Does preparing for OCPJP 7 prepare me for OCPJP 6?

[Chinmay Terse]

Hello!
I'm a Computer Engineering undergrad just starting my preparations for the Oracle Java Certification exam (like today!). And I'm excited!

After consulting my Computer Programming professor, reading a slew of topics on this site (which definitely answered most of my 'beginner' questions ) and talking to my colleagues, I've decided that the OCPJP 6 exam (10Z-851) + an upgrade exam to Java SE 8 Professional would be the way to go.

So naturally, I'll start my preparations keeping the syllabus of the OCPJP 6 exam in mind. However, I already own a copy of K&B's OCA/OCP Java SE 7 Programmer I & II Study Guide. Will I be able to crack the Java SE 6 exam if I prepare from the Java SE 7 edition of K&B or do I strictly have to prepare from the SCJP Java 6 Study Guide?
I haven't had much time to go through the Exam Topics given over at the official site and I'll be doing that asap to see which chapters differ, but any help in this matter will be really appreciated!

Not pertinent to my question but my reason to choose the OCPJP 6 + Upgrade exam path:
I am currently in the 6th semester of my under-graduation course and will soon be entering into the 7th semester (hopefully...:P), in which job recruitment is held. As all of the companies which visit our college for placements are service based, they generally require a candidate to have good programming skills, and proficiency in a programming language is a must. From what I've learnt from all the extensive 'Why Do You Need Certification' reading, an Oracle certification in Java would certainly be testament to my proficiency in Java, if not anything else. By attempting to clear the OCPJP 6 exam, I hope to fulfill that criteria, plus, I would only have to pay for one exam to reach a professional certification level. And since many, if not all, of the service-based companies provide some encouragement to keep their coding staff certified, I plan to take the Upgrade exam after getting recruited. Even if I don't get selected by any company (fuuuuuuu......!), hey, I'd upgrade on my own.
If you think my reasoning is faulty or that this would not be the right way to go, I'll really be grateful if you let me know your opinions.

Thank You!

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Almost. The only topic that won't be in your book is "Given the fully-qualified name of a class that is deployed inside and/or outside a JAR file, construct the appropriate directory structure for that class. Given a code example and a classpath, determine whether the classpath will allow the code to compile successfully." SO you can learn this topic on your own and use the book for everything else.

See the last table on this page to see how the oCJP 6 topics map to your book.

[Chinmay Terse]

Thanks a lot! Bookmarked the table.