Hello everyone, rare video with the camera today. Today I took the new CCNA exam, 200-301. I just got back from the testing center. That’s right, I didn’t do it online because
I live in Japan and for some reason, the online testing is not available in Japan. I’m not sure why, it’s frustrating, but
I’ll put that aside for now. Anyway, I just took the new CCNA exam and
I’m making this video to let you know about my experience. So, a while ago I posted this poll for you
to predict my score. 3% of you said I would fail the exam. How dare you? Come on, how dare you? 5% said I would pass would with a score from
825 to 875, 25% said I would pass with a score from 876 to 925, and 54% said I would pass
with a score from 926 to 999. And finally, 13% said I would get a perfect
score of 1000. Spoiler alert: I didn’t get a perfect score. Okay, before I show you my score, for reference
here’s my old score from when I took the old CCNA 200-125 exam two years
ago. Not a bad score, if I do say so myself. But keep in mind, at this time I was working
a different job. I was an English teacher here in Japan, and
I had a lot of spare time after work. So, I was spending basically all of my free
time studying for the CCNA. This time, however, is different. I’m much busier now in my job as a network
engineer, and I spend the vast majority of my free time making the CCNA course here on
YouTube. Some of you might be thinking, ‘Why is he
telling us this? Just tell us the score, tell us about the
exam!’ Well I want to tell you about the study tool
I used to prepare in such a short time. And that is, of course, my favorite study
tool, ExSim for the CCNA, by Boson Software. If you watch my videos you probably already
know what ExSim is. It’s a set of practice exams for the CCNA. But they aren’t just any practice exams,
Boson is so good at simulating both the style of the questions on the CCNA, and their difficulty. If you can pass Boson ExSim, you can be pretty
sure that you can pass the real thing. But Boson ExSim doesn’t just test you, it gives
great feedback, with a detailed breakdown of your score in each category of the exam
topics. So, ExSim includes three exams, and I’ll
put up a screenshot of my score for each of them. Notice the breakdown by category, which really
helps you identify your weak points. Okay, I know this is sounding like a Boson-sponsored
video, but really it’s not. I’m just telling you what I used to study
for the exam. I do, however, have some affiliate links down
in the description for Boson ExSim and NetSim, their network simulator. So, if you want to get either or both of them,
please follow the links in the description and I’ll get a little commission from each
sale. Okay, just wanted to be clear about that. Sorry for keeping you in suspense. Here is my score on the new CCNA 200-301 exam. Pretty good score I think, considering the
limited amount of time I had to study. But let me be clear, I’m not saying you
can study using only Boson ExSim and pass the exam like I did. I already have my CCNA and CCNP, so I already
know most of the exam topics. Now, I had forgotten some details, and of
course the exams have changed since I first took them, two years ago for my CCNA and about
one year ago for my CCNP. But just be aware that I already put in the
study time in the past, my studying this time around was mostly just review. Okay, now more important than my score is
what I think about the exam, and some tips for you who are studying for the CCNA. So, the exam is certainly different than before. The CCNA routing and switching had about 70
questions, and I think the exam time was about 90 minutes. Or, it was 90 minutes long. This new CCNA has 102 questions and the time
is 120 minutes, 2 hours. First tip, download the official exam topics
list, I will leave a link down in the video description. So, those of us making CCNA courses or CCNA
books try to make sure we cover everything you need in our course or book, but it’s
also important to take responsibility yourself and go direct to the source, to the exam topics list, and make sure you know everything on that list. Now, with this increased number of questions,
I think it’s all the more important to really know everything on that list. Looking at the list, I don’t really think
anything was missing when I took the exam, each of the bullet points was covered in some
way. But that’s just my experience, everyone
has a different set of questions from the question pool when they take the exam. Now, although the exam topics list is the
most important reference you can use while studying, there are some topics on the exam
which aren’t explicitly stated on the exam topics list. Some of these I have already covered in my
course, and some of them I will cover in the future. Now, due to Cisco’s non-disclosure agreement,
which you have to agree to before taking the exam, I can’t tell you exactly what those
topics are, so I will refrain from doing so. But don’t worry, I got you covered. I’ll make sure I cover all of those things
in my course. Now, what topics should you focus on for the
exam? Honestly, all of them. The first priority is a solid understanding
in networking fundamentals. Things like IP addresses, subnetting, MAC addresses,
ARP, DHCP, TCP and UDP, you know, the classic CCNA exam topics. Make sure you’re solid on those topics. Now, this is an associate level exam, it’s
not CCNP or CCIE so you don’t have to go super deep in the topics. But really you have to have a solid fundamental
understanding of networking basics to pass your CCNA. So that’s the number one priority. However, on top of those fundamental topics
we now have new topics on the CCNA, specifically security, wireless, and network automation. The coverage of these topics in the new CCNA
is more like an introduction to security, introduction to wireless, an introduction
to automation. Very high-level, doesn’t go very deep. However Cisco still hits these topics really
hard on the exam so don’t take them lightly. Once again, look at the exam topics list and
make sure you know everything on there. Another difference between the old exams and
the new is that the old exams had simulation questions, where you would have a simulation
like Packet Tracer, which I use in my course, and you would have to log in to routers and
switches and configure them, troubleshoot them live. The new exam has none of that, it’s all
multiple choice questions. Some are multiple choice with a single answer,
some are multiple choice with multiple answer, and on top of that there are a few drag-and-drop
questions. Does that mean that you don’t have to do
practice labs to study for the new CCNA? Absolutely not. Practice labs are just as important as ever
to understand the topics. Plus there are still plenty of questions that
ask you what command you should use in a specific situation, or ask you to interpret the output
of some ‘show’ commands like ‘show ip ospf interface’, and things like that. So if you don’t have practice with those
commands in a practice lab you’ll have a hard time answering those questions on the
exam. So don’t slack on the labs! Fortunately, in my CCNA course I include plenty
of free labs using packet tracer, and if you want even more practice you can also use something
like Boson NetSim, which has 100+ detailed guided practice labs for you. Okay, one more suggestion: always use multiple
study resources. When I study for an exam I try to make sure
to use at least one video course, one book, and then of course plenty of Google searches
to fill in any gaps in my knowledge. Finally, why did I take the new CCNA, even
though I already have my CCNA and CCNP? Well, it’s to help improve my course. Now that I’ve taken the new exam I know
what things I need to teach you about the new topics, automation, wireless and security,
and I know what angle to approach them from in my course. Now, some good news is that I really think
the videos I have already made in my course do a good job of preparing you to answer questions
about them on the new CCNA exam. The course is still a work-in-progress, however,
so I will continue adding videos weekly to make it a truly complete CCNA course. Finally, one more shoutout to Boson Software. ExSim and NetSim are fantastic CCNA study
resources. So if you want to get one or both of them,
follow the links in the video description. Okay, so that was my CCNA 200-301 exam experience. If you have any questions feel free to ask
them in the comment section. And thank you to all of you who watch my CCNA
course on YouTube, you’re the reason I spend so much of my time making these videos. Thank you.
