How many of you guys have or are in the process of taking the CISCO Academy?
I'm on my second semester now and wondering how many of you guys have taking the exam without finishing all 4 semesters..
i'm just debating on whether i should go on and take the 3 & 4th semester or whether i should be ready after 3? or 2 ?

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-A.A.S., working on BS

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I'm in semester 4 which covers lots of WAN stuff that wasn't in semesters 1,2 and 3. (Network management, Frame Relay, PPP, ISDN, etc), although you could probably get most of that info from study guides or whatnot...I'd say it depends on how savy you are with router commands and configuring, since it seems the new exam puts more emphasis on that stuff now, as to whether you should take it. There's no way I would be ready without the stuff I've picked up from semester's 3 and 4, particularly the Novell and access lists chapters, but I was a rank newbie to all this stuff so everday is a learning day!

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I went for all 4 semesters. I have to agree wilth elco, semesters 3 and 4 are really good if your a newbie like I was. Semester 3 gives you a lot of experience with VLANS and Access-lists - a must for the new exam. In addition, the Threaded Case Study makes you apply what you're learning to a real world situation. Semester 4 was the best and well worth the time/money. Lots of lab work with ISDN, Frame Relay, DDR, and trunking switches.

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Unless you have a router at home (or several + a 1900 switch), I would take 3 & 4. Hands on is the best way to get real experience. VLANs and ACLs are used everyday, so you need to know how to set them up. Try to be a lab hog, it will help you in the end.
You can always take your cert, and pass, and stay in the academy for the lab experience. I know several people who did this, and some of the instructors let them cut class, and just show up for the labs. Of course, you still have to do the tests and finals.

Good Luck
Rod

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I just took the sem 1&2 and just read the cisco press by odom and ICND for sem 3&4 which is very useful(passed with 930),What you can do is instead of paying $1600 for sem 3&4 buy your self a # 1 2501 and 1 1600 router and 1 1900 switch walla you have your own lab.You will notice that on your cisco academy they don't have ISDN simulator plus you can only do vlan's on 2500 but not "ISL routing" they will only teach you the theory of wan's but not the real world experience of WAN.

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