From: Bill Wade (wwade@xxxxxxxxx)
Date: Fri Jul 16 1999 - 11:08:18 GMT-3
Definitely confirmation that my shot at the lab on 16-Aug will be a trial run a
nd a real learning experience.
And, I'm leaning toward booking a return flight for the night of day one.
Realistic, not pessimistic ....
Bill
At 09:54 PM 7/15/99 , Scott Morris wrote:
>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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