Comments on: BSCI Study Schedule

By: SWITCH Plans – CCNP Passes! | Echo .. Reply Packets!!!!!

SWITCH Plans – CCNP Passes! | Echo .. Reply Packets!!!!! — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 21:27:36 +0000

[...] every day or where and when you feel comfortable, easy enough? Ya OK! I create a schedule (thanks @routemyworld for the idea) to help me with my target studies including number of pages and topics each day – it worked [...]

By: Donavan Diaz

Donavan Diaz — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:45:09 +0000

Came across this blog only today. I too and am somewhat in the same boat as you – fighting to refocus on my CCNP studies.. What progress have you made. Did you somplete BSCI/BCMSN?

Regards,

Donavan

By: Aragoen Celtdra

Aragoen Celtdra — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:13:50 +0000

@Omar: Here's the write-up I did after I took the BSCI.

By: Omar

Omar — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:48:32 +0000

Its definitely worth it. Its $395 per test or $995 for the whole ccnp set. I paid the $395 for the BSCI but am seriously considering upgrading to the full set. Its definitely worth it for all 4 test. Most of all it is much more productive and obviously cheaper than taking a boot camp class. It comes with a free transcender exam for each test. I am passing these exams with ease now after going through each topic.
How did you find the BSCI exam when you took it? I get the impression that they will be focusing more on BGP and OSPF than the other topics.

By: Aragoen Celtdra

Aragoen Celtdra — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:56:07 +0000

@Pete: It’s good to see here Of course we have the best intention. Sometimes they are unfulfilled but sometimes they are not. But we keep trying, right?

@Omar: I’ve heard great things about Chris Bryant. More so now. I’m just bummed I didn’t get his material early enough. But maybe I’ll throw down some cash to get the materials for ISCW and ONT.

If you’re goals go according to plan, we might finish the CCNP around the same time. I took longer, of course, ’cause I started last year.

By: Omar

Omar — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 01:11:38 +0000

Nice schedule. I have never wrote a formal study schedule I would just work off what i fealt was a realistic timeline it would take to study and pass the test and would fit my studies and exam prep with in that timeline. For example when I was studying to recertify for the CCNA (my last one expired in 2002) I started in March 2009 and passed in May. Granted it was a recert so the material wasn’t new to me. Now that I am on the CCNP track I had to give myself more time realistically. I started in June ’09 finished studying the Cisco text book by Clare Gough (CCNP BSCI)in early July started my exam prep practice tests and fealt like the book missed to many specifics so I order the Train Signal DVD by Chris Bryant because it got good reviews, and Im currently going through that now. Ive gotten through the first DVD and in my opinion it is incredible, Its about 21 hours worth of material but you pick the info up so much quicker because your watching him do the material he’s teaching real time in IOS. Any way its much more intuitive if you read the Cisco Press book first than watch the video. I got the DVD last week July 31st Ive gone through about 12 hours so far. I plan on taking the test at the end of this month. Ill let you know how it goes. My overall plan is to take 3 months a test and have my CCNP by early 2010.

By: Goer Pent

Goer Pent — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:47:15 +0000

dewd, nice schedule. you have here a fully awesome study regimen. Mine had all the best intentions, but you know what happens with those. I stopped reading around Multi-Area OSPF, and am now trying to catch up with the study group I founded. kwayzee, eh?

By: Aragoen Celtdra

Aragoen Celtdra — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:07:51 +0000

Brandon, Thanks for stopping by and dropping a line. The main book I use is Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks (BSCI) (Authorized Self-Study Guide) (3rd Edition) by Diane Teare and Catherine Paquet. I also used part of Routing TCP/IP, Volume I (2nd Edition) and Volume II (CCIE Professional Development) series sparingly for a deeper perspective of the theories. Apologies for those trying to follow my schedule. Somewhere along the way my schedule went haywire and it became harder and harder to maintain a definite agenda. Nowadays I focus on certain technologies and spend as much time as I need depending on how I feel about the subject. You can probably benefit more by following my technology related posts to follow where I'm at at certain points in my studies.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:24:06 +0000

What material are you using for the Study schedule? Is it a Cisco Press book? Or a Cisco Class workbook? Or something you developed on your own using various books and or material. I would like to follow along but need to know where you are getting the page numbers from. Thanks, B

By: rakesh

rakesh — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 06:48:30 +0000

good one …. i have a similar schedule but not as picture perfect as yours .hehe

ne ways good luck …

regards
rakesh

By: Aragoen Celtdra

Aragoen Celtdra — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:38:39 +0000

Thanks for stopping by Steve. I’ve changed the schedule a million times because of changes in my pace and also circumstances around work.

I haven’t decided if I will post the whole schedule all at once or post up week by week schedule. So far I have a set schedule until the end of this week. I’m going to have to re-do the rest after I’m done with this weeks material.

I’ll try to post up this weeks’ schedule between today and tomorrow. Please come by often and let me know how you’re doing in your studies.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:12:45 +0000

hey man I am right here with you. Where’s the rest of the schedule?

By: Aragoen Celtdra

Aragoen Celtdra — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:20:43 +0000

Thanks! I plan to post more of it this weekend. Hopefully it can also benefit others by giving some idea of how I do it myself. You should post yours too so we can compare.

I’m definitely going to be modifying it a lot. I haven’t even done any of the labs because I’m already behind my readings. The only consolation, if you can call it that, is that I know how much I have to catch up on just to stay within my schedule.

However, I’m putting more emphasis on getting a solid understanding of the materials over following my schedule – that’s why I’m behind. I don’t plan to stay strictly on my schedule just for the sake of being on schedule. I use it to give me a clear direction and if I stray a little bit, it’s OK for me. I’m just trying to make sure, though, that I don’t give myself too much excuses and never moving on.

By: Michael Hocutt

Michael Hocutt — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:54:16 +0000

Great schedule and you were absolutely correct about having a schedule because surely I’m always all over the place. I’ve finally put a schedule in full effect and has forced myself to follow it. I’ll be doing some Labs this weekend in between of family and church. Keep up the good work!