From: Tony Schaffran (tschaffran@cconlinelabs.com)
Date: Thu Feb 13 2003 - 02:03:44 GMT-3
First off, thank you.
Second, I have made an observation within our study group. This may
hold true for a number of people. There are a couple of people in our
group that are obviously very knowledgeable about all of the topics
covered in the CCIE certification. One took three times to pass and the
other has taken it five times and still does not have his number. It is
my feeling that these individuals have tried to read toooooo deep into
the requirements and over configured. Remember, they are testing your
knowledge of the technologies, not your design skills. All I did is
read the question and satisfy the requirement. I did not try to get
bonus points with any kind of fancy configs. I asked the proctor, there
is no extra credit. :) The lab I took was in no way to be considered
easy or less difficult. I credit my success to my dedication to
studies, my wife can attest to that, and knowing where to find what I
did not know on the documentation CD. If it is on the CD, why try to
memorize it?
Tony Schaffran
Network Analyst
CCIE #11071
CCNP, CCNA, CCDA,
NNCDS, NNCSS, CNE, MCSE
www.cconlinelabs.com
Your #1 choice for online Cisco rack rentals.
-----Original Message-----
From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
Michael Snyder
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 8:16 PM
To: 'Chuck Church'
Cc: ccielab@groupstudy.com
Subject: RE: It is my turn. CCIE #11071
I think we should burn first timers at the stake!
Just kidding, congratulations on your number.
Chuck, I've asked myself the same question.
I think it's three factors that come into play.
A) There are some very sharp people out there. When it comes to the
human brain, there's something to be said for raw processing power and
good memories.
B) Not knowing too much and confusing the issues. I mean, if you only
know three ways of doing something, then chances are that at least one
of the ways is the answer the test requirement is looking for.
What if you know five ways of during the same task? Now your odds of
getting the right answer drops. Don't forget each choice picked
snowballs from beginning of the lab to the end.
Remember the email thread about low scores, I had the same problem on my
last attempt. My overall core knowledge should have been at least over
40%.
What if you rule out the correct answer early on the test, because it's
a poor design choice? Real world expertise could hurt in this regard.
C) Pure luck, studying the right things and getting the right test with
the right proctor.
Sure Cisco tries to normalize these things, but what if the proctor
just got a speeding ticket two hours before he grades your lab? It goes
the other way too, what if he just spent a great weekend with his family
in the mountains?
Also if Cisco is changing tests on a monthly basis, random factors alone
would tell us that not all of new tests could be of the same
difficultly.
Some requirements cut and pasted into a new exam could complement other
requirements making the overall exam easier; while other requirements on
a different exam could conflict and make the overall exam harder.
Standing wave theory is popping into my mind here.
Even the best proctors couldn't catch such things till they looked at
the statistical data for that exam! Which by that time a new batch of
tests is being used.
Why couldn't a proctor gauge the total difficultly of an exam before
they use it? Simple, because when you rate something as easy or
difficult or very complicated, you are using yourself as the reference
point.
What if you know the subject material completely? Now you don't have
that reference point anymore. Everything is somewhat easy from your
standpoint.
-----Original Message-----
From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
Chuck Church
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 4:43 PM
To: Tony Schaffran; ccielab@groupstudy.com
Subject: Re: It is my turn. CCIE #11071
Congratulations. I don't know how you "First-Attempters" do it, but you
certainly got the preparation down pat.
Chuck Church
CCIE #8776, MCNE, MCSE
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony Schaffran" <tschaffran@cconlinelabs.com>
To: <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 4:55 PM
Subject: It is my turn. CCIE #11071
> First of all, I would like to say thank you for all of the input on
this
list.
> Reading the problems and solutions and then trying them on my own has
given me
> great insight.
>
> Now for the path I have taken.
>
> 1. Many, many hours of hands on. You don't have to be fast, just
consistent.
>
> 2. I really liked the new IPexpert labs.
>
> 3. I learned the documentation CD inside and out. When I came across
an
issue
> I did not know, I knew exactly where to find it. One of my answers, I
took
> straight from an example.
>
> 4. Stay calm. If you come across an issue and you know it will not
affect
> further configuration, skip it and come back.
>
> 5. My personal touch. I kept track of each section and the points. I
marked
> the ones I truly believed I got correct. As soon as I hit 80%, the
rest
was
> buffer in case for some reason I missed a question I thought I
answered
> correctly.
>
> I know these are no real words of wisdom. I am a little in disbelief
at
the
> moment. This was my first attempt. All I really have to say is WOW!
>
> Thank you all again.
>
>
> Tony Schaffran
> Network Analyst
> CCIE #11071
> CCNP, CCNA, CCDA,
> NNCSS, NNCDS, CNE, MCSE
>
> www.cconlinelabs.com
> "Your #1 choice for Cisco rack rentals."
> .
.
.
.
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