From: Scott Morris (SMorris@xxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Date: Thu Jul 15 1999 - 22:54:07 GMT-3
I do not agree with your comment about the CD. No matter how much you
study, it is NOT humanly possible to know it all. I would strongly suggest
spending part of your study time learning the CD. There are very few parts
that are truly important on the CD. If you have to use the CD's search
engine, you're screwed, 'cause you'll search forever and get nowhere. But
knowing what information is where, and being able to scan through familiar
territory is an excellent way to use it.
If you don't learn this, not only will you give yourself an ulcer or two
trying to learn everything about everything, but you'll continue to fail as
you add to the stress level before, during and after the exam.
Like the Marines say, "Divide and Conquer" (or maybe it was "we came, we
saw, we kicked their asses"... I dunno.). Figure out what you need to know
and learn it. That doesn't mean you have to retain everything, but know
where to find it in very short order. Part of being a CCIE is not just raw
knowledge, but the application of it. With that application of knowledge
comes the realization that the more you know, the more you SHOULD realize
you don't know. now that you're aware there are things you don't know,
where is that information found? For the problems covered on the lab, all
the answers are in the CD. Cryptic as it may be, it's there. HOW you APPLY
that knowledge is what will make you a CCIE.
In the mean time, relax, breathe a bit, go for a swim and clear your head.
Manage the time and manage the stress. By realizing you can't know it all,
it'll help. When I took the exam the first time in April of this year, I
walked into the exam sure that I was going to pass on the first time,
because I'm a pretty smart guy, and never thought of myself as average,
therefore the statistics of passing rate were unimportant. I had studied,
even taken the week before the exam off to spend on routers all day and most
of the night each day. I went over stranger shit than anyone in their right
mind would come up with. I knew redistribution backwards, forwards and
inside out. There wasn't going to be any single topic that could be thrown
at me that I hadn't tested and mastered.
That was the problem. There were lots of them. I cannot fault the test at
all. Technically it was very well put together. Looking at what I screwed
up was just stupid. I did not make it past Day 1, even though I got one of
the higher scores of the 6 of us. There were topics I hadn't covered, but
more important was the psychology of the test and the pressure. When I came
back home, thoroughly disappointed in myself and irritated, one of my good
friends that I worked with simply looked at me, smirked and said, "Good.
Now you realize you're human like the rest of us. Suck it up and deal with
it.". Needless to say, it wasn't what I wanted to hear, 'cause my ego
still hurt, but I took that to heed when studying again.
A month later, I took the exam, and found myself actually having extra time.
It wasn't because I technically knew any more. But because I realized that,
and I figured out how to manage that. I still made myself really nervous
when I made it to Day 2 and encountered things I'd never heard of before,
but I had a plan in my head, and it worked. That doesn't mean that I know
everything, and certainly doesn't mean I'm smarter than anyone else. But it
means that I figured out the concept of the exam and the knowledge, divided
it and conquered it.
Good luck on the next one. Even with the same topics and difficulty, I bet
it will be easier!
Scott Morris, MCSE, CNE (3.x), CCDP, CCIE #4713
smorris@tele-tech.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Ben Rife [mailto:brife@bignet.net]
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 1999 8:02 PM
To: ccielab@groupstudy.com
Subject: CCIE Lab
Hi Everyone,
As you all can see, there is no new number attached to my name. I didn't
pass this time. As a matter of fact, no one in my group even made it to day
two and the group before us didn't stay for day two either. It was one tough
test. It actually was harder than I had expected. Be prepared to code things
you have never seen, much less, heard of before. The test has some
practical, common sense, stuff on it, but there's alot to the test. Much of
which you may have never done/seen before. Time is one of your worst
enemies. You probably won't have time to look at the CD either. 7.5 hours
goes like 5 minutes.
I talked to the proctor and he said "you missed by a wee...bit". I asked him
how much that was and he pointed out to me the sections I missed and after
tallying the points, I had 29. You need 30 to pass to day two. I was bummed.
I spent a couple of minutes trying to figure out things that I missed. After
about 5 minutes. I fixed 2 problems, things I didn't catch before, because
of stress, which would have allowed me to pass. That's the story though. I'm
going to reschedule tomorrow for ASAP.
HINT: Know everything. That's a joke but there's a bit of truth to it. If
you have to refer to the CD, you're in trouble. You should know the basics
cold. What are the basics? You know what I mean.
I have a new appreciation for CCIE's. I have talked to a few candidates who
took the Lab a year ago. They told me that the exam now is at least twice as
hard as it was then. Keep in mind, the latest and greatest will be on the
test, as well as things you think should be retired or is legacy.
Good Luck to all, Thanks for your support. I hope we all can help each other
to reach the ultimate goal of this list.
PS. You will see ATM. 8*}
Benjy Rife
MCSE, CNE, CCIE Candidate
brife@bignet.net <mailto:brife@bignet.net>
www.bignet.net/~brife <http://www.bignet.net/~brife>
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