Cisco Certified Hell

Tomorrow, I get to look forward to finding out how poorly I did in 6-8 weeks. My main focus tomorrow will be on how the written exam is “written.” Basically, is it similar to the the CCNP exams, or is it something completely different. I suppose it’s not a great way to go about it, but I basically want to find out what’s on the test. I know that each version of the written will vary of course, but I guess the best way to phrase it is “How do they cram about 90 individual topics (on the blueprint) into 100 questions?”

Let’s see what happens! I am looking forward to a fresh start again though in a few months. Mad props to all of you who manage to pull off the CCIE while working and having a family! Once we find out what life with a newborn is like, I will be able to get a better idea of the (realistic) amount of time I can devote per day to studying and go from there.

I’ve learned that from the few short weeks I’ve been studying, I need to devote more time to each topic to completely understand it and master it. I started off by creating a pretty rigorous study schedule and found that as time went by, I would rush to finish reading the material just in order to keep up with “my schedule.” I know that I need to have some sort of time line to actually pull this off, but it needs to be realistic and allow me to grasp the material and not just “read it” for the sake of reading it.

I also think that I’ll revert back to my original strategy of studying for the lab, and taking the written sometime during that time. I’ve found that the layer 2 material I studied using a combination lab/reading approach has stuck with me much more than the material that I’ve simply just read through, and not really labbed out.

So, with all of that said…I’m checking out for now. I’ll post my thoughts on the beta written sometime later this week, but aside from that, I’m out until further notice and in final countdown for arrival of Baby Smurf.

Good luck to everyone in their studies!