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CertGuard
USA
1218 Posts
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 Posted - 06/05/2007 : 08:40:26
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In my daily searches, I found this amongst the links in Google.
MCSE Classes
Their parent company is CED Solutions
Have you attended classes here? Let us know about your experiences. (Was it worth the money? Did you get what you expected?, etc.)
From what I can tell, they are a very well-structured system. They seem to be extremely pricey, but they apparently accept the Montgomery GI Bill and they have a Tuition Assistance program to help students pay for their courses.
Now THIS is a guarantee that can stand up.
quote:
CED Solutions wrote:
Certification Guaranteed!
While attending most of our certification courses, over 80% receive their certification during the course. Should you not pass an exam, you have extra test vouchers, and you may re-attend the same boot camp one additional time at no charge, other than transportation and lodging if required, for up to one year.
All of our Certification Boot Camps include hands-on instruction, refreshments and snacks, all course materials, practice exams, and all certification exams (with extra test vouchers, only if needed), breakfast and lunch daily.
All of our Certification Boot Camps in Atlanta include hands-on instruction, roundtrip airfare, transportation to and from the airport to the hotel, lodging (your own room with kitchen), transportation to and from the hotel to the training center, refreshments and snacks, all course materials, practice exams, and all certification exams (with extra test vouchers, only if needed), breakfast and lunch daily.
I'm not promoting bootcamps, but if you're going to jump into your certifications, my educated guess is that this is the company to use.
I do have a couple words of caution when contemplating a Certification Bootcamp, however.
#1 Have at least 75% of the knowledge and experience required to pass ALL of the exams.
#2 Don't expect them to be a 'Free-Ride'. Bootcamps are rigorous and require your complete dedication.
#3 Expect to spend a minimum of 6-8 hours of study time (on TOP of the actual classtime).
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kagey
USA
1 Posts
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Posted - 06/15/2007 : 13:34:08
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| I am scheduled to attend a CED bootcamp the first 2 weeks of August. I'll let you know how it is when I get done. |
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CertGuard
USA
1218 Posts
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Posted - 06/15/2007 : 13:39:59
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Please do kagey, we would definitely be interested in hearing about the experience.
Thanks, and welcome to CertGuard
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Cerebrus
India
125 Posts
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Posted - 06/16/2007 : 01:37:05
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Welcome Kagey, and thanks for joining CertGuard. We'd appreciate if you would introduce yourself to the other members in the Introductions forum and tell us more about your experience, education, skills etc. No need to be "cagey", now. ;-)
We hope you have a fulfilling time here. Enjoy ! |
C.T.O
CertGuard, Inc.
MCP, MCAD, MCSD.NET
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rugire
1 Posts
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Posted - 12/27/2007 : 12:51:48
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Figured I could contribute some to this discussion. There does not appear to be a whole lot of information out there in general for boot camps, other than mostly discouragement from those that post here or on other forums. True, they are not for everyone, but they are good for some people. Hopefully this post helps people make the right decision for themselves in this regard.
I took the CompTIA certification not to long ago through MCSEclasses / CEDsolutions.
I will use the template Certguard provided in his other post and fill it out to the best of my ability.
How intense was it?
Class started at 9AM and ended around 5PM. Times though varied depending upon how much material and practical exercises the class was doing. It was highly encouraged that you study in your hotel room at night, though not enforced (though rumor is some crazy instructors enforce it!). Most of the students spent their time in the hotel at night studying in their rooms. They passed their exams. Some students said they watched movies or TV when they returned to their room, or went out on the town. Some of them still passed, but the ones that did not came from this group. And it was kind of odd, as the few that did not study in their rooms at night were some of the students that were fairly new to IT. Spending a couple grand of your own or your employers money really motivates most people to put in the extra effort.
We went through a lot of material during class. Some of the people that were novices and new to IT definitely had a lot of work to do. Being new to IT though did not prevent them from passing the tests, as long as they put in the effort. If you want to be there, if you want to pass your exams, and if you put in the effort and study, well there is a good chance that you are going to pass.
How much did you know about the Certification prior to entering the bootcamp?
I have tinkered and worked with computers and electronics for around ten years, so I think I was much better off than most of the students. I was a newbie though at networking theory, though I left with a firm understanding of it after this class.
I knew fairly little about the actual certification though prior to the class, just that it was a general vendor neutral cert.
Was bootcamp what you expected it to be?
Not quite, as I did not have to do push-ups when my battle-buddy failed to answer a question. :)
But honestly, we covered a lot of material during the day. I expected to spend the entire time I was there on the course material, and we did. We did a lot of lecture and labs.
How much time were you told you SHOULD study?
How much time did you actually find yourself studying?
I do not recall being told to study a certain amount of time. I do recall being told that we should review the chapters we went over during the course of that day when we went back to our hotel rooms at night.
The time I spent studying varied. 2-3 hours on most nights, 3-5 on nights before our tests, but I tried to always get to sleep at a reasonable hour so I am not running on fumes during the tests or classes. I think only one person said they stayed up past midnight to study.
How many of your peers graduated AND got a job right after graduation?
How many of your peers just graduated?
I think 75% just graduated and went back to their jobs. The rest either just got out of the military or out of college or wanted a career change. Remember though this was a CompTIA class, so they went in with a different mindset and history than someone attending for a MCSE or CCNA.
We had a few that missed on their first exams. Most passed the retest. My guess is after the retesting 95% passed A+, 90% passed Network+.
I could not say if anyone leveraged this certification in to a job, but some were definitely trying.
Personally, I attended this certification course to further my job skills, so I did not attend with the perception of getting a job.
How many of your peers failed more than one exam?
1 person failed the retake for A+. I think 2-3 failed the retake for Network+. I think the guy that failed A+ passed Network+ on his first try.
What did it cost?
$3000 or so
Was it worth the money?
Well I passed all of the exams on the first try so that is definitely a positive. The advantage to going to these types of boot camps is that it hopefully removes all of your distractions and lets you focus on your immediate priorities, namely studying and passing these tests. The disadvantage obviously is the cost and time away from earning a paycheck (if you are currently employed that is).
Here is the deal though. Can you pick up a book, study it, have the resources and equipment handy to do practical training and pass the test(s)? If you can read a book and have the equipment needed to practice on, then you are likely not considering attending a bootcamp. If studying a book hour after hour is not your cup of tea, or if you need hands on practice that you just can not get at home or at your workplace, then a bootcamp might be a good idea.
If I knew then what I know now, I personally would have went for an LPI, CCNA or MCSE cert instead of CompTIA. The reason I went for CompTIA was because I did not know if a bootcamp would help me pass the certifications test I really wanted to take (LPI, MCSE, CCNA). I know now that it would have. If you are new to IT, I think the CompTIA bootcamp is a great place to start. If you are familiar with IT and want to get certified through a boot camp, then I advise you self study CompTIA, take the tests and decide if you have the time and resources you need to self study. If week after week, month after month, you keep telling yourself you need to study and get some certifications, yet never get around to it, then paying the money and setting aside the time for a boot camp I think is a good idea.
If you have money burning a hole in your pocket, then yes it is worth it.
Also, the GI Bill paid back to me half the money spent on this course, so that made it much more acceptable for me.
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CertGuard
USA
1218 Posts
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Posted - 12/29/2007 : 12:56:59
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Hey rugire, thanks for helping us get more information out about bootcamps. I hope that everyone coming across this thread (or any thread on the internet) can make decisions for themselves in this regard. It's the least someone can do when trying to determine their future.
It's not that we (CertGuard) are trying to discourage people from attending bootcamps, we just want people to know the truth about them and make an educated decision with that information. I think you've enforced what we believe as well.
Believing that one is going to get certified just because they attend a bootcamp is no reason to sign up (which I have noticed many people do). Just reading your post it is apparent that it's not that simple and one must be willing to contribute to their own success. As you have noted, there are individuals that have failed by not dedicating their time to studying. Although there are a few individuals out there that can get away with completeing the minimum requirements and passing with flying colors, they are few and far between. On top of that, one must understand that even dedicating all their time to studying in the bootcamp does not guarantee their passing success.
Another point I feel should be made is that not all bootcamps are the same. They all vary in many different regards (courses, length, time required, study materials, instructors, classroom size, etc.) and all these variables should be looked into prior to making the decision to enroll in that specific bootcamp.
To those of you that are new to IT or looking for a career change, make sure you know what you want before just jumping in and making a decision that could ruin your career instead of enhance it.
There are so many boot camps out there and all of them are competing for your business. Therefor, many of them are not going to give you the information if they feel it will turn you away from them. So, ASK QUESTIONS!!
Rugire, I have one last question for you.
What was the study material of choice in the classes you attended?
Again, thanks for the info here!!!
Best Regards,
Rob |
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rymetymeuk
USA
1 Posts
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Posted - 04/11/2008 : 19:34:59
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I thought i'd re-open this thread as I recently went on a boot camp for the CCNA.
This is my tale :P
I am 27, fairly intelligent and a career changer. I had passed the A+ about 2 yrs ago and then emigrated to the United States so had to put everything study wise on hold for a bit. I studied the MS Vista core exam and the MCITP consumer support exams and passed those, i did one book per month at 6-8 hrs study a day (whilst awaiting my work permit).
The reason I mentioned the above is to give you background as to my capabilities and time it took to study etc.
I bought the Cisco Press books for the CCNA which I feel are never written very well, I really like the author Wendell Odom but there is something not quite right with the books. I think they waffle a lot and I found myself studying for again 6-8 hrs a day if not more, and not really taking anything out of it. So I looked into boot camps as an alternative, and found the Todd Lammle Globalnet Training centre, in Texas near to me.
I paid the $3000 it cost (luckily or not so, i had received some money from the passing of my godmother, so rather than get the flat screen tv i went for education), and opted for the hotel option-total immersion i told myself!
I found that the classroom environment was great, it's a fantastic place Globalnet- Todd is absolutely amazing at breaking the material into bite sized chunks and I absorbed the info really well. I had worked hard on the OSI model, basic IOS configs before i went on the camp, but other than that I was new to networking.
We used the Sybex Lammle book (surprising huh! haha), and we used real hardware. 4 routers, 2 switches (i think, check their site to be sure), we got a custom written lab book (awesome-loads of labs to do and remember the configs) and a custom written 700 page class book-this is the sybex book condensed.
I worked from 8am-5pm in class, and got back to hotel and worked from 6pm-2am pretty much every night. I was wired on coffee and any longer than a week would have killed me! it was the hardest and most intense week of my life.
We used a lot of labs during the week; theory---lab, theory---lab... etc. repetition works! I took the exam and passed on the friday, one of only 2 of us out of 7.
Personally, boot camps are good if you work your bum off and give 150% (it was my own money so that helps!). I got the CCNA because I wanted to learn networking basics and learn them fast. I did that, but i warn you- you must study when you get back home, you will forget a lot if you don't. Since getting home, i've studied every day for 4-6 hrs, doing labs, reading etc. And i'm retaining it. I have an interview next week for a job, so fingers crossed :)
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Edited by - rymetymeuk on 04/11/2008 19:38:08 |
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CertGuard
USA
1218 Posts
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Posted - 04/11/2008 : 20:25:26
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That's great!! I'm glad it worked out for you. I hope that others will follow in your footsteps and also take heed to your words.
I've heard some great things about Todd and his courses. From the research I've done on bootcamps, I can say that the 28.5% passing rate is above average for any bootcamp. That, could either be a direct reflection on the materials and methods used by Lammle or it could be attributed to your hardwork and dedication to knowing what you're doing...or both 
Good luck on your interview! We look forward to having you as part of the community. |
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tonyam
2 Posts
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Posted - 09/30/2009 : 09:24:10
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| THIS SCHOOL IS A FRAUD!!! I attended a Windows Class a few years back and they handed us PRINTED COPIES OF SOME CERTsomething TEST. IT WAS THE EXACT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TO THE EXAM!!!! Can you believe this company can do this and nobody attempts to stop them. My instructor was ok - but he was always dismissing class early and we didn't even have class for 2 days in the middle. |
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CertGuard
USA
1218 Posts
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Posted - 09/30/2009 : 18:51:49
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Hey Tonya, this is the first we've heard of it here, but I would report whatever you know to the Certification Vendor you're getting certified for.
If you can personally attest to the fact that CED Solutions is giving out braindumps in class, then the CV should take the initiative to do something about it.
As a side note, CED Solutions is a very large company. I have known of them for some time because they were one of the companies I looked into getting certified through based on the fact that they work with GSA (Goverment Services Agency). I can tell you that "getting on contract" with GSA is not a simple task and doing so really hold alot of water in the industry.
The reason I mentioned that is because I'm thinking it may also be possible that the instructor you had was providing you with those dumps on his own freewill and not distributing them as part of the company. You were there, however, and I wasn't, so I could be way off base there.
I see your email and will be providing you with more information there.
~Rob |
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tonyam
2 Posts
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Posted - 10/07/2009 : 20:20:54
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Robert,
Maybe my case is isolated. Everyone liked our instructor and I'm not trying to get him in trouble. It seems possible this may not be the policy of the company. The staff was also very friendly. I was harsh in my first post. I don't want to bring trouble to the company.
We ate lunch with students in other classes who said they did not receive any exam materials. Those students were told to visit news groups which had the exam answers. I guess the company does not support this directly which keeps them out of trouble.
The company has been around for a while. Whatever they are doing must be ok. They claim they are the largest bootcamp company in the country. |
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CertGuard
USA
1218 Posts
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Posted - 10/08/2009 : 20:37:37
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I understand Tonya, it happens. I do suggest bringing this to the attention of the school. If their instructors are providing braindumps - be it inadvertently or intentionally - they should know about it because it is still their school and their reputation on the line.
We do appreciate you bringing this to our attention. |
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CED Solutions / MCSE Classes
