13 days to SCJP 1.4...plan of attack?

[Mike Smith]

Hi All,

I know, many of you think SCJP 6 is the way to go...I have a free voucher for 1.4 and am wraping up on an advanced course in java. The exam is encouraged in the class and we did not cover IO nor Generics.

Anyway...my plan of attack given limited time:

Going to try for a chapter a day in the SCJP 1.4 guide (Sierra & Bates)...doing all chapter practice questions and exercises...this is going to be tough for me but I know this may give deepest understanding.

I just purchased the whizlabs 1.4 prep kit....they seem to push one to take their mocks until you understand and can answer as second nature any and all questions. I was thinking to use these mocks when I can't read from the book because of time etc...


What would you all suggest? time is a factor and reading each chapter I know will be terribly tedious to me personally...(no offense to Bert or Kathy!!). I tend to be quite anxiousness and have a hard time studying for long periods.

Any suggestions welcome (other than taking a different test version ).

Thanks!
[ November 13, 2008: Message edited by: Mike Smith ]

[Aum Tao]

I don't think reading one chapter a day is the most efficient way to prepare.
Instead, give a few mock tests, and assess your strengths and weaknesses. Then, go through the chapters in which you aren't strong. This will save you a lot of time and redundant effort. Just my 2 cents.

[Mike Smith]

Thanks Prateek.

I appreciate the insight. I will admit to not being the best student, and am usually not very good at testing, so your and others' insight will be most helpful to me.

[Brian Legg]

I would definitely put in some time to do some actual coding.... you will learn much faster by actually typing it into a compiler and playing around then you will just reading a book and looking at code on a piece of paper.

[mani vannan]

14 days wont be insufficient if you don't aim a 95+ score. You can get a decent pass. But, you know, the purpose of the certification is to tap the maximum knowledge out of it.

[Mike Smith]

Thanks Mani and Brian. I appreciate your insights.

I agree that review alone won't be enough but I have been code a little while now and specifically with threads and composition and inheritance. I will be doing several of the exercises from the K&B book also.

As for obtaining the deeper understanding, I agree, yes, understanding is critical, but given that SCJP 1.4 is dead after the 28th of Nov...I have limited time.

I will be doing the 1.5/1.6 upgrade in the future and will have more time to review and won't be under the gun so to speak at that time.

The Whizlabs tests seem very good...a bit daunting at first actually...but I am working out what areas to review most in, so it's a big help.

Any other tips or suggestions??

[Mike Smith]

UPDATE:

Took the 1.4 SCJP on Wednesday Nov 26. I scored a 49%.

Was very disappointed. I studied for several day straight probably 8 hours day. Suspect my biggest issue was in time budgeting. Had to really rush the last twelve questions or so and had left one of the first question unattempted and couldn't get back to to it before time ended.

Call it a lesson learned I guess.

Gonna study up after the holidays and take the 1.5 cert...paying more attention to time budgeting.

Just wanted to provide an update.

[Ankit Garg]

Its sad mike that you failed the exam

I would just say that be confident in yourself and you will clear the 5.0 exam with flying colors

Also since you will now have to study generics and IO which was not in 1.4, so I would suggest that you go for 6.0 exam. You will just have to study 2 more topics and generally everyone gets 2-3 questions from the new topics...

[Mike Smith]

Thanks Ankit,

I appreciate the kind words. Starting in January I will begin my review again, this time around carefully reading each chapter in the K&B book, doing the exercises and self tests. Will also purchase some mock exams although in honesty, I think the Whizlab one wasn't the best to prepare with and I will look for something which is more accurate to the SCJP.

Thanks to everyone here for the suggestions I received directly and also for all the informative posts I found!

Best Regards,

Mike

[Brian Legg]

Not bad Mike! Getting a 49% after only 13 days of study is not bad at all.

I'm sure you'll get it next time so keep us posted.