New to Oracle

[A. E.]

Hi everyone..
I'm really new to this whole Oracle scene. I've been wanting to get Oracle certified for a long time now but I have a few questions and was wondering if maybe someone could give me some advice.
I was thinking of taking a 5 day course which will cost me a fortune...but then I thought why not just study it on my own..can someone tell me what would be better? Also how much does it cost to take an exam?
Thanks alot
Hope

[Mark Levin]

I don't know what course you're considering, but a complete DBA course can run $10,000.00 or more. That's a lot of money and I'm convinced that anyone willing to put the work into it can do it on their own for far less. There are five tests required for DBA certification. Here is what I recomend to get through them: Purchase one of the many excellent certification guides available at any Barnes and Noble or Borders bookstore. Familiarize yourself with the documentaion and excellent articles available on the Oracle web site. Download and install a copy of Oracle Enterprise Edition, it's free. Lastly, I would recomend investing in practice exams from Self Test Software of MeasureUp as a final preparation. I hope this helps. Good luck!

[Mark Spritzler]

Great suggestions Mark, and you also have a great name.
Also. A.E. we have only a few policies on JavaRanch, and using your full first and last name is one of them. Unfortunately "A" and "E" does not follow that policy
You can click on your profile and change it there.
Thanks and welcome to JavaRanch
Mark