I'm sure part of this has been discussed but...

Which order do most people do the tests in? ROUTE -> Switch -> TSHOOT?

For those with the CCNP, how long total did it take and how much time did you put in daily or weekly?

I'm probably going to go back to school to finish my BS degree but still want to work on the CCNP at the same time if possible. I'm curious how much actual time it takes. I've heard 3 months per test but is that an hour a day, or 2 hours a night and 8 hours on each weekend day. It doesn't seem like 3 months is really that bad, but there is a big difference between 5-7 hours a week and 20 hours a week.

3 months for route (about 2 hours a night + more time on weekends)
2 months for switch (about 2 hours a night + more time on weekends)
1 week for tshoot

but I should mention:
- while studying for Route, I still had no 0 real world experience - making it a lot harder to study
- while studying for switch, I had a little more exposure, but not much

If I were to use a technology on the day to day, it would be a lot easier...

i have been studying for route for about 4-5 months now. got my exam in the first week of may.

Wow, not bad. I'll probably have more trouble on ROUTE than SWITCH since I have more switching experience. I can probably fit some time to study in around other classes, I hope. Just not sure how much time I'll have during the week. I'll have a lot more free time on the weekends.

Will you also be working? I did my CCNP while doing my BA in econ (which I eventually need to finish) and working 2 days a week at the HD.

Yeah, I work 40+ hours a week and have a 45-60 minute drive each way. Was looking at an online school that I've seen good reviews of. Still trying to decide if it's worth trying to finish. They have a unique way of doing things. Set fee for 6 months. Can knock out as many classes as you can in that time frame. I only have 14 classes to take I think so I either put everything into finishing school and putting the CCNP on hold, try to do both, or just do the CCNP. The degree isn't necessary but I think it will open some doors that would otherwise remain shut without it.

Can you PM me that UNI? Sounds interesting.

Also, with a 8+ hours/day working + 2h/day commuting + UNI course time... there's no way you can reasonably manage that...

- forget social life
- your ccnp or your uni studies or both will be spread out thin

with that said, there's nothing holding you back from occasionally picking up a CCNP book when you do manage to get some free time - not necessarily enough to pass an exam, but it wouldn't hurt either

I'm interested in knowing more about how you are studying. How do you take your notes? Did you use Cisco Press for theory and did a lot of lab?

-Read content in book
-Watch video tutorials (CBT, INE, Youtube, Ciscopress, whatever) and take notes
-Lab the crap out of it, notes if necessary
-Read the same chapter again and this time take notes (or if more detail is needed, go on Cisco docs)
-Make a lab covering every feature (or as many as possible) for a given topic
-Read the next chapter...

For the NA and NP, when the exam date was approaching and the above steps were completed, I would read the Quick Reference Guides by Cisco and the free guides available at routeralley.com

Should be said that I'm 23, have no kids, no mortgage, and worked part time while studying for the NA and NP.

All notes are written by hand... I never type anything.

Thanks for sharing your process. I'm in the middle of revising mine and I just have a harder time retaining. Where our situations is different is that I have a full time job (not so much relating to CCNP), mortgage and I have a kid.

No problem man, but everybody learns differently. I know a lot of guys here like to use One Note or Ever Note or (insert note taking application). Personally, I learn by writing by hand. Also, I really get the information to stick once I've been flooded with it... and for more difficult concepts, I really need to lab it out and get an epiphany lollll

Let me know if there's anything else I can help with.

A driving commute is the number one reason I am afraid to move out of the New York City area, my commute (on a subway) gives me 45 minutes (each way) to read and do test questions etc... everything but lab basically. I do some labs at home after work and on the weekends. If I had to drive for a commute, I would have never gotten my CCNA. I'm currently about half way done with studying for CCNP Route. If I can't make the studying part of my day that would be otherwise wasted, my progress would be limited to an hour a couple times a week... but sitting on a train, I get 8 hours of material at least a week...

My plan is basically the same, I read the cisco press book, watched some videos on the train (after hours doing GNS3 labs as a play along). I bought the old BSCI book for lab work with GNS3 (with solutions). Now I'm doing the Boson questions on the train, I'll probably do the free Cisco Press questions as well, but I find the Boson ones better because they have more detail in the explanations. I started to reread the cisco press book, but just skimming and doing the "do I know this" questions, but I find doing the boson/cisco press questions on my netbook to be a better use of my time. I'll definetly reach back to the book when I'm more familiar with what I'm missing.