Re: CCIE R&S Written v4.0 beta

Hey Brad,

No, no score on the spot, as they've yet to decide which questions are
valid for scoring purposes and which are not (that whole "throw out
the ones that everybody got wrong and also all the ones that everybody
got right and keep the midsection for the production exam" type of
philosophy). I think it said "up to 12 weeks by mail" before I could
expect my score but that extreme seems unlikely given that they plan
to go live with v4.0 in just over a month. In any case, my gut
instinct is that it's not a score I'll want to toss out at cocktail
parties. ;~) I only studied over the weekend leading up to the exam
and, being the last major summer holiday in the US, I can't honestly
say that I was completely sans adult beverages throughout the whole
ordeal (the studying part I mean of course)!

Regards,

Scott

On Sep 9, 2009, at 6:15 , Brad Ellis wrote:

> Scott,
>
> Did you get your grade at the end of the exam? From the betas I recall
> taking in the past, you had to wait 6-8 weeks to get a score.
>
> I'd really like to see a hardcore simulator as part of the CCIE RS
> written instead of all multiple choice. Maybe using that pretty CCDE
> flash tool would be pretty slick as well.
>
> thanks,
> Brad Ellis
> CCIE#5796 (R&S / Security)
> CCSI# 30482
> CEO / President
> CCBOOTCAMP - Cisco Learning Solutions Partner (CLSP)
> Email: brad_at_ccbootcamp.com
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>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nobody_at_groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody_at_groupstudy.com] On Behalf
> Of
> Scott M Vermillion
> Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 4:39 PM
> To: Nickelby Thane
> Cc: Marko Milivojevic; GS CCIE-Lab
> Subject: Re: CCIE R&S Written v4.0 beta
>
> Hey Nickelby,
>
> What was your perception? I sat this exam yesterday and have many
> thoughts (some of which I can share, some of which I cannot)...
>
> Since I was ineligible to recertify, passing and/or scoring highly was
> not a paramount objective. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on
> perspective, having no pass/fail consequences freed me to deeply
> ponder and comment on some questions I felt were in need of further
> development. This ultimately led to my having a significant swath of
> the exam to go with only about 30 minutes left on the clock, which in
> turn forced me to answer many questions without even having fully
> reading them; get a sense of the issue at hand and answer
> instinctively before clicking "Next" (the obvious answer choice is
> often the wrong one with this sort of test, though, so such an
> approach is suspect at best). I ultimately answered my final question
> with 40 seconds left to go, so not much chance I scored well at all
> but I'm hopeful that my comments will be considered and will help to
> improve the final product.
>
> I will say that emphasis has been lessened in some areas and increased
> in others, but this was not the big shift I was anticipating. Many
> questions were very familiar to me from previous bouts with the
> written. Those that were new were a mixed bag in my view. Some
> directly tested knowledge, whereas some seemed to be probing me for
> the "Most Correct Cisco Answer," since on a technical plane they could
> be answered variously, depending on perspective and interpretation of
> the question. That some of these might survive the beta and go into
> production perplexes me to say the least - for the money that's paid
> for the privilege of attempting this exam, my expectation is that all
> questions be of the highest quality and that they directly and
> singularly test knowledge and ability. Not having seen the new v4.0
> Cert Guide yet, I'm not clear as to how some of the more obscure
> topics will be addressed there. Frankly, some questions seemed to
> have been borrowed directly from other exams/tracks, which I don't
> view positively at all.
>
> This was my first experience with a Cisco beta at any level or within
> any track. I received the same question or essentially the same
> question three times - twice. So either I earned or lost a lot of
> points on just a few topics, depending on whether or not my answers
> were the Most Cisco Correct (I resisted the urge to answer differently
> each time in an attempt to nullify the outcome one way or the other -
> I stuck to my guns). I was also surprised to see so many obvious
> typos in the questions and answer choices - one would expect a basic
> spell-checking before even going beta. But no real impact to the
> candidate there, so I'm not going to blow that sort of thing out of
> proportion. It is after all a $50 beta vs. a $350 production sitting.
>
> At the end of the day I can only sit back and hope things are
> tightened up a fair bit before I become eligible to actually recertify
> in a handful of months (and no doubt they will be - to exactly what
> extent is the burning question in my mind). I also object strongly to
> some of the new changes that Cisco claims were meant to bring the exam
> into alignment with others (e.g. no ability to skip questions and
> return to them later, time permitting). The CCIE was the original
> certification program, no? Bring the others into alignment with _it_
> if there's an overwhelming imperative to do so. This exam is
> challenging and includes a time management element that is lacking in
> many of the others. I truly wish Cisco would stop trying to make the
> CCIE look and feel so much like the lower certs, yet have it be so
> much more of a challenge to obtain. All things aren't equal, OK? Or,
> as was once said, some things are more equal than others!
>
> Well there you have it from my own personal perspective anyway. No
> doubt the list would appreciate hearing from others in a strictly NDA-
> friendly sort of way...
>
> Regards,
>
> Scott
>
>
> On Sep 6, 2009, at 5:21 , Nickelby Thane wrote:
>
>> I am giving it a go at this Sep 9 :-). If I fail, I am going to
>> blame it on
>> not knowing the technology enough :-). I expect Cisco to throw in a
>> few
>> L3VPN and MPLS questions and then fail us so we can resit the test
>> in its
>> final glory form (kidding).
>>
>>
>> --
>> Warmest regards,
>> Nickelby Thane
>> Personal Blog : http://nthane.blogspot.com
>> CCIE Blog : http://cciecisco.blogspot.com
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Sep 6, 2009 at 5:25 PM, Marko Milivojevic
>> <markom_at_markom.info>wrote:
>>
>>> So, have any of you guys tried the new beta? Anything,
>>> non-NDA-breaking, to report to the rest of us? :-)
>>>
>>> --
>>> Marko
>>> CCIE #18427 (SP)
>>> My network blog: http://cisco.markom.info/
>>>
>>>
>>> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
>>>
>>>
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Received on Wed Sep 09 2009 - 18:28:17 ART