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| mawwoods 2005-06-22, 4:41 pm |
| ....by one question I think!
I was not very happy about the whole thing as my pc crashed twice at the Vue test centre, once when i had to change to another PC, and the second time I had to leave the test room for 10 minutes while they tried to fix the problem. Not very handy when you are under pressure to take an exam.
May give it another go in a couple of weeks.
Cisco exams....they are not easy!! | |
| Darko707 2005-06-23, 1:55 pm |
| Call them up and tell them how unsatisfied you were with your test, and ask them for a free retake or at least a discount off of your retake. You pay $125 a test for their computers to actually work, not interrupt you during the test process. | |
| npo3po 2005-06-24, 8:46 am |
| I personally stick with Prometric, as i had a somewhat similar situation when i sat for my ccna(i.e: took like 10 seconds for a letter to come up after i had entered in). Anyhow i agree with Darko, take the necessary steps to so that you don't have to pay them again for they're own technical problems.
P.S: How was the exam in terms of content? and good luck on the second go around.
Be Well
Amir | |
| mawwoods 2005-06-26, 1:02 pm |
| Discussed my experience with one of the Vue reps and they said they would look into it. I got an email back a few days later saying they were not prepared to do anything about it. Not much I can do about that.
I have rebooked to have another go in a couple of days. I think it is just a case I have understood it all, and that it has all sunk in.
I used the Cisco BCMSN book, and it seemed to be at the correct level and coverage. I think if you can read through that book and feel you understand well and can remember the majority of it you will be fine. | |
| medenblik 2005-06-26, 1:09 pm |
| Sorry to hear about your experience. I also stick with prometric site. However when I took my BCMSN mycomputer quit (it was a junk computer)working. I also had to move to another computer, but I passed.
I hate it that the price raised to 125 dollars.
Well good luck to you.
I am studying for BCSI, then I only have Remote Access and CIT left. | |
| mawwoods 2005-06-26, 1:42 pm |
| thanks medenblik, good luck with the rest of your exams as well.
Do the other CCNP exams get easier once you have taken the first one? | |
| medenblik 2005-06-26, 1:49 pm |
| I hope so. I think the Remote Access for me is going to be the toughest.
After I passed the first 1 I think it helped my confidence so I will pass the rest. | |
| mawwoods 2005-06-26, 2:03 pm |
| Well congratulations on passing the first one!
BCMSN has taken me a long time to revise for. I am not sure whether I will take the rest at the moment.
Actually, the main reason I am taking the BCMSN is that my CCNA and CCDA are going to expire, and I though taking one new CCNP exam was more constructive than retaking both the CCNA and the CCDA!
It's funny, but I am kind of finding myself taking exams which are not the exact areas I want to focus on, just to keep my qualifications up to date....
Feels a bit like a certification conveyor belt! Still, something to do I suppose.  | |
| medenblik 2005-06-26, 4:18 pm |
| yeah thts what I did my CCNA was going to expire so I took the Switching one and passed so my CCNA is good thru 2007 but I want to take and pass the other exams and get my CCNP and then CCDP (I think it is only 1 more test after I get me CCNP) | |
| mawwoods 2005-06-28, 3:55 pm |
| and failed it again...with exactly the same score 740.
I am starting to think the thing is you need to understand a broad amount for this exam, and I am also starting to think the cisco press book does not cover it all.
to be honest, it is turning into a bit of a marathon. I am going to give it one more go I think, and then if I don't get it after that I think I am going to cut my losses.
It's funny, I have done quite a few other exams, but this one seems like a tough nut to crack in comparison.... | |
| mawwoods 2005-06-28, 6:22 pm |
| and come to think of it, another thing I would like to see is a detailed explanation on how to configure intervlan routing in the cisco press book.
I have actually tried to do this several months back before studying for CCNP on a couple of cisco 2900 switches and a 2600 router.
I would have thought it would be pretty much a core competency for cisco as you need to enable intervlan routing (so far as I am aware?) to enable communication between hosts in two vlans. And while it mentions it in the book, there is pretty much nothing of any substance there.
Tried using google and had a look at the cisco website, which seemed to have some good advice (ie configure subinterfaces for each vlan etc etc). Didn't get it to work at the time, but I plan to go back to it because it will be useful from a work perspective.
Sorry, guess I am rambling on a bit here.....
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| peterd 2005-07-15, 10:14 am |
| Hi,
bad luck on your exam...
From my experience late last year, I had to re-certify and I decided to go for the two exam option - BSCI and BCMSN.
I'm better at routing that I am at switching so I went for the BSCI first.
It looked to me that the exam was pretty much the same as it was three years earlier with IPv6 and ISIS added, and I thought I could save money by using my old book - BIG mistake.
I failed the first one because I screwed up the SIMs totally (I never work from memory in the real world, I copy & paste from a script)... but I'd actually scored quite well on the standard questions.
The second time I took it I scored OK on the SIMs but dropped loads of marks on the standard questions - I seemed to get some really obscure stuff.
The third time went the same way. So I bought the new BCMSN book, took and passed that exam within three weeks.
I then bought the new BSCI book and passed the exam within a couple of weeks.
A couple of points to note...
ALWAYS use the latest books, they change their minds about what's the correct 'answer'.
The first time you take any exam you'll get regular questions...
if you have to re-take it you'll get lots of bloody stupid questions that come up once a decade in real life.
If you need four goes to pass then you'll start to see the same questions from earlier attempts and you'll pass eventually.
These exams are important, they'll make a difference for the rest of your life, if it takes four goes to pass then that's the way it is...
there's no limit on how many times you can take the exams so obviously that's not important to Cisco or to future employers - you'll never need to mention it again.
Don't let someone else sitting in an office thousands of miles away screw up your life!
Regards
Peter | |
| mawwoods 2005-07-19, 7:34 am |
| Thanks Peter,
I had a third attempt on Thursday and finally passed it!
I think the theme is really that Cisco expect you to be competent in configuring switches, rather than just being able to answer questions, so I spent some more time practicing on switches and routers and it was ok.
The guy at the test center wrote down some sources after I had failed, and I found one very useful. It is essentially a series of lecture style notes on switch theory and how to implement it. It cost me I think around £10-15 (20-30USD). And it came from testking. Yeah I know. But the thing is it has a lot of detail outside of some of the text books, and I think you need a lot of detailed knowledge to get through this one.
Anyway, hope that helps you, and thanks for all the advice I have been given. If there is one thing I have picked up, it is that with some of these exams is that if you keep at it you will get there eventually! | |
| ChumpHater 2005-07-31, 5:55 am |
| I just passed BSCI and nailed it! I am going to take a few weeks off to rest my brain and then start on BCMSN!
Any tips on BCMSN exam before I start studying?
Cheers,
CH. | |
| jdog0254 2005-08-07, 1:28 pm |
| Congratulations on passing the BCMSN mawwoods! I think one of the reasons that you couldnt really find Inter-VLAN routing in the BCMSN book is because you are expected to know that for the latest CCNA exams. Inter-vlan routing is covered in the CCNA certification books(or at least I would assume so). I have passed the BSCI and the BCRAN exams but now I am working toward my CCSP. Any heads up for the BCMSN for the future? |
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