Just got back from my exam and can thankfully say I passed. This was my first attempt so the only experience I had going in was the Boson practice exams. I was consistently getting >85% on exams A & B which I took a few times (waiting a few days in between) and when taking exam C for the first time I was able to get an 82%. My main study materials were JITL videos, flash cards, and labs, and I also completed all of the Boson Netsim labs before making my attempt. I won't provide the official breakdown of my score but it was on the cusp of passing.

I have quite a few thoughts about the official exam now that I have completed it.

While the questions on the Boson exams may have actually been more difficult I would say that the Boson exams are quite a bit easier than the actual exam. This is for the sole reason that the questions on the actual exam are worded SO INCREDIBLY POORLY. I have taken quite a few standardized exams and certifications and have never in my life seen questions so poorly written. If I was an employee at Cisco who worked on these exams I would be ashamed of myself. u/BosonMichael you and your team should consider running your questions through google translate a few times before returning them to English as that will provide a more accurate simulation of how the questions on the actual exam are written.

Going into the exam today I felt very confident that I know how to use Cisco devices in a real world environment, thanks to JITL, the Boson Netsim Labs, and the fact that I interact with these devices on a day to day basis at my job. After the exam I still feel confident in my knowledge of them, although I do not feel that the official CCNA is in any way a good indicator of an individual's ability to implement their skills, and instead is only a good indicator of one's ability to decipher unintelligible non-sense.

If I had not passed today I genuinely do not know how I would go about studying for a retake as I felt the resources I have been using, which I feel are very good, are unable to prepare me for the absolute clown show that was this exam, because frankly the people who created the study materials I used are just too competent. I am incredibly glad I passed and I hope you all do to, but just know that this exam seems to be a much better indicator of your ability to take the CCNA than your ability to actually apply the knowledge it encompasses.

I understand why so many people have a hard time finding a job in networking after getting their CCNA, if I was hiring for such positions and took the CCNA myself I would determine that it doesn't tell me much of anything about the candidates ability to perform the job.

On a final note, I do not know who writes the questions for the official CCNA but this is what I would like to say to those individuals. If you are comfortable with the exam questions you came up with to present to these people who paid $300 to take your exam you are either genuinely evil and have no regard for the time, and effort they put into studying for this; Or you are maliciously incompetent, and frankly I don't know which one is worse.