Originally Posted by
Sainesk
I'm taking the exam this month and I took courses. Didn't get a single online final (from cisco) under 90% in any of the 4 parts. Cert exams like this i'm sure you know, expect much more than the 60% passing grade in a typical course, though I (and most people besides cisco) don't know the exact method of grading, it's more like 80%+.
If I took the exam today I believe I would fail largely because of the bridging material - the exam was just changed recently with new material added such as more IPv6, multi-area OSPF and a few other topics. I would recommend researching and learning those too in addition if your book is not up to date. I wouldn't feel confident taking the exam without knowing those first and knowing my luck they may not even ask a single question about the new material, but i'm not going to take that chance.
I agree with the hands-on practice recommendations - either a physical setup or packet tracer simulations. Packet tracer is less of a hassle, extremely close to the real thing, and doesn't cost money (at least if you're in a course, not sure if cisco offer it for people not enrolled...) so I would recommend that. There are simulation questions in the cert exam, if you just know the theory behind configuring routers and switches but have never done it you may struggle. You'll want to practice until you can do setups with each routing protocol, switches, VLANs, WANs and such from memory
AND within a reasonable time frame - people usually fail because they don't know the material or they take too long and run out of time.
I think I could subnet like a champ if you threw cold water on me at 4a.m. while i'm sleeping (though please don't
), while I saw numbers dwindle in my course when it was introduced, sadly it's not enough to just know how to subnet but it is good to get fast at it.
I would personally aim for 8/10 questions correct on each topic in practice exams before going for the cert (maybe 7/10 in a few of my weaker areas and hope I don't get too many of them).