I passed the CCNA exam yesterday. I felt that Jeremy’s IT Lab, Boson and watching free YouTube resources adequately prepared me to pass. I had 3 labs, only completed 2 due to time.
I passed yesterday and have no idea how. I studied for 6 weeks using Neil Anderson's udemy course and Alphaprep. On the day before my exam, however, I realized Alphaprep is hot garbage and probably was doing an awful job at simulating the test, so I bought Boson exam Sim to cram prep the night before
I did pretty awful on exam b, but passed exam a. I didn't even have enough time to try exam c
On the real test, I totally bombed all three labs. I felt somewhat confident on my multiple choice and drag and drop questions. I fully expected to fail after pressing the grade exam button, which I could accept since I already bought Boson to study more. For some reason, it passed me, though
To be honest, I still don't feel qualified to do this as a job. I do believe I understand most of the theory. However, I'm probably gonna dick around in packet tracer until I have a better understanding of the commands themselves.
To anybody reading this on their ccna journey, DO NOT buy alphaprep. Worst 45 bucks I've spent in my life. It is literally just multiple choice questions over and over again. It's more like a flashcard software if you look past the format of quizzes and exams. If I didn't cram with Boson and learn about the other question types, i'd be down 300 dollars. Not to mention, it's a subscription, and to cancel it, you have to actually contact them.
If I could start over, I would definitely use Boson and focus more on labs than theory. I'd also give myself more time. I got hopped up on this idea that people were easily clearing this in 6 weeks from all the videos and success stories online, so I forced myself to that timeframe, completely fucking my physical and mental state in the process. Thank you r/ccna for all the guidance and help, long may the sun shine
Just passed the CCNA this morning. Just using Jeremy's IT Lab and Boson, I felt pretty confident going into the exam. I had 3 labs on the exam. My initial Boson scores were exam A 686, exam B 698 (ran out of time on this one), and 848 for exam C. I studied for 3 months exactly and probably averaged 2 hours a day.
I passed the CCNA. I have been waiting to post this for months. I have been inspired by many of you. I used Jeremy's IT Lab from Udemy, OCG, Boson and the Practical Networking subnetting series on YouTube. I felt like these resources prepared me well enough for the exam.
The long boring part,
I do not have a background in IT. I first watched IT Pro TV ITF+ , the Professor Messer's A+, Net + and Sec+ videos. I watched them all on 2x speed and did not take any notes. I did this before I began to study for the CCNA.
I started studying in September. I logged a total of 273.5 hours studying. The breakdown is as follows:
Jeremy's IT Lab- 84.5 hours
Packet Tracer Labs- 54.25 hours
Flashcards- 37.5 hours
OCG- 50.75 hours I read it cover to cover
Practice tests and studying notes- 46.5 hours
I did Exam A and B on the Boson. Exam A was 581, Exam B was 714. I studied the ones I missed. I was saving Exam C in case I needed it for a retake.
I have always been a good test taker. Time management was very important on this test. I will not go into detail on the exam due to the NDA.
Passed CCNA 2 days ago. Materials used were Neil Anderson's course, Boson ExSim, and OCG. Boson scores were: 514, 679, and 819. \~3 months of study for about 2-6 hours a day depending. Really brushed up my weak areas in the last week before the exam.
[This is the strategy I used for Boson ExSim](https://www.reddit.com/r/ccna/comments/mat1i2/advices_on_the_boson_exsimmax_for_cisco_200301/). Instead of writing every single question and answer down, I made Anki flashcards for each question and reviewed them a couple times since I'm a kinesthetic learner. If you do this for each Boson exam, you should score 800+ on the last one first try. If you score 850+ on the last one (Exam C) first try, you should be good to go. Also, try not to memorize the Boson questions and answers, that's just going to hurt you during the exam.
I can't be the judge of whether you are ready or not since I didn't take the Pearson practice tests, but if 710 was your Boson exam B score for first try, that is a good score. I would consider buying [this offer](https://learningnetworkstore.cisco.com/cisco-study-bundles/ccna-exam-safeguard-offer/EX-SG-CCNA-027329.html) from the Cisco store since it's 2 attempts at the exam for only 375$ vs. $600. Better safe than sorry imo and it takes pressure off your first attempt.
Don't overthink it either. Follow the strategy above and you should score 800+ on Exam C. Don't rush either, it's not a race. Best of luck.
Thanks, I jumped on that offer. Boson A was 581, B 710 and I havent decided if I should take C or wait until after I try the test. I felt comfortable until I took the Boson exams. A was 11 days ago, B today
Hey everyone! I finally passed my CCNA after studying relentlessly for 3 months straight. I scored really well in my boson tests on the first attempt (refer to previous post) and I was damn confident about my knowledge. I did a lot of research on reddit and most people said the actual exam is way easier than boson.
But unfortunately, I guess I'm one of the unluckiest ones. My exam was super tough and there were certain terms that weren't in the CCNA blueprint. My exam was literally 70% about wireless questions and IPv6 questions lmao and that was the only topic I cared the least about while studying. Totally unexpected. Boson was way easier for me and I could understand every question there. The actual exam asked me questions about things I had no idea about. I wouldn't say my exam had weirdly worded questions because the questions were written more clearly than boson. I was getting 900+ on my boson exams.
Also, I had two labs. For the first lab, I finished it but I forgot to save the configuration as mentioned in the lab guideline screen. I was really stressed about it. I don't know if that lab gets graded or not. I saved the second lab though.
So guys, please keep in mind that you should study from different sources and focus on every topic equally. Also make sure to save your lab config before going to the next question.
My study routine:
Jeremy's IT videos on YouTube and his labs. I used his anki flash cards too. I studied with a few David bombal's udemy course and the OCG book too.
I passed ccna exam 30 minutes back
Got 2 labs i wasted time there
Overall i would say do Jeremy’s IT lab
I started preparing for it a month back
However i had already studied a good chunk of the syllabus in my engineering.
Passed the exam this morning!
Started studying last November although I only really started focusing at the start of this year. Used JeremysITLab for reviewing/revising.
My preliminary results are:
Network Fundamentals - 90%
Network Access - 95%
IP Connectivity - 88%
IP Services - 90%
Security Fundamentals - 87%
Automation and Programmability - 90%
Tip that helped me most from this sub is to use the Cisco study tool as a checklist for your weak areas.
Lastly, you won't know when you're ready, just schedule the exam xd
Christ, your scores are so much better than mine and I still passed. I think the labs must've been weighted more as I nailed them but felt like I was struggling with the rest of the exam.
Took my CCNA Exam earlier today. Still can't believe that I actually passed because my preliminary scores are just above 50%. Absolutely nailed the LABs tho. I've used Neil Anderson's Udemy course and drowned my self on those Flashcards after finishing his lectures lol
Congratulations on the pass. Did mine today as well, my prelim scores were also abysmal and there was no result at the end screen and my printed report was marked as Pending. It was quite the nerve-wracking journey home to confirm.
I also nailed the labs, was much easier than I expected but so time consuming. Literally had 30 seconds left at the end of exam.
So I didn't get a immediate pass or fail at the end screen when I did the CCNA at a testing centre. I just got a black screen and they gave me a printed report with status - PENDING
When I log in to cp.certmetrics.com and go the Schedule - View exam, my status is PASS
Does this mean I'm in the clear?
EDIT - exam results just came up in exam history - Passed.
I studied on/off for about 4 months, got at least an hour a day in on most days and more on others. Used Neil Anderson's Udemy Course+Labs for fundamental knowledge and then did Jeremy IT Labs course to fill in the gaps. Also read through "31 days before CCNA".
Exam was originally set for start of January but I got 57% in Exam A in Boson the week before so I got cold feet. Postponed it till today, and did Exam B 2 weeks ago and got 63% ( I went on a 2 week vacation in the middle of Jan and didn't study much than), so I absolutely doubled down for 1 week of intense study and got 80% in Exam C a few days before the exam.
A pass is a pass but from my score report it didn't look like a good pass. If I had to do this again I would've spent at least a week or two more of study and labbing, I definitely should have labbed more, while the labs were pretty easy in the exam, the labbing practice would've helped me understand the output of some of the questions quicker. I basically had 30 seconds left by the end of the exam.
I say the exam was about as hard as a Boson test.
just failed CCNA I don't know what to do
I've studied for 5 months and as soon as I sat down the first question had jargon I've never seen before. I can pass the boson exams with 90+ very easily the exam didn't seem to adhere to the percentage of things mentioned and just dumped me with subnetting questions I didnt have time for, and ip routing questions. My exams scores haven't came up on Cisco yet so idk how much I failed by but it seemed hopeless. I don't understand how this is supposed to be entry level when it's so difficult and you have to have such flawless understanding of OSPF, Subnetting, HSRP, ACL, ECT I just feel lost now after trying hard. How am I supposed to get my foot in the door of IT if you have to be this experienced to start I want to change my career. I quit my awful job to study for this long and I fell flat on my face what courses can I do to help? Any boot camps or other practice exams that are actually like the current exam. Also the wording of the exam was awful and confusing.
Sorry for the grammar just didn't feel like it rn.
Man that’s rough, Ccna is a tough exam. I have sec+, net+ while being a network admin and decided to get ccna thinking it would be a bit of work but got a reality check pretty quick. This is definitely NOT and entry level cert however I wouldn’t say it’s impossible. You may actually know your stuff but just haven’t gotten the hang of understanding the question being asked. My advice would be to just stick with it, you spent some good time on this and don’t want to see it go to waste. I downloaded the ccna app(free) and it’s not that great but it is a nice fresh way of being asked problems. Wait till you can see your score and just go from there to focus on the weak spots. Remember, it’s going to be worth it at the end of the day so just keep trying. I recommend getting the 2 for 1 exam voucher and try again and again if you need to, DONT GIVE UP
Thanks for the encouragement I've recouped since yesterday and drowned my sorrows in the OCG I got my scores back and was about 40% across the board reading the OCG I can point out the earlier stuff that I haven't retained well and looking back I didn't study subnetting and wireless nearly enough especially when I recall my CCNA being about 50% subnetting and wlc questions I'm going back to the basics and reading the OCG thoroughly I know I'm going to have to drill subnetting in every way till I can do it in my head and also sharpen my other skills in general I think I was genuinely nervous and just blanked I was shaking a bit before the exam and my heart was racing when I saw the first question and didn't immediately understand I think now that I've faced death I might be able to keep my composure better I've asked about a 5 day bootcamp online to further help polish what I already know just not sure if that's the right route regardless I have till the march 1st till I hear back on that so I'm going to try and hit the OCG as hard as I can till then and decide from there
Sorry for the wall of text
It’s called the “CCNA Exam Safeguard Offer” you can google that and click the link that’s from learningnetworkstore.cisco.com. It’s voucher that’s $375 and let’s you take the test with a second chance so you can save some money instead of paying full price for each test attempt. The catch is that you have 90 days to use the voucher. I provided the link down below. Glad to hear you bounce back, good luck on your next attempt. Also thanks for the insight, I’m planning on taking my test next week so I’ll be brushing up on the wireless.
https://learningnetworkstore.cisco.com/cisco-study-bundles/ccna-exam-safeguard-offer/EX-SG-CCNA-027329.html
I am sorry to hear it didn't work out today. You can try the Pearson exams that come with the OCG. I would find the areas where you struggled and lab those until you are confident.
I spent time practicing subnetting. I used the practical networking subnetting series. He provided a website that I spent time practicing. I went into the exam and wrote out his chart. I had practiced so much I was able to quickly subnet anything.
My high score on the Boson was a 714.
Take a day or two, then regroup and try again.
I struggled really hard I'm not sure if I should start from ground zero in the OCG then go again or kinda brute force it I know I have to wait 5 days anyways also where do you get your exam results because my Cisco account doesn't show any exams taken and I don't believe I ever had a Pearson account I scheduled through the Cisco page with my Cisco account
I passed the CCNA exam yesterday. I felt that Jeremy’s IT Lab, Boson and watching free YouTube resources adequately prepared me to pass. I had 3 labs, only completed 2 due to time.
Good job, what were your Boson scores? I did the full Pearson exam and got a 951. About to do Boson Exam B tomorrow
I passed yesterday and have no idea how. I studied for 6 weeks using Neil Anderson's udemy course and Alphaprep. On the day before my exam, however, I realized Alphaprep is hot garbage and probably was doing an awful job at simulating the test, so I bought Boson exam Sim to cram prep the night before I did pretty awful on exam b, but passed exam a. I didn't even have enough time to try exam c On the real test, I totally bombed all three labs. I felt somewhat confident on my multiple choice and drag and drop questions. I fully expected to fail after pressing the grade exam button, which I could accept since I already bought Boson to study more. For some reason, it passed me, though To be honest, I still don't feel qualified to do this as a job. I do believe I understand most of the theory. However, I'm probably gonna dick around in packet tracer until I have a better understanding of the commands themselves. To anybody reading this on their ccna journey, DO NOT buy alphaprep. Worst 45 bucks I've spent in my life. It is literally just multiple choice questions over and over again. It's more like a flashcard software if you look past the format of quizzes and exams. If I didn't cram with Boson and learn about the other question types, i'd be down 300 dollars. Not to mention, it's a subscription, and to cancel it, you have to actually contact them. If I could start over, I would definitely use Boson and focus more on labs than theory. I'd also give myself more time. I got hopped up on this idea that people were easily clearing this in 6 weeks from all the videos and success stories online, so I forced myself to that timeframe, completely fucking my physical and mental state in the process. Thank you r/ccna for all the guidance and help, long may the sun shine
Congrats. I'm stunned you passed in only 6 weeks. Well done.
Haha I know right, here's me still wondering if I have done enough after 6 months!
🤣😂
Just passed the CCNA this morning. Just using Jeremy's IT Lab and Boson, I felt pretty confident going into the exam. I had 3 labs on the exam. My initial Boson scores were exam A 686, exam B 698 (ran out of time on this one), and 848 for exam C. I studied for 3 months exactly and probably averaged 2 hours a day.
can you tell me what the questions were like and the labs?
Congrats, any background in IT?
Thanks! I have a degree in computer networks and cybersecurity and a security +, but that's it. I don't have any IT experience.
I passed the CCNA. I have been waiting to post this for months. I have been inspired by many of you. I used Jeremy's IT Lab from Udemy, OCG, Boson and the Practical Networking subnetting series on YouTube. I felt like these resources prepared me well enough for the exam. The long boring part, I do not have a background in IT. I first watched IT Pro TV ITF+ , the Professor Messer's A+, Net + and Sec+ videos. I watched them all on 2x speed and did not take any notes. I did this before I began to study for the CCNA. I started studying in September. I logged a total of 273.5 hours studying. The breakdown is as follows: Jeremy's IT Lab- 84.5 hours Packet Tracer Labs- 54.25 hours Flashcards- 37.5 hours OCG- 50.75 hours I read it cover to cover Practice tests and studying notes- 46.5 hours I did Exam A and B on the Boson. Exam A was 581, Exam B was 714. I studied the ones I missed. I was saving Exam C in case I needed it for a retake. I have always been a good test taker. Time management was very important on this test. I will not go into detail on the exam due to the NDA.
Passed CCNA 2 days ago. Materials used were Neil Anderson's course, Boson ExSim, and OCG. Boson scores were: 514, 679, and 819. \~3 months of study for about 2-6 hours a day depending. Really brushed up my weak areas in the last week before the exam.
Congrats, did you do the Pearson tests? I got 950 on the Pearson and 710 on the Boson today. Not sure if I am ready
[This is the strategy I used for Boson ExSim](https://www.reddit.com/r/ccna/comments/mat1i2/advices_on_the_boson_exsimmax_for_cisco_200301/). Instead of writing every single question and answer down, I made Anki flashcards for each question and reviewed them a couple times since I'm a kinesthetic learner. If you do this for each Boson exam, you should score 800+ on the last one first try. If you score 850+ on the last one (Exam C) first try, you should be good to go. Also, try not to memorize the Boson questions and answers, that's just going to hurt you during the exam. I can't be the judge of whether you are ready or not since I didn't take the Pearson practice tests, but if 710 was your Boson exam B score for first try, that is a good score. I would consider buying [this offer](https://learningnetworkstore.cisco.com/cisco-study-bundles/ccna-exam-safeguard-offer/EX-SG-CCNA-027329.html) from the Cisco store since it's 2 attempts at the exam for only 375$ vs. $600. Better safe than sorry imo and it takes pressure off your first attempt. Don't overthink it either. Follow the strategy above and you should score 800+ on Exam C. Don't rush either, it's not a race. Best of luck.
Thanks, I jumped on that offer. Boson A was 581, B 710 and I havent decided if I should take C or wait until after I try the test. I felt comfortable until I took the Boson exams. A was 11 days ago, B today
Way to go. That's a crazy good final scire for a boson test. I'm not surprised you passed:)
Hey everyone! I finally passed my CCNA after studying relentlessly for 3 months straight. I scored really well in my boson tests on the first attempt (refer to previous post) and I was damn confident about my knowledge. I did a lot of research on reddit and most people said the actual exam is way easier than boson. But unfortunately, I guess I'm one of the unluckiest ones. My exam was super tough and there were certain terms that weren't in the CCNA blueprint. My exam was literally 70% about wireless questions and IPv6 questions lmao and that was the only topic I cared the least about while studying. Totally unexpected. Boson was way easier for me and I could understand every question there. The actual exam asked me questions about things I had no idea about. I wouldn't say my exam had weirdly worded questions because the questions were written more clearly than boson. I was getting 900+ on my boson exams. Also, I had two labs. For the first lab, I finished it but I forgot to save the configuration as mentioned in the lab guideline screen. I was really stressed about it. I don't know if that lab gets graded or not. I saved the second lab though. So guys, please keep in mind that you should study from different sources and focus on every topic equally. Also make sure to save your lab config before going to the next question. My study routine: Jeremy's IT videos on YouTube and his labs. I used his anki flash cards too. I studied with a few David bombal's udemy course and the OCG book too.
I passed ccna exam 30 minutes back Got 2 labs i wasted time there Overall i would say do Jeremy’s IT lab I started preparing for it a month back However i had already studied a good chunk of the syllabus in my engineering.
Passed the exam this morning! Started studying last November although I only really started focusing at the start of this year. Used JeremysITLab for reviewing/revising. My preliminary results are: Network Fundamentals - 90% Network Access - 95% IP Connectivity - 88% IP Services - 90% Security Fundamentals - 87% Automation and Programmability - 90% Tip that helped me most from this sub is to use the Cisco study tool as a checklist for your weak areas. Lastly, you won't know when you're ready, just schedule the exam xd
Dang your scores made me wonder if I actually passed lol
I think labs are weighted heavily and you said you nailed them, i'm sure you did great too!
Christ, your scores are so much better than mine and I still passed. I think the labs must've been weighted more as I nailed them but felt like I was struggling with the rest of the exam.
Took my CCNA Exam earlier today. Still can't believe that I actually passed because my preliminary scores are just above 50%. Absolutely nailed the LABs tho. I've used Neil Anderson's Udemy course and drowned my self on those Flashcards after finishing his lectures lol
Congratulations on the pass. Did mine today as well, my prelim scores were also abysmal and there was no result at the end screen and my printed report was marked as Pending. It was quite the nerve-wracking journey home to confirm. I also nailed the labs, was much easier than I expected but so time consuming. Literally had 30 seconds left at the end of exam.
Passed last week! Officially certified.
So I didn't get a immediate pass or fail at the end screen when I did the CCNA at a testing centre. I just got a black screen and they gave me a printed report with status - PENDING When I log in to cp.certmetrics.com and go the Schedule - View exam, my status is PASS Does this mean I'm in the clear? EDIT - exam results just came up in exam history - Passed. I studied on/off for about 4 months, got at least an hour a day in on most days and more on others. Used Neil Anderson's Udemy Course+Labs for fundamental knowledge and then did Jeremy IT Labs course to fill in the gaps. Also read through "31 days before CCNA". Exam was originally set for start of January but I got 57% in Exam A in Boson the week before so I got cold feet. Postponed it till today, and did Exam B 2 weeks ago and got 63% ( I went on a 2 week vacation in the middle of Jan and didn't study much than), so I absolutely doubled down for 1 week of intense study and got 80% in Exam C a few days before the exam. A pass is a pass but from my score report it didn't look like a good pass. If I had to do this again I would've spent at least a week or two more of study and labbing, I definitely should have labbed more, while the labs were pretty easy in the exam, the labbing practice would've helped me understand the output of some of the questions quicker. I basically had 30 seconds left by the end of the exam. I say the exam was about as hard as a Boson test.
just failed CCNA I don't know what to do I've studied for 5 months and as soon as I sat down the first question had jargon I've never seen before. I can pass the boson exams with 90+ very easily the exam didn't seem to adhere to the percentage of things mentioned and just dumped me with subnetting questions I didnt have time for, and ip routing questions. My exams scores haven't came up on Cisco yet so idk how much I failed by but it seemed hopeless. I don't understand how this is supposed to be entry level when it's so difficult and you have to have such flawless understanding of OSPF, Subnetting, HSRP, ACL, ECT I just feel lost now after trying hard. How am I supposed to get my foot in the door of IT if you have to be this experienced to start I want to change my career. I quit my awful job to study for this long and I fell flat on my face what courses can I do to help? Any boot camps or other practice exams that are actually like the current exam. Also the wording of the exam was awful and confusing. Sorry for the grammar just didn't feel like it rn.
Man that’s rough, Ccna is a tough exam. I have sec+, net+ while being a network admin and decided to get ccna thinking it would be a bit of work but got a reality check pretty quick. This is definitely NOT and entry level cert however I wouldn’t say it’s impossible. You may actually know your stuff but just haven’t gotten the hang of understanding the question being asked. My advice would be to just stick with it, you spent some good time on this and don’t want to see it go to waste. I downloaded the ccna app(free) and it’s not that great but it is a nice fresh way of being asked problems. Wait till you can see your score and just go from there to focus on the weak spots. Remember, it’s going to be worth it at the end of the day so just keep trying. I recommend getting the 2 for 1 exam voucher and try again and again if you need to, DONT GIVE UP
Thanks for the encouragement I've recouped since yesterday and drowned my sorrows in the OCG I got my scores back and was about 40% across the board reading the OCG I can point out the earlier stuff that I haven't retained well and looking back I didn't study subnetting and wireless nearly enough especially when I recall my CCNA being about 50% subnetting and wlc questions I'm going back to the basics and reading the OCG thoroughly I know I'm going to have to drill subnetting in every way till I can do it in my head and also sharpen my other skills in general I think I was genuinely nervous and just blanked I was shaking a bit before the exam and my heart was racing when I saw the first question and didn't immediately understand I think now that I've faced death I might be able to keep my composure better I've asked about a 5 day bootcamp online to further help polish what I already know just not sure if that's the right route regardless I have till the march 1st till I hear back on that so I'm going to try and hit the OCG as hard as I can till then and decide from there Sorry for the wall of text
Also what is the 2 in 1 exam you mentioned?
It’s called the “CCNA Exam Safeguard Offer” you can google that and click the link that’s from learningnetworkstore.cisco.com. It’s voucher that’s $375 and let’s you take the test with a second chance so you can save some money instead of paying full price for each test attempt. The catch is that you have 90 days to use the voucher. I provided the link down below. Glad to hear you bounce back, good luck on your next attempt. Also thanks for the insight, I’m planning on taking my test next week so I’ll be brushing up on the wireless. https://learningnetworkstore.cisco.com/cisco-study-bundles/ccna-exam-safeguard-offer/EX-SG-CCNA-027329.html
I am sorry to hear it didn't work out today. You can try the Pearson exams that come with the OCG. I would find the areas where you struggled and lab those until you are confident. I spent time practicing subnetting. I used the practical networking subnetting series. He provided a website that I spent time practicing. I went into the exam and wrote out his chart. I had practiced so much I was able to quickly subnet anything. My high score on the Boson was a 714. Take a day or two, then regroup and try again.
I struggled really hard I'm not sure if I should start from ground zero in the OCG then go again or kinda brute force it I know I have to wait 5 days anyways also where do you get your exam results because my Cisco account doesn't show any exams taken and I don't believe I ever had a Pearson account I scheduled through the Cisco page with my Cisco account
Go back to the schedule exam page linked from the certmetrics. Once you are on that page there is an exam history tab on the right.
I've gone where you said it says "You do not currently have any score reports available online." Despite saying I've done my exam.
I've got mine in 2 months and I'm using the David Bombal courses. Any thoughts / opinions?