Local CC offereing CCNA Program

I am completely new to this part of the IT world. I currently work in a global software company on the project mgmt app side. I have no experience with Cisco products, processes or technology. I was entertaining the thought of applying to a program that is being run by a community college near my home. Just looking for some opinions if it's worth to pay for it or if the CCNA is something I can train/prepare for on my own.

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MCCC :: Cisco Certified Network Associate

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Comments

cyberguypr

Welcome aboard. CCNA is definitely achievable through self-study. If you have the discipline and desire and say go for it. I would save the money from the course and build a small lab.

bmalin77

Thanks for the advice. Appreciated.

snokerpoker

The local community college around here offers the network academy. I would loved to have done it years ago. Only issue I have with it is it requires you to take it for a year and go in two to three days a week.

alan2308

If you are taking the classes as part of a degree program, or you require/prefer the structure and forced pace of a class, then taking the classes is a great idea. I fall into the first category, I was working on an Associates degree so I took them. They were great and having near 24/7 access to a room full of better equipment than I would ever be able to afford was great, as was having access to a very knowledgeable instructor.

That being said, if you don't fall into one of the two categories I previously mentioned, then you can go ahead and save your money and self study. You'll be able to do it yourself in a fraction of the time of the 4 classes.

bmalin77

Thanks for the advice. I really was only going to take the CCNA program as a separate program, not as part of an associates program. The local CC has 3 classes that do span about the course of a year. And they just added a few more courses to it. I just took a new job that is supposed to have me traveling quite a bit, so the self-study might be more of a viable option for me. I just enjoy the structure/process of a class a bit more, so we'll see. All depends on how this job goes.

Thanks again.

alan2308

bmalin77 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I really was only going to take the CCNA program as a separate program, not as part of an associates program. The local CC has 3 classes that do span about the course of a year. And they just added a few more courses to it. I just took a new job that is supposed to have me traveling quite a bit, so the self-study might be more of a viable option for me. I just enjoy the structure/process of a class a bit more, so we'll see. All depends on how this job goes.

Thanks again.

Yes, self study will probably be the better choice at this time. Worst case, you can always just start on the classes in a semester or two.

Welcome aboard!

bmalin77

Thanks. I think because of my potential travel schedule, self-study will be my only alternative. Gonna be doing app stuff for work during the day and the CCNA at night. Should be an interesting next few months/year. Looking fwd to it.

soooowutnow

Self study is the way to go. Too many idiots/distractions in those CCNA classes. I took it at RVCC in NJ and the professor was decent but the labs kept going down and they had regular students taking these classes using it as their IT electives. It was very distracting because he had to slow the class down so much for them.

bmalin77

soooowutnow wrote: »

Self study is the way to go. Too many idiots/distractions in those CCNA classes. I took it at RVCC in NJ and the professor was decent but the labs kept going down and they had regular students taking these classes using it as their IT electives. It was very distracting because he had to slow the class down so much for them.

Thanks. I will definitely keep that in mind. This will be my first dive into any of it, so just trying to go the most efficient, but beneficial route.

gcarroll357

Good luck to you....im in a similar situation. I am going to be taking the Network Academy courses at our local CC starting in January. I was thinking about self study but knowing myself I think for this first big cert, the add structure will help me stay get and stay focus. After this, I will probably do more self study....again, good luck!

techie2012

Self study would be the thing to do. Saves time, money and you are able to study what you need to when you need to without being overwhelmed. I would say that a person could get their CCNA in about 3 to 6 months without previous experience if they are dedicated. It took me 4 months but I didn't really buckle down until month 4. Just what I think though, everyone is different.

bmalin77

Thanks Techie. That really helps. Looks like I will be going self-study.

Thanks everyone!