You are right. My experience was exactly as he describes it. With the exception that I was at another hotel. They provided a shuttle for me. I also went on a Friday. Anyway, good luck. And if not, see you back soon!!! I know I'm returning. Victor Rosa
PS: Let us know how it went.... > Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2012 22:34:16 -0500 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected]; [email protected] > Subject: Re: [OSL | CCIE_RS] My visit to RTP on Friday > > Bob, > > Thanks for sharing, as this was almost exactly the same scenario as my > first attempt even down to the Hotel. It's good for those that haven't > attempted the lab yet to read about this and understand that the Proctors > are cool guys and are there to make your testing experience pleasant. > David was in his first week or two when I first took my exam and he is a > great guy. Hope your Configuration Score comes back positive, if not, I'm > sure you were close... Good luck, and have a big smile.. > > Joe Sanchez > > > > > On 7/29/12 10:16 PM, "Bob McCouch" <[email protected]> wrote: > > >Hi All, > > > >I sat my first attempt for the R&S lab in RTP on Friday and wanted to > >relay > >some of the details about the experience itself since I know there are > >always (and I have had) a number of questions and apprehension about the > >environment, proctors, etc. Of course I will not disclose anything about > >exam content. > > > >Travel: > >I drove down to RTP, as it's about 450 miles from where I live. I may > >strongly consider flying next time even though I don't like flying very > >much, as it was a longer drive than I anticipated. > > > >Hotel: > >I stayed at Hotel Indigo, which is listed with a Cisco corporate discount > >on Cisco's lab info page for the RTP site. The hotel was very nice, and it > >was only about 3 miles from the Cisco office with no highway travel > >required to get there. I took a quick drive over to the Cisco office the > >day before the exam about 7:30 AM and there was very little traffic. It > >was > >less than 10 minutes to get there from the hotel. > > > >I ordered room service for dinner the night I arrived and it was tasty and > >reasonably priced. There is a restaurant/bar in the hotel which is open > >from 5-10 PM. Also, with the Cisco corporate discount I got a voucher for > >some free breakfast items for each morning of my stay. I will likely stay > >here again. > > > >Office: > >Finding the Cisco office is quite easy. As mentioned above I took a dry > >run > >over there just so I wasn't trying to find it the first time on the big > >day. I recommend doing the same if you're driving to the site just so it > >all looks familiar. I arrived for the lab about 6:50 AM (7:05 is when > >you're supposed to be there). Parking was ample at that hour, very close > >to > >the door of building 3. Upon arriving, the door was locked but several > >candidates were already inside and one of them got the door for me. One of > >the candidates taking the exam that day was a Cisco employee at RTP so I > >assume he's who got everyone inside. There were a couple couches and > >chairs > >in the waiting area. There was a little nervous chatter between candidates > >but mostly awkward silence as we waited. > > > >The proctor, David Blair, came out about 7:10 or so. He checked everyone's > >photo ID and gave us a name badge to wear. He gave us a few basic > >instructions and led us back. The lab is on the ground floor, very close > >to > >that front lobby. David pointed out the restrooms, a break room, and the > >small conference room where we'd have lunch. > > > >There is an "outer" room where some equipment was housed along with > >lockers. Off of this room is David's office area and also the actual test > >room. He explained that anything we had that was electronic in nature > >including car key fobs, phones, or anything else much be turned off if > >possible and then all of our stuff must be put in a locker which was > >assigned based on our pod number. We were told that we could not touch > >anything in our lockers from that point on without clearing it with David > >first, else we would be done and asked to leave. > > > >Test Room: > >There were three rows of work spaces, probably 6 per row. Candidates were > >spaced out so no one was on either side of where you were (at least for > >R&S > >candidates; I think the voice guys were all crammed on the first row). The > >cubicle walls are medium height so there was not really anything > >distracting to see out of your peripheral vision. The room was a pleasant > >temperature, as there wasn't really any equipment running in there. David > >let us know that we were welcome to the drinks in the small fridge under > >the table (this is the only location you can still get your free $1500 > >Coke). There was a dispenser with foam ear plugs, which is nice to know; > >I'd taken my own but good to know they have spares. Everyone used them. > >Each workspace had ample working room, with a 22"-or-so LCD on an > >articulating arm, and a reasonable keyboard and mouse. We had a pile of > >colored pencils and 2 sheets of note paper with our ID on them, in > >addition > >to the login info sheet. I used the login info page for notes too. The > >chair was comfortable. David permitted us to keep a drink or some snacks > >at > >our workspace. > > > >Testing Experience: > >David gave us a quick briefing on the flow of the day and the way lunch > >would work, etc. He said we would start at 7:25 and go until 3:45 PM, with > >lunch from 11:00-11:20 AM. So the R&S exam has the 2-hour TS portion > >(which > >is firmly timed through the TS lab UI) and the 6 hour config section, but > >you only have from 7:25-3:45 to do that. We were permitted to use the > >restroom at any time, but there was a "hall pass" and only one person > >could > >be out of the room at a time. > > > >Lunch: > >Lunch began and ended promptly. Apparently Friday is always Seafood Day at > >RTP. The catered lunch was good, but it was pretty much all fried food. > >Fried fish, and some local specialties which I don't recall the names of. > >There was salad too. Conversation was rather light. David explained the > >grading process and we talked a bit about the various CCIE tracks. At > >11:20 > >we were back at our workstations. > > > >End of the Day: > >About 10-12 minutes before the end of the day, David gave us an update on > >the time. At 3:45 on the mark he asked us to quickly save any final > >configs > >and log out. There was not a "hard" stop enforced by the UI or anything, > >but I think everyone in the room complied with David's instruction within > >a > >minute or two. We were asked to turn in our note pages and David bid us > >good luck. > > > >Final Notes: > >David actually gave myself and another candidate our script-driven TS > >scores on our way out. The other candidate requested it, and after David > >looked his up, I asked him if he could look mine up as well. This was not > >a > >final score, only what the script indicated. But it was a nice early > >result > >to get. > > > >Over lunch, David explained that the scoring works like this: You start > >with zero points. On both the TS and Config sections (for R&S, this is), > >the scripts run and you accumulate points based on what the script finds. > >Anything that the script has marked right has no further human review. > >Once > >the script is finished, if the candidate has not yet passed, a human > >proctor (typically in the next timezone) reviews any items that were > >marked > >wrong by the scripts. David said that for R&S, though, the scripts are > >quite good and if you have failed a section by more than just a few points > >chances are good you will not pass from just the added human review. > > > >Also, here's an important note on a Friday exam at RTP: Because of the > >grading process, there is a good chance those taking the exam on a Friday > >in RTP will not get scores before Sunday night or even Monday morning, as > >no other test center is fully open after RTP closes on a Friday. Indeed, > >it's now 11 PM Sunday night here and I still don't have my scores. That > >said, I know I passed TS (as my scripted score indicated such) but I'm > >also > >quite sure I failed Config as I know I had enough tasks incomplete at the > >end of the test that I could not have passed. If the wait is going to kill > >you, you might want to schedule a different test day! > > > >Overall, it was a very good experience. Nothing in the environment, > >facilities, or equipment detracted from my test-taking ability in any way. > >It was just me and my lab. The lab won the day, but I am not deterred. > >Next > >time. > > > >If anyone has any additional questions about the testing experience at RTP > >I'd be happy to try to answer them. > > > >Good studying, all. > > > >Bob > >_______________________________________________ > >For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please > >visit www.ipexpert.com > > > >Are you a CCNP or CCIE and looking for a job? Check out > >www.PlatinumPlacement.com > > > >http://onlinestudylist.com/mailman/listinfo/ccie_rs > > > _______________________________________________ > For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please > visit www.ipexpert.com > > Are you a CCNP or CCIE and looking for a job? Check out > www.PlatinumPlacement.com > > http://onlinestudylist.com/mailman/listinfo/ccie_rs _______________________________________________ For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please visit www.ipexpert.com Are you a CCNP or CCIE and looking for a job? Check out www.PlatinumPlacement.com http://onlinestudylist.com/mailman/listinfo/ccie_rs
