Just curious to know if I am the youngest?????

[seanchen]

Though you stated your non-athletic, there are activities out there that aren't intense. Basketball? From my perspective, it's great to see parents being supportive when it comes to strengthening the mind, but how about the rest of the body? Particularly the heart, as some have suggested.

If you must insist on studying, I suggest seeing if you can pick up a copy of Dale Carnegie's "How to Make Friends and Influence People" book.

I'm a little tired tonight, so that's all I will throw tonight.

I enjoy playing computers, video games, etc. And one thing I do not like is playing basketball. Believe it or not, my dad played 9 years of professional basketball in Taiwan. (that's why I am 5'8" at age 12) Didn't people say kids don't follow parent's path. Well, that explained why I dislike basketball so much.

[MentholMoose]

Congrats on doing the CTT+. It seems like you did it for a good cause, so even though the cert won't impress college admissions departments, the volunteer work should. Also thanks for posting your CTT+ videos, I may do the CTT+ myself, and nobody seems to put their videos online.

[Panzer919]

get your CCIE then I'll be impressed

[seanchen]

Congrats on doing the CTT+. It seems like you did it for a good cause, so even though the cert won't impress college admissions departments, the volunteer work should. Also thanks for posting your CTT+ videos, I may do the CTT+ myself, and nobody seems to put their videos online.

Since you are so much more qualified than me, when you get your CTT+ and have time, maybe you can teach webinar classes. (when you do CTT+ you should do the virtual trainer, then you can teach through webinar) When both my mom and my sister pass Virtual trainer exam (so far I am the only one passed), we will set up webinar account and teach class for free. But if you would like to help, you can do it, too. Hopefully, then, we can "Move needy to needed, turn learners to leaders."

[physicskid]

I enjoy playing computers, video games, etc. And one thing I do not like is playing basketball. Believe it or not, my dad played 9 years of professional basketball in Taiwan. (that's why I am 5'8" at age 12) Didn't people say kids don't follow parent's path. Well, that explained why I dislike basketball so much.

Who would've known? Pick up curling.

If you ask for suggestions, understand that people will never understand you fully...

[ltgenspecific]

It's great that you've accomplised some pretty tough stuff, even for adults.

As an aside, the dude is 13. I think some of this life advice we're proctoring will be long forgotten by the time he turns 16, buys himself a Porsche, finds out some girls like $$$ and moves on from worrying about being the youngest to do something.

Let's give him a pat on the back. Then remember this is the intarw3bz and he's 13. Pass your driver's test, don't cause an accident for the next 80 years and I'll be really impressed.

[Arysta]

My gut reaction to this whole thing was "haha weird kid, go run around blah blah have fun." But then I remembered my own youth. I spent a LOT of time reading. I'm 35, and I grew up in the days (mostly) before internet, so I can't really say what's good or bad for kids these days. *shakes cane* However, I do suppose if I found computers fascinating as a kid, I might have pondered getting certs too. I suppose if a kid's going to be at the computer, it's more productive than playing World of Warcraft all day. (Much less fun though haha)

If seanchen finds getting certifications fulfilling, and wants to use his knowledge to help others learn IT, what's wrong with that?

Only advice I have: Stop caring/bragging about being the youngest. Only the local news cares about things like that when they have nothing else to report about. It strikes people as arrogant, and TRUST ME, no one over 30 (aka the people who might hire you one day) wants to think about how much younger you are than them.

[Netwurk]

Wow

When I was your age I was learning how to properly roll a joint

Oops, I meant to say JUST SAY NO

Sorry Nancy

[physicskid]

My gut reaction to this whole thing was "haha weird kid, go run around blah blah have fun." But then I remembered my own youth. I spent a LOT of time reading. I'm 35, and I grew up in the days (mostly) before internet, so I can't really say what's good or bad for kids these days. *shakes cane* However, I do suppose if I found computers fascinating as a kid, I might have pondered getting certs too. I suppose if a kid's going to be at the computer, it's more productive than playing World of Warcraft all day. (Much less fun though haha)

If seanchen finds getting certifications fulfilling, and wants to use his knowledge to help others learn IT, what's wrong with that?

Only advice I have: Stop caring/bragging about being the youngest. Only the local news cares about things like that when they have nothing else to report about. It strikes people as arrogant, and TRUST ME, no one over 30 (aka the people who might hire you one day) wants to think about how much younger you are than them.

I second this. Be grateful for your abilities and gifts, but at the same time, recognize that not everybody will understand totally.

[MrAgent]

Sorry kiddo, but Marko has got you beat in the age department.

Meet Marko, the 9-year-old systems engineer | Beyond Binary - CNET News

[JDMurray]

Maybe colleges do not think much of the certifications, but they accept Micorsoft certifications as college credit. (Even UC Berkeley). I hope I can save myself time and money when I get to college.

I am not aware of the CSU or UC school systems accepting any IT certifications as actual transfer credit. Many community colleges do offer Microsoft, Cisco, and VMware courses whose credits may transfer to CSU/UC universities, but these are units acquired by passing courses and not by getting IT certifications. Check with an enrollment adviser for UC Irvine or CSU Fullerton before making assumptions that you can trade certs for units in the CSU/UC system.

And you can save a lot of money if you stay at home and go to someplace closeto you, like UC Irvine, rather than go to a university were you will need to rent a place to stay.

[eMeS]

Congrats on doing the CTT+. It seems like you did it for a good cause, so even though the cert won't impress college admissions departments, the volunteer work should. Also thanks for posting your CTT+ videos, I may do the CTT+ myself, and nobody seems to put their videos online.

Waste of time...save your time and money.

MS

[seanchen]

I am not aware of the CSU or UC school systems accepting any IT certifications as actual transfer credit. Many community colleges do offer Microsoft, Cisco, and VMware courses whose credits may transfer to CSU/UC universities, but these are units acquired by passing courses and not by getting IT certifications. Check with an enrollment adviser for UC Irvine or CSU Fullerton before making assumptions that you can trade certs for units in the CSU/UC system.

And you can save a lot of money if you stay at home and go to someplace closeto you, like UC Irvine, rather than go to a university were you will need to rent a place to stay.

This is pasted from Certiport (the company that admin. MS Office exams)

Will my school recognize the ACE credit recommendation?
A: ACE reviews and recommends examinations for college credit to the ACE Cooperating College Network. Each cooperating college or university considers ACE credit recommendations, but independently decides whether to award credit. While ACE cooperating colleges give considerable weight to ACE credit recommendations, each institution, and in many cases, each academic unit and/or department within an institution, sets its own policies for granting credit. If your college or university is not a member of the ACE Cooperating College Network, it still may consider awarding credit based on ACE college credit recommendations

In UC System, Berkerley accept it. 5 miles from my home, Coastline Community College accepts it.

[JDMurray]

So you can be awarded 2-3 semester hours in a special subject area for each Microsoft exam you have passed? That's not much credit considering how much the MS cert exams cost, but if you would be getting the certs anyway then it's better than nothing. I was thinking that transfer credit could only be awarded by taking Microsoft Official Curriculum classes, but it looks like certifications obtained through self-study are worth something too.

Some people on TechExams should be interested to know that classes taken at Global Knowledge, Learning Tree, IBM, and Oracle (Java & Solaris certs) count for college credits too.

[Bl8ckr0uter]

So you can be awarded 2-3 semester hours in a special subject area for each Microsoft exam you have passed? That's not much credit considering how much the MS cert exams cost, but if you would be getting the certs anyway then it's better than nothing.

I would say it depends. If you are going to a school (community college) whose cost per quarter hour is say like 45 bucks, you don't save that much money (125 per MS exam vs 90-135 for 3 credit hours). However if that makes it so you can get out of a few classes than I would say it is worth it. My school honored my CCNA by giving me 28 credits (CCNA 1-4). That knocked a year off of my degree.

[JDMurray]

I was looking at it from the $26/unit we pay at community colleges here in California.

[Bl8ckr0uter]

I was looking at it from the $26/unit we pay at community colleges here in California.

I pay about 45 here. Man that's a great deal for you guys.

[Turgon]

I would say it depends. If you are going to a school (community college) whose cost per quarter hour is say like 45 bucks, you don't save that much money (125 per MS exam vs 90-135 for 3 credit hours). However if that makes it so you can get out of a few classes than I would say it is worth it. My school honored my CCNA by giving me 28 credits (CCNA 1-4). That knocked a year off of my degree.

Im no expert of the American College system but I find it amazing that a CCNA is equal to an entire year at University. I wouldn't knock off a year for the CCIE. It is a vendor qualification at the end of the day and not an education in networking architecture or fundamentals to purist University standards. A bit more of that at University would help engineers understand state machines and hardware queuing mechanisms much better!

[eMeS]

Im no expert of the American College system but I find it amazing that a CCNA is equal to an entire year at University.

You're right, it's not. However, the Cisco Academies do offer a series of classes that would span a year if I'm not mistaken, and those would amount to about 16 hours of credit, which is about 1/2 of a 30 credit year. However, those courses do not guarantee a CCNA. The one academy that I'm familiar with also does a similar 4 course program for the CCNP. From what I've see of both of those certs, and what I've read from you guys here, spreading them both out over 4 courses seems a bit overkill. There might be some mapping of credits for certs based on how the academy program is structured, but honestly each institution is going to have quite a bit of leeway in terms of how many credits they offer for a cert.

Not only that, you can also earn college credits from training providers. For example, one large training provider that I'm familiar with will let you earn 3 college credits if you pay an extra $300 and attend their week-long CCNA boot camp.

I wouldn't knock off a year for the CCIE. It is a vendor qualification at the end of the day and not an education in networking architecture or fundamentals to purist University standards. A bit more of that at University would help engineers understand state machines and hardware queuing mechanisms much better!

Totally agree with you here, as long as it relates to the degree that they're earning. Can't see knocking off a year for someone who gets a CCIE (or any other IT cert) and wants a political science degree.

People are interested more in shortcuts and checking the degree box than they are in actually becoming educated and knowledgeable. Those chickens are coming/will come home to roost when people realize that all of this money they spent simply earned them a useless degree that no one respects.

MS

[Bl8ckr0uter]

Im no expert of the American College system but I find it amazing that a CCNA is equal to an entire year at University. I wouldn't knock off a year for the CCIE. It is a vendor qualification at the end of the day and not an education in networking architecture or fundamentals to purist University standards. A bit more of that at University would help engineers understand state machines and hardware queuing mechanisms much better!

Built into the Associates program I am in is all 4 of the Netcad courses. They are 7 credits a piece and span 4 quarters. They have to be taken in order as well. So by not doing it, I got out of 28 credits which is about 1/3 of the degree. So not literally a year off but a years worth of time I can spend on doing other classes (and other tracks).

There is a "networking theory" class but it is very low level (maybe Network+ level). This is an A.A.S so it is more about job preparation than education really. They have a similar track for Microsoft called Network Manager. It is basically the MCSE (or MCITP:EA, although I am not sure they have switched) plus 60 other credits. If you do the MCSE or MCITP:EA you get about as many credits off as well.

When I go for my BSCS I doubt that my certs will mean anything to anyone.

[Turgon]

You're right, it's not. However, the Cisco Academies do offer a series of classes that would span a year if I'm not mistaken, and those would amount to about 16 hours of credit, which is about 1/2 of a 30 credit year. However, those courses do not guarantee a CCNA. The one academy that I'm familiar with also does a similar 4 course program for the CCNP. From what I've see of both of those certs, and what I've read from you guys here, spreading them both out over 4 courses seems a bit overkill. There might be some mapping of credits for certs based on how the academy program is structured, but honestly each institution is going to have quite a bit of leeway in terms of how many credits they offer for a cert.

Not only that, you can also earn college credits from training providers. For example, one large training provider that I'm familiar with will let you earn 3 college credits if you pay an extra $300 and attend their week-long CCNA boot camp.



Totally agree with you here, as long as it relates to the degree that they're earning. Can't see knocking off a year for someone who gets a CCIE (or any other IT cert) and wants a political science degree.

People are interested more in shortcuts and checking the degree box than they are in actually becoming educated and knowledgeable. Those chickens are coming/will come home to roost when people realize that all of this money they spent simply earned them a useless degree that no one respects.

MS

It would appear so. I have always said that certification and education are different and both are important. We have one lad who cleared his CCIE at 19 whilst working for his brother's IT company. He is now studying for a Degree in Engineering in a Scottish University and I doubt he's been given any credit for his certification. Which for me is the way it should be. I work with a guy with Masters in Mathematics who loves boxes and would happily spend 30 hours a week on them. No Cisco qualifications but his education and aptitude means he brings a lot to the table in terms of logical understanding of protocol mechanics and standards.

[Bl8ckr0uter]

It would appear so. I have always said that certification and education are different and both are important. We have one lad who cleared his CCIE at 19 whilst working for his brother's IT company. He is now studying for a Degree in Engineering in a Scottish University and I doubt he's been given any credit for his certification. Which for me is the way it should be. I work with a guy with Masters in Mathematics who loves boxes and would happily spend 30 hours a week on them. No Cisco qualifications but his education and aptitude means he brings a lot to the table in terms of logical understanding of protocol mechanics and standards.

Engineering is one thing. But if his degree was in "Network Engineering" (IT) you don't think the CCIE should count for anything? You don't think most CCIEs have a protocol and RFC level knowledge of networking (as told by Cisco)? Don't you think that should translate to something?

[Turgon]

Engineering is one thing. But if his degree was in "Network Engineering" (IT) you don't think the CCIE should count for anything? You don't think most CCIEs have a protocol and RFC level knowledge of networking (as told by Cisco)? Don't you think that should translate to something?

In a word no. At least not for me. Having the CCIE would help the student get through a fair amount of some of the coursework without difficulty Im sure, but even the CCIE doesn't cover some of the fundamentals of networking very deeply or well. Stallings and Stevens are two books that spring to mind that are stuffed full of things that the CCIE glosses over or bypasses completely. This is not a good thing as today's networkers are expected to know layers 1 - 7 very well. Take ACE modules as an example. I would bet that a graduate with a degree in network engineering and no Cisco exposure would hang in better on the class than many CCNPs without the classical degree training. I know, I've attended the course.

[Bl8ckr0uter]

In a word no. At least not for me. Having the CCIE would help the student get through a fair amount of some of the coursework without difficulty Im sure, but even the CCIE doesn't cover some of the fundamentals of networking very deeply or well. Stallings and Stevens are two books that spring to mind that are stuffed full of things that the CCIE glosses over or bypasses completely. This is not a good thing as today's networkers are expected to know layers 1 - 7 very well. Take ACE modules as an example. I would bet that a graduate with a degree in network engineering and no Cisco exposure would hang in better on the class than many CCNPs without the classical degree training. I know, I've attended the course.

I suppose. I've worked with many CS students and grads who didn't understand ip addressing or very basic networking concepts and such. I will agree that networkers need to know all layers of the OSI very well but at the same time with differing job roles, you may get an engineer who only works on layer 1-3. I know a network engineer who works for a very large managed services provider who didn't know much about the higher layers (a little less than CCNA level).

[Turgon]

I suppose. I've worked with many CS students and grads who didn't understand ip addressing or very basic networking concepts and such. I will agree that networkers need to know all layers of the OSI very well but at the same time with differing job roles, you may get an engineer who only works on layer 1-3. I know a network engineer who works for a very large managed services provider who didn't know much about the higher layers (a little less than CCNA level).

CS students and grads who dont understand ip addressing or very basic networking concepts are either not being taught the stuff at college, or not paying attention in class, or simply not very bright.

The guy you mention who knows little about the higher layers isnt about to lose his job and that goes for a lot of other people. But the bright futures technically belong to people strong in layers 1 - 7. The intelligence going into devices is impressive. Latency is just one concern, stickiness is another, but there is so much more. In high volume trading environments you need deep packet inspection skills and extremely strong layer 4 - 7 capabilities. This was something emphasised by our instructor, the need to get hot on post layer 4 knowledge and network capabilities, proxies, redirectors, accellerators, reverse proxies, F5 loadbalancers etc etc etc. It came as no surprise to me as I was aware of this years ago in the environment I supported. We developed trading software for Bank of New York to name but a few. But its becoming mainstream now. The problem is, a lot of Cisco qualified people can't get up and draw a TCP state diagram much less make sense of a firewall log. Our network guru ran snoop on UNIX boxes back in 2000 and had papers on tcp intercept by his desk. Pushing packets just isn't a big money earner anymore. As one agent told me in 2003, lots of people can do BGP, what about content switching and specializations. Since that time I have seen security and voice oversubscribed by people who do it badly. They ain't the holy grail today either. 1 - 7 is.