Cisco Networking class

hey, it's time for me to schedule my sophomore year of high school. As an elective, I chose cisco networking I, which is a part of a two year course. Aparrently you get some kind of certification when you complete or somthing, but I've heard its really hard to get to(a+ certification?)

All i want to know is, what is this certification all about? Is it what it's hyped up to be? Is it BS?

thanks.

Two of my friends did it through HS, both are now certified CISCO technicians. They recieved numorous certifications through the HS courses, as well as got paid 200 every two weeks for taking those classes. They graduated high school directly into a six month program at the technical school.....making good money now.

As far as how good they are, the one friend barely knew what a computer was.

sweet. but i'm not going to technical school, i'm probably going to go into a corporate field of some kind. Does the certification help with getting into a 4 year college?

Yea, both of them found it alot easier to use this as a good reference.

The certification is called the CCNA, Cisco Certified Network Associate and its the lowest of the 3 levels to the cisco certification pyramid on the network side (as opposed to the design side) Go for it, the 2 year program doesnt get you the certification, it only teaches you the material you need to take the test. The test itself is being updated, so beware, the new version CCNA3.0 is WAY HARDER than the old version (like 2.2 i think). They are still working all the bugs out of the new version of the program. Unfortunately earlyer versions were alot easier so the "prestige" of having a CCNA dropped somewhat. Another important thing is that after you pass the cert, you need to RECERTIFY every 3 years. So if you get your CCNA at the beginning of your senior year, or even after highschool, and goto a 4 year college, you will have to recertify before you get a job. From what i have seen A+ certification isnt very worthwhile. CCNA is alot more respected and you will learn things of value. Good luck.

I did the CCNA courses as part of my second year in BSc though I haven't taken the certification exam. As far as I know, Cisco certifications are well recognised all over the world as a standard certification. I passed the MSCE certification (NT 4) some years ago but I think its just a waste of time as it is not regarded as high as Cisco certifications and I learned much more things during my CCNA course than the MCSE course.

I think it will give considerable advantages to candidates looking for jobs if they have the new (ver 3) CCNA certification.

Is it possible to take the test before I do any college admissions? I'm still a freshman.

Yes, at the conclusion of year one or year two you can take the cert test through the class. Both friends of mine only took the class one year.

As for having to recertify after a 4yr college, thats up to the employer it doesnt become invalid over 4 years.

I'm not going to work under anybody, EVER. i just want to know, will this certification help me with getting into college?

Originally posted by Xterria
I'm not going to work under anybody, EVER. i just want to know, will this certification help me with getting into college?

Haha, but you suck at everything.

Our school had that where you get A+ certified after 2 years, but alas they got rid of it the year before I was allowed in

At the beginning of the year I was taking CISCO I/II at my school. Take it, and don't make the same mistake I made which was dropping it.

I dropped at semester and regret it greatly.

ALOT of people drop during or after the first cisco semester because its SOOO BORING. You just sit there and learn really retarted basic computing stuff. And terms. They have a cisco approved name for everything you have to bloody figure out to understand cisco marketspeek. Its interesting to see techspeek mixed with marketspeek. But ya, dont drop just because the first semester sucks hard, you dont get to touch a router until the second semester.

I'm glad it'll be easy at first (I really need the grade). Thanks everyone. Especially Ken.