From: Mohamed, Liban [NTK] (Liban.Mohamed@sprint.com)
Date: Mon Nov 26 2007 - 11:58:23 ART
Stephen,
Congrats, a great achievement, now get some rest.
Liban Mohamed
NTAC-IP
Sprint/Nextel
www.sprint.net
liban.mohamed@sprint.com
(W) 678-291-3438
(PCS) 404-441-9701
-----Original Message-----
From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
Stephen Lee
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 9:27 AM
To: ccielab@groupstudy.com
Subject: #19413
Well, after 8 months and 4 attempts I finally passed on 11/21. I found
out Thanksgiving morning and it was the best Thanksgiving I ever had. I
passed the written in January and spent the next couple months putting
together a home lab. I really started studying in April and took my
first attempt in mid May. I came really close to passing with about 75
points. I thought sweet I will nail it on my second attempt, well not so
much. I took it again in June and failed miserable not even 50%. So I
really buckled down and got after it and took it again in August. Well I
got about the same score as my second attempt. So I really started
doubting it and took a few weeks off to regroup. So after the summer was
over I got back after it and had an October date scheduled, but my wife
broke her leg and I had to take care of her and the kids for a few weeks
until she got back on her feet. So I rescheduled for Nov. I was thinking
if I don't get it this time I am going to have to take a break. All the
studying was really starting to affect my family life as Daddy was
locked in the office every evening and all weekend.
What got me the entire time was question interpretation. I felt like I
knew the material the entire time and had a good base of knowledge. My
problem I think was question interpretation. On my 4th attempt it was
like I could see through the vague wording and finally understood what
they wanted. I only asked the proctor 2 questions as I found it pretty
clear.
To all those that are struggling with this I hear ya. But just know if
you stick with it you can pass.
What I used to pass:
- 10 years experience designing and implementing Cisco networks for
various Fortune 100 companies.
- Internetwork Expert V4.0 workbook and the Advanced Technologies VOD
and the 5 day bootcamp VOD. These are really great products and I
learned immensely from them. I would highly recommend their material for
learning the technologies.
- NMC CheckIt labs. I think these are most closely aligned with what the
real lab is like. The wording and vaguearies are very close to how Cisco
does it. It would recommend this to people who are close to their date
and want a good lesson on question interpretation.
- The Cisco Press CCIE R&S book. Good for the written and has some good
tables for reference.
- I built my own home lab made to the IEWB V4.0 format. I decided I
wanted my own lab that I could use anytime I had time to study and
didn't want to deal with rack rentals or dealing with all the Dynamips
issues.
- Finally but definitely not least was my wife. She supported me through
the tough times and entertained two kids every evening and every weekend
for about 8 months straight. I could not have done it without her.
Steve
#19413
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Dec 01 2007 - 06:37:31 ART