

mikej412

billscott92787 wrote: »

I passed the BCMSN today.

Congratulations!!

billscott92787 wrote: »

Cisco Press - BCMSN

Both books? Or just one?

Even for BSCI/BCMSN which have both the Authorized Self-Study and Exam Certification Guides you may still need to hit the Cisco Docs & White Papers for any topics listed on the exam blueprints that you don't feel the books fully covered. For the other two CCNP exams you'll definitely want to keep an eye on the exam blueprint topics while studying and definitely plan on spending time on the Cisco web site.

billscott92787

Mike,

I only used the one book for this one. I plan on using the Cisco Press BSCI book, Train Signal, and CBT Nuggets for this exam. Any other recommendations will definitely be appreciated. I spent around 2 months preparing for this exam. I'm going to dedicate around 4-5 hours pretty much every day toward the BSCI and try my first attempt within the same time frame if I feel ready. I wanted to shoot for February 4th, 2010. This way it gives me another 4 months to get the ISCW and ONT done before the change if possible. I'm definitely going to give it a shot

I did use the blueprints on this exam from the Cisco site. I seen a lot of stuff that I studied, but there was some that I didn't see in the text or even really within the exam blue prints, they could have possibly been beta questions in there.

elegua

Congrats and good luck with BSCI.

/usr

Which topics did you feel could have been covered in more depth by the material you used? I only ask because I'm using the same prep material as you and I'm curious which topics I should look into further.

Congrats on the pass!

billscott92787

Wireless was one. There were was detailed information in the text. But, I have to say there were a few things I don't remember seeing in my text. I think some of the items are the way the questions are worded. It really "makes you think" and you have to understand the material to be able to answer it. I guess that is why they feel more difficult than the CCNA. I would recommend the self study guide as well just to review another text that you may be able to hit a few areas that the normal text didn't seem to hit. As far as the guidelines themselves, the text hit all the guidelines on the BCMSN. But, like I said before when I was in the room, I was shocked at how there was many things in there that didn't appear in the text. Like I said before they could have been beta questions. But, I would highly recommend checking out a few different texts just to be on the safe side.

/usr

I mean, what exactly is the difference between the "Official Exam Certification Guide" and the "Self-Study Guide"?

mikej412

/usr wrote: »

I mean, what exactly is the difference between the "Official Exam Certification Guide" and the "Self-Study Guide"?

Customers and Markets > About CCNP

Self-Study Guides, which are based on Cisco courses for the related exams, provide essential foundation learning and thoroughly cover topics addressed in those courses. These books assume no prior knowledge of the subject matter and take a detailed approach to tutorial-based learning. Book elements within the Self-Study Guide Series feature real-world case studies, configuration examples, and chapter-ending review questions, making them useful on the job, in addition to exam preparation.

Exam Certification Guides help prepare candidates for Cisco certification exams. These books assume readers have attained the necessary learning foundation and experience for a certification test and are reviewing material before exam time. They include summary information that details critical information on key exam topics and a companion CD-ROM, which contains a powerful testing engine that can be customized with practice exam questions and simulation-based questions, adaptable performance trackers, and the complete text in electronic format.

Which book is right for me?
Self-Study Guides and Exam Certification Guides are intended to complement one another. Though they will cover similar content, they do so in a very different manner. Choosing one book over another depends where you are in the study cycle. If you are familiar with the base concepts, but need to assess your knowledge and review/practice for the exam, we recommend the Exam Certification Guides. If you are new to a topic area and need more detailed discussions of the foundation concepts, we recommend you start with the Self-Study Guides.