Overview: That’s right – Cisco finally refreshed the Cisco Certified Design Associate cert. Whew! Since this was my first Cisco course I created at CBT Nuggets, I have been waiting very impatiently for this day! Please note that I am writing this review on 12/10/2015, so please consider that if you are reading this post considerably after that date. Cisco has a tendency to change exam details and content periodically. Your mileage may vary 🙂
You are given 90 minutes for this exam and you can expect about 60 questions. You will have plenty of time to finish if you know your stuff. There are no sims or simlets of any kind to slow you down.
The required passing score is a but on the high side, so please, really know your stuff! You can expect a required passing score of about 860! What happened to the days when you could pass with a grade of C? :-0 Your score report, pass or fail, will show your performance in the following five areas:
- Design Methodologies
- Design Objectives
- Addressing and Routing Protocols in an Existing Network
- Enterprise Network Design
- Considerations for Expanding an Existing Network
Sigh. Cisco got pretty lazy on this one. Strictly multiple choice. My goodness, why not have some fun with simlets where we read a scenario and then answer questions about it. Nothing like that here. In fact, not even any simple drag and drop.
Are there issues with this exam? Yes. For many learners there will be. They are twofold – number 1, there are plenty of questions outside the scope of the official materials from Cisco, and number 2, some of the questions are of absurd detail. For example, what model of the Cisco XYZ provides PDQ. My goodness, why would anyone want to memorize such information.
Fortunately, there are enough questions that do follow the course that we can pass while best guessing the other stuff. Also, students of my Nugget course are covered since I go into painstaking detail about this weird stuff. 🙂
Here are some tips:
- Use the blueprint as you study – while there are questions off blueprint, at least the majority track here
- This exam is the poster child for the correct answer being the “Cisco way!”
- There is a huge emphasis on Data Center and cloud stuff – duh!
Exam Accuracy: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Exam Difficulty: 3.5 out of 5 stars (due to high cut score)
Time Pressure: Low
Have fun studying these super important, and super interesting topics!
I appreciate every exam review you make Anthony. I’m not sure if you have already read this post by Russ White but I still want to share it with you http://ntwrk.guru/memorize-or-think/ 😉
Thank you so much!!!
I think you’ve just violated the Holy Disclosure Principle with that passmark estimation 😉
Yes, the exam IS super silly. But it’s the learning that counts, not the exam so just treat the exam as a necessary evil. I learnt a lot about data center and cloud while preparing for this one so it was definitely not a waste of time. I can see a strong trend towards cloud technologies here (sell sell sell cloud! 🙂 )
Cisco could hire some linguists to proof read those questions though. but I’ve seen worse – like the old CCNA security. Ouch.
Yes – waiting for the Cert Police at the door! 🙂 Thanks for the feedback!