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* First and foremost, I would like to thank God, my girlfiend, and my parents for their endless support.  I absolutely could not have done it without them. *

The day is finally here!  I passed the R&S v4.0 lab yesterday in San Jose, California.  I know other people have mentioned this but it is certainly the greatest feeling in the world!  Thank you INE team for all of your training materials.  INE is clearly THE BEST in the business.  After a well deserved break from studying, I will be back here to begin training for the SP track.  Just in case anyone is curious, I used the following products:

Advanced Technologies Class on Demand
Advanced Troubleshooting Class on Demand
Core Knowledge Simulation
Workbooks I, II, and IV
Mock Labs

Here is some advice that I would like to share with candidates that are studying and/or scheduled to take the CCIE R&S exam:

• Dedicate hours to studying on a consistent basis but, make sure you have time to relax your mind.  I studied for about 6 - 8 hrs a day on the weekdays and took weekends off.
• If you have to fly to your test location, arrive TWO days early!  I cannot stress how much easier it is on you to have that extra full day to get acclimated to the city.
• Take a test drive (if possible) to the test location ahead of time so you don't have to spend the morning of the test looking up directions.
• This might not be for everyone but I chose not to study at all the weekend before my test (my test was scheduled on a Monday).  This allowed my mind to recuperate from all of the hard studying I did leading up to the weekend!
• My absolute best advice: Take someone with you on your trip to the lab.  A significant other, friend, family member, whoever!  Being able to share this experience with someone is something I will always treasure.  Not to mention the fact that their company alone should be able to reduce the amount of stress you're bound to be under.

I wish all of the CCIE candidates the best of luck.  I hope one day you will also be able to look with great pride at the long list of CCIEs on this website and see your name listed. 

Peter Lee
CCIE #25935

Congratz Peter!

Congrats!  

So how many hours would you say in total you spent on the INE material?  Did you have your own rack you used to do the workbooks?  How long did it take you from a serious start...until you finished?

Again, Congrats!

Congrats man...!

Congrats mate!!! All the best in your SP track journey

Thank you everyone for your comments.  I sincerely appreciate them! 

Chewie, I used only INE material to study for the lab so if I had to take a guess, I spent at least 1,000 hrs on videos and workbooks.  95% of the time I used GNS3 / Dynamips.  I do not own any routers or switches unfortunately.  For the other times, I used GradedLabs racks because you definitely need to have hands-on experience with real equipment.

nice story, congratulations Peter!

have fun!

An welcome to the club :)

Congratulations!!!! Now take some time off and relax!!

Congratz, I appreciate the peice about bringing someone to share the experience with. I was alone for my first attempt Feb 8 but my wife is coming back with me I think for my next attempt April 5. What has been amazing to me is the journey attaining a CCIE really is. For the past six months all I have known is INE workbooks, GNS3 and Cisco Press. Very few people understand the full extent of the dedication it takes.

I hope to join you soon on that CCIE list!

Definitely bring your wife along bmangold!  She will be such a great source of motivation and most importantly, support.  Good luck in April and I recommend getting in some rack time before then to tackle the Layer 2 technologies that GNS3/dynamips simply cannot duplicate!

Great post, Peter.  Congrats passing your test.  Thank you for taking the time to share your study schedule and preparation for the CCIE lab.  Stories like this and the INE community rock.