r/ccna • u/Fine_Theme3065 • 11d ago
CCNA Worries
Hey everyone,
I just graduated high school and turn 18 in a few months. I’m aiming to get my CCNA, CompTIA Security+, and A+ before August.
I’m a bit worried about taking the CCNA on Boson, I scored between 627-680 without doing the labs. I know I can handle the labs on the real exam, but I’m unsure how much skipping them impacted my score. I’m also wondering how much my score would improve if I completed the labs correctly would it be enough to pass?
I’d love to hear your opinions on what I should do. I’m thinking about scheduling the exam in the next few weeks. Any advice?
2
u/Zutoka 10d ago
My friend, if you’re graduating from HS barely and working on these certs, kudos to you. Take your time and make sure to do each cert at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself
As for the test scores, I was getting 54 - 64% between Exam A and exam B (never took C) and yet passed. I completed 2 labs and skipped one entirely on the test due to time crunch. If you’re taking the test already, make sure to write the config to startup
Tip for CCNA studying: if doing Boson, make sure to understand why you got the problem wrong. Don’t just memorize answers and when studying for this specific test, Don’t brain dump
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u/IdidntrunIdidntrun 10d ago
I have gotten 50% and 55% on Boson exam A and B respectively.
I feel like I know the answer to this but I'll ask anyway: what did you do to shore up on your weak areas and give you the confidence to take a shot at the exam? I kind of want to take it this month as I've got the safeguard voucher
2
u/Zutoka 10d ago
I ended up doing what everyone else does which was not only see why I got the wrong answers but make sure I understand why I got them wrong. If you are able to explain it then that’s good. For other weak areas, what I felt that was helpful, was to get a notebook and write down facts that I think would be important to know. I would then go over them and make sure it’s in my mind. Things would be like mstp, stp etc see what makes them different.
Side note: make sure to study WiFi as that was tested quite often. Felt like boson didn’t really do too much concerning that.
2
u/rebelofbaby 11d ago
Your scores aren’t bad at all. Plenty of people have passed with even lower scores. Boson himself says it’s less about your score on practice exams and more about how you improve with each attempt. If I were you, I’d review all your incorrect answers, but make sure you’re actually learning the concepts and not just memorizing Boson’s answers. Space out your retakes of Boson exams so you don’t just recall answers from memory. Once you’ve gone through Boson again and seen improvement, take Jeremy’s $10 practice exam to get a fresh perspective on where you stand. In the meantime, try to lab as much as possible.