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D*#*n,

Due to time pressures at work I had to take the CWAP exam about a month before I would like to have. That caused me [i]some[/i] anxiety. Only having one set of online Practice Questions didn't help.

The first real jolt occured when I started the exam and found that the test duration was not 120 minutes -[b]it's only 105.[/b] Letting me know that just before the test even started caused me one hell of a lot of anxiety. I mean this test was supposed to be so much harder, and they just took away more than 12 % of my test time.

Then in the directions, there is what looks like a "warning" to scroll thru the exhibits completely. It should have been an [b]order[/b]. The first question was probably one of the easiest ones, but I spent several minutes trying to get to question #2. Finally I asked the test proctor for help, and even after reading the directions he couldn't help. After about five minutes total I "magically" got past the problem. This needs to be clarified, or shown in a practice question - which seems to be missing entirely now.

I'm sure this was done to alleviate the problems with people not being able to view the whole exhibit at some test centers, but boy was this a pain - and caused more frustration later too.

By the end of the test, I realized that a lack of time was not [u]my[/u] problem, but for the first 30 minutes I was freaked out. I bet that's where most of my mistakes occured too.

What did I learn ? Well, I did pretty well on the material I actually work on, and not very well with the topics I don't. I'll just have to find some way to experiment (with some equipment I dont have ) before I take the exam again.

Sorry to hear that.

Any tips ? Of course within the spirit of CWNP - nothing that gives anything away.

NM

Sure. Put in about 2 years (at work) into each of the individual topics before you start the test :-).

Well it might not be that tough, but I would say that the number I got wrong in each category was directly proportional to the number of questions in each group.

Is that the meaning of well rounded, or uniformly ignorant? I can't decide.

Wlanman

Sorry about that. Don't feel too bad. I know that you understand the material in that exam very well. Exam stress is awful. I did an exam at a center last year and found that my eyes had really gone downhill since my last checkup. Have a large screen at home, and found the one at the center so tiny that I spent most of the exam with my face inches from the screen. The awful woman in charge of the center plunked me down in a chair and didn't tell me that she had started the exam. I tried to tell her that the screens were tiny. Others were complaining as well, even those with 20/20 vision. Because of all that carry on at the beginning, material that I had crystal clear in my skull an hour before, seemed to retreat back into some cave in my mind. I felt rushed. Ended up with a blinding headache and had to finish early. Rotten experience. I've always hated exams. They are a necessary evil.

I'm not a morning person and will never do another exam at the "crack of dawn" again.

I'm sure you'll do much better the next time.

Dave

I realise you are probably not in the mood right now....

How did you prep for the test, and what will you do differently this time ?

By the way, if you want a break from it, come and join us over in the CWDP study group on linkedin.

NM

I would have thought reading and studying the CWAP book was enough to pass this exam?

Alan,

You've got to be kidding ! The book is over 600 pages and covers a lot of advanced material.

First, I recommend lots of hands-on.

If you've already done it all, then the book could help you concentrate on many of the exam objectives.

Enesem,

I may join you - in addition I'll be responding to your last post a little later.

Wlanman,
I failed the test back in August. I hate to be that guy but you have to [b]study the exam objectives. [/b]There are a number of things that are not covered in detail in the book. I found that I remember concepts better with pictures. A paragraph about the frame exchanges, fixed fields and information elements only gave me more questions to answer. A snapshot of a packet capture seemed to better preserve the information for me in my mind. I think the thing that was most challenging about this test was the amount of real world experience in analysis that is required. Keep up the good fight and you will nail the CWAP on the next go round.

Jon,

I agree wholeheartedly, and often say the same thing about the objectives. And I did, but obviously not enough !

In my job I get tons of exposure to the PHY, but you need more than that for this exam. In fact, it felt like the PHY was only a fraction of the exam - which is exactly what the objectives say it will be.

In fact, since my scores were so uniformally low, I think that MORE of it all, is what I need. Especially packet analysis. I need to set up some lab gear for 802.11n, QOS, Mesh, etc. as I don't have any of that available that I can play (oops Test ) with.

To score high,
Know thy PHY.
Don't forget,
The packets never lie.