One of my friends got his PhD in Physics from CalTech and he is the smartest guy I've ever met. He took all the MCSE and the programming ones... what are those - I forget - anyway, went in really early and stayed until they closed taking tests - he got perfects scores on every test except one.
makes me sick - and I know for a fact that he only studied one night for them.

CNA CNE MCP MCSE A+ CCNA CCNP .. I hope to have my CCIE this year.

what I was trying to get at was that you don't necessarily need to go and study at school whatever it is that you want to go into - unless you want to be a doctor or lawyer - they are kind of picky about going to school for that

JohnnyO when you taking your LAB test?
Hopefully you have some inside help. LOL

Thats a hard test to take and pass, failed it once 2 years ago, haven't had a need to go back for it, but think I will this year.

If you don't care about reading good books, don't want to learn about a foreign language, have no curiosity about history or science, and don't want to learn how to learn, to stretch your mind in new directions in an intellectually rich atmosphere, mentored by fascinating men and women who study their fields for love, not money, then don't go to college! If you DO, then it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunty for the above experiences.

I taught French in college for many years, and the last place these kids wanted to be was in a class where they were actually learning something new that had nothing to do with their major leading to business, law, or medical school. I'm sure it's worse now in this anti-intellectual and materialistic culture.

Yes, fluently, mon petit chou-chou.

I am actually a consultant...not an administrator. But I have qualifications you might see for an administrator. I generaly assist administrators who are having problems with their hardware...administrators are often familiar with their own systems, but unsure of how to integrate new products into it.

I got my A+ and CNA first. CNA = Certified Novell Associate. Both of those tests were easy. A+ tests your knowledge of computer hardware as well as DOS/Windows...older stuff. I think they are updating it this yar to include windows 98.

I also have an MCSE for NT 4.0. It wasn't that hard to get, although I have heard that the MCSE for Windows 2000 is harder. I did some consulting as an MCSE, and especially Microsoft Exchange 5.5

I have a CCNP as well. It was pretty tough to get...more than being difficult, it requires diligence in reading and practicing. You MUST have the CCNA already to get your CCNP. But there are no prerequisites for the CCIE - the highest Cisco certification.

Having an MCSE already made the transition to Cisco easier. The CCNA course generally requires at least a decent understanding of TCP/IP, and as you move along you need to know it very well.

I also have a degree in mathematics. Math - at higher levels - is really just logic: understanding a process, and applying it to specific problems. Networking is kind of the same thing, so my mind works well that way.

I like this field. There are many good things to say about it...pay is good, opportunites exist...really can't complain...especially when i see how much my friends from school are struggling.

I, like Johnny, am preparing myself to take the CCIE lab exam by the end of the year, and in addition to consulting, I am an assistant instructor at a school in my area, because they have an excellent Cisco lab.

Stick with it. Devote a year of your life to getting very good at this stuff. You won't regret it.