CCNA Blues

Argh what a frustrating afternoon. I have been beating my brains in studying for the CCNA test. Today was supposed to be the big payoff, test day! It started out bad and got worse. The testing center was 35 miles away. It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get there. So I arrived at the testing center already well flustered and angry. I went up and signed in. They said I had 2 hours for the test. I thought that was odd, my confirmation said 2:15 for the test but I dismissed it since I NEVER take anywhere near the alloted time for these type of tests. I sit down, draw out my subnet chart and then begin. After about 5 questions (of a 60 question test) I realized that this was going to be bad. It seems that about half of the questions were tied into what I had studied. With a test that requires 85% for a passing grade I knew I was in trouble. No calculators allowed either which I wasn’t expecting. So I am trudging through this thing, many of the questions take some in depth thought and calculations. I am having to make far too many educated guesses. Before I know it, my test timer is down to 15 minutes!!! I look at my watch and go what the hell??!! I have only been here an hour and 15 minutes!! I call in the test admin and said I thought you said I had 2 hours??? He shrugged his shoulders and said he had no control over it and I should hurry up and try to finish. I had about 12 questions to go in the 15 minutes left. My next question up was one of those long involved lab simulation questions! AH CRAP! I make a calculated move to skip it, figuring I can come back to it at the end and use whatever time I have left. I continue my educated guesses, answer the last question with about 3 or 4 minutes to go. I hit NEXT. BANG, test over. SHIT! You can’t go back and review? Nope. I was thouroughly frustrated. I was pissed that I had less time than I thought I had, I was pissed that the transcenders didn’t properly help me prepare for the test and I was pissed that it took so damn long to work through this test! This test was just brutal in my opinion. It had subtle banana peels everywhere that were made to trip you up. By far, the most difficult test I have attempted. The MOST aggravating part is with as much as I struggled, I still had an 809. That means I missed it by a question or two. I am positive that if I had not been so pressed for time I could have squeaked it out.

In the aftermath, I complained bitterly to both the testing center and prometric who sent me an email that said right in it DURATION: 2:15 Upon calling them they said that the duration meant that they block off 2 hours and 15 minutes for the test but it does not mean that the actual test is 2:15. Ah I guess I should have known that…. BS! In the end, if I would have investigated it more thoroughly on the Cisco site it does list the test as 90 minutes. It also mentions that you can’t go back to prior questions. 🙁 So now I have to decide if I want to jump back into the fire and go it again. I found some more study materials that apparently will be much more helpful than the transcenders. At $125 a test, it is an expensive failure. My frustration level was off the charts on the way home. A couple alcoholic beverages has taken the edge off a bit, but this is going to bug me for awhile.