SCJP 1.4 Candidate...need feedback

[Ice Penov]

Hi guys,

this is my first post here, I know its not the last one. I decided to get on the Sun Certification track on parallel with my CS studies.

Since I an a student on CS, I do not have Java real-world experience. However, in the last 3 months or so, I managed to work through Core Java 2 and some examples, and later on through Programmers Guide to Java Certification( along with the JAVA API)

I just finished both of them, took 3 mock exams( from the book & 2 from JQ Plus) with a score: 83, 81, 74 ( I was sleepy on the last one).

Do you think I am ready to take the exam after taking the rest mock exams from JQ Plus? I'm thinking on scheduling the exam on May 4.

To me, the score doesn't give me satisfaction. I know if I waste another month on practicing on&on, I can get a pretty high score. Why waste time ? (I will eventually get to that level later on). I just want to optimize( time vs. results). I have done that many times, but YOUR FEEDBACK will be most welcome!

Stay well, Stay Cool,
Ice

[Jagadesh cs]

Hi

If you dont really care about the score then you can go ahead, there wont be any trouble in passing the exam. How ever if you want to get some where in the nineties , i would suggest take some more mocks before the exam ...

Any way all the best !!

[Ice Penov]

Hi,

thanx for the reply, it was helpful. I scheduled the exam on May 4. I've got 5 days till them, so I'll go more mock exams. Also, when I do a mock exam I always have 40-50 minutes left, so if I use the time wisely and really concentrate on the real thing, the results will be more confortable.

[Kay Liew]

Not sure how hard would the JQPlus or relate to the real one. How about do a quick test on this?

http://www.javaranch.com/roundup.jsp

If you not getting around 80, then you probably need to spend more time.

[Ice Penov]

Hi Kay,

thanx for the tip. I did the test :

"You don't need advice any more a steer needs a saddle blanked"... :-)

I think the JQ Plus tests are pretty OK. From their website :

"If you start getting more than 61%, trust us, you are ready for the actual SCJP2 exam. You'll pass it with flying colors. We guarantee it. If you fail the SCJP2 exam (which we are sure you won't), we'll give your money back."

I just did another one of those exams, scored 83% with 45 min. left. I missed some pretty easy questions because of rushing. I got 29/35 (Very Easy rated questions), but (7/8 Real-brainer rated questions).

I NEED a GOOD TIMING ALGORITHM. Can anyone give me some tips concerning time management on the exam? Does the exam GUI program, has an option to MARK a question and later return for reviewing ?

Any feedback from you would be greatly appreciated!

Stay weel, Stay Cool
Ice

[Kay Liew]

Ice,

I say for the exam. You are well prepared. By the way, timing is not an issue. You will have more than enough time with your current performance.

-k

[ April 28, 2005: Message edited by: Kay Liew ]
[ April 28, 2005: Message edited by: Kay Liew ]

[Ice Penov]

Tnanks man. I'll notify() you when I take the exam. :-)

Stay Well, Stay Cool
Ice

[Ice Penov]

Correction. I'll invoke notifyAll() :-)

Ice

[Kay Liew]

Make sure you invoke that in synchronized context while wait()ing for the exam. In the mean time, hope your fresh mind keeps you concetrate on th exam without other interruption in any exception cases.

[Ice Penov]

Originally posted by Kay Liew:
Make sure you invoke that in synchronized context while wait()ing for the exam. In the mean time, hope your fresh mind keeps you concetrate on th exam without other interruption in any exception cases.

nice one, Kay!

See ya,
Ice

[ken ren]

Do k&B self-test again and understand every answer including wrong answers

[Ice Penov]

Originally posted by ken ren:
Do k&B self-test again and understand every answer including wrong answers

?!

Are you "hooked" on the right thread, man ?
[ April 30, 2005: Message edited by: Ice Penov ]

[ken ren]

hi
Did you read K&B book which including self test in every chapter? The self-test questions are very closely the real exam which you will take .

[Ice Penov]

hi,

I did not used K&B book. I used "A programmers guide to Java Certification". It is an extensive book which thoroughly covers all areas related to the cert. exam. It has self-tests after each chapter+final mock exam at the end.

After completion of each chapter from that book, I tested my newly gained knowledge. I scored over 80% on all chapters. After the second revision I had learned from my mistakes, and they do not appear on the related questions on the JQPlus.

Thanx for your "tip" and for the good intention to help.

Ice

[Ice Penov]

Hi guys,

This one is for those that were waiting for the monitor on �this�. I said that I will notify you, here it goes :

Obj.notifyAll();
System.out.println("I passed today with: "+0x55+" percent");

I did the exam in 50 minutes, the rest 70 in reviewing question. The boring reviewing process resulted with screwing up a couple of questions. So, reviewing will NOT always result with higher score.

As I sad previously, I had NO experience in Java, in fact 3 months ago I had not known a single thing for Java(or OOP). So, having experience is generally not required for taking this exam. But I must note that I�m a CS student on a high demand college in Macedonia, with knowledge about underlying architecture of the computers, procedural/assembler programming, and I have an algorithm about solving problems

If someone is interested in something like what I used to prepare or similar, let me know.

Stay well, Stay cool,
Ice

[Jas Oberai]

Hi,
i was also waitin() on (this) object,and nice to have the notification from you.I am takin the test next week,can you tell me which real-time exam simulator......gives you the exact pattern,time management and feeling of the real exam eg.Whizlabs,JCertify,K&B tests,etc.....and on which topics you faced most difficulty.
Thanks

[Ice Penov]

hi,

I used JQ plus. JQ plus is harder than the real exam. Awkwardly, my weak spots are the fundamental classes in java.lang package(having no experience using them...). I always hated this section, cause you simply needed to memorize the methods and constructors, return types...

Marcus mocks exams are similar to the level of the real exam, maybe little easier. Dan's mock exams are very specific are they are *not* alike the real one. I found them to stick to one section and you should use them in the learning process.

If you need more feedback, just let me know!

TIP: be confident in yourself in the real exam. you'll perform well.

Stay well, Stay cool,
Ice

P. S. I'm throwing a exception(pardon... PARTY) tonight in my appt. Every one is invited!