Passed SCJP 1.4 with 91% @ 16 years old
Donny Nadolny
Greenhorn
Posts: 7
posted 12 years ago
Hey everyone. Today I passed the SCJP 1.4 exam with 91% (and I'm 16 years old). I used K&B (read it twice) and I did the first 7 of Dan's mock exams. On Dan's exams I scored around 80%. I wish I had spent more time doing mock exams, I had spent a weekend preparing for the exam a few months ago then didn't do anything for a while, and I kind of rushed into doing the exam before school started up again so I only had about 4 days to do mock exams. My one tip would be to mark the questions you are unsure about when you're doing a mock exam and review the answer even if you get it right, don't just focus on the ones you got wrong.
Also, my comments on the exam: It was about the difficulty I expected. Some of the thread questions had tricky/complicated wording, but almost all the other questions were clear. I wish they showed you the questions you got wrong at the end, I wanted to know which questions I got wrong. Overall I'm glad I did the exam, I had a year and a half of Java experience before I started studying, but studying taught me so much about Java and it made me a better programmer.
Donny Nadolny, SCJP 1.4
Also, my comments on the exam: It was about the difficulty I expected. Some of the thread questions had tricky/complicated wording, but almost all the other questions were clear. I wish they showed you the questions you got wrong at the end, I wanted to know which questions I got wrong. Overall I'm glad I did the exam, I had a year and a half of Java experience before I started studying, but studying taught me so much about Java and it made me a better programmer.
Donny Nadolny, SCJP 1.4
Nicholas Cheung
Ranch Hand
Posts: 4982
posted 12 years ago
SCJP 1.2, OCP 9i DBA, SCWCD 1.3, SCJP 1.4 (SAI), SCJD 1.4, SCWCD 1.4 (Beta), ICED (IBM 287, IBM 484, IBM 486), SCMAD 1.0 (Beta), SCBCD 1.3, ICSD (IBM 288), ICDBA (IBM 700, IBM 701), SCDJWS, ICSD (IBM 348), OCP 10g DBA (Beta), SCJP 5.0 (Beta), SCJA 1.0 (Beta), MCP(70-270), SCBCD 5.0 (Beta), SCJP 6.0, SCEA for JEE5 (in progress)
Weerawit Maneepongsawat
Ranch Hand
Posts: 203
Kitty Dayal
Ranch Hand
Posts: 89
Arun Prasath
Ranch Hand
Posts: 192
Kai Witte
Ranch Hand
Posts: 356
posted 12 years ago
Congratulations!
When I was 16 I felt so great about my programming skills instead of keeping learning. That prevented me from learning for many years. (An illness that I diagnosed at many ppl with all levels of education.) You demonstrated what is possible at that age when you keep learning instead of admiring yourself. But if you feel great about passing and about your score - you're right!
Always keep on learning -
Conan
When I was 16 I felt so great about my programming skills instead of keeping learning. That prevented me from learning for many years. (An illness that I diagnosed at many ppl with all levels of education.) You demonstrated what is possible at that age when you keep learning instead of admiring yourself. But if you feel great about passing and about your score - you're right!
Always keep on learning -
Conan
Donny Nadolny
Greenhorn
Posts: 7
posted 12 years ago
Thanks everyone!
Nicholas Cheung - I'm not sure what I want to do next. I'm thinking of SCJD next, but first I want to learn more about JSP, servlets, etc. Maybe I'll go for SCWCD instead. By the way, nice certifications! It takes up 3 lines just to display them all on my screen!
Conan Elvitaro - Every time I look back a year at what I could do then and what I can do now, I'm amazed at how much I've learned. Just thinking of how little I knew about some things keeps me learning more.
Donny Nadolny
Nicholas Cheung - I'm not sure what I want to do next. I'm thinking of SCJD next, but first I want to learn more about JSP, servlets, etc. Maybe I'll go for SCWCD instead. By the way, nice certifications! It takes up 3 lines just to display them all on my screen!
Conan Elvitaro - Every time I look back a year at what I could do then and what I can do now, I'm amazed at how much I've learned. Just thinking of how little I knew about some things keeps me learning more.
Donny Nadolny
Nicholas Cheung
Ranch Hand
Posts: 4982
posted 12 years ago
Nothing special in fact. 
I believe you can get more than me soon.
Nick
I believe you can get more than me soon.
Nick
SCJP 1.2, OCP 9i DBA, SCWCD 1.3, SCJP 1.4 (SAI), SCJD 1.4, SCWCD 1.4 (Beta), ICED (IBM 287, IBM 484, IBM 486), SCMAD 1.0 (Beta), SCBCD 1.3, ICSD (IBM 288), ICDBA (IBM 700, IBM 701), SCDJWS, ICSD (IBM 348), OCP 10g DBA (Beta), SCJP 5.0 (Beta), SCJA 1.0 (Beta), MCP(70-270), SCBCD 5.0 (Beta), SCJP 6.0, SCEA for JEE5 (in progress)
Oneal Shaha
Ranch Hand
Posts: 98
Dan Chisholm
Ranch Hand
Posts: 1865
Rebecca Witmer
Ranch Hand
Posts: 46
posted 12 years ago
Wow, you are a frickin smart 16 year old. I am very impressed. When I was 16 (in 1996) it was only a mere 2 years after my dad (a programmer) sat me down in front of the computer and said, "This is the internet. Kids use it. I am too busy being a serious programmer to figure out what it does. Figure it out and get back to me." After that I learned HTML and thought I was smart. You are so much more smart than smart that you shall now be dubbed super-frickin-smart.
R
R
SCJP 1.4
Donny Nadolny
Greenhorn
Posts: 7
posted 12 years ago
Dan - Thanks for the.. hm, we'll say.. root beer 
Rebecca - I've had more experience with computers than you did at your age, I've been programming for 9 years (Yup, I wrote my first program at the age of 7. Good old QBASIC). I'm a fast learner.
Donny Nadolny
[ September 10, 2004: Message edited by: Donny Nadolny ]
Rebecca - I've had more experience with computers than you did at your age, I've been programming for 9 years (Yup, I wrote my first program at the age of 7. Good old QBASIC). I'm a fast learner.
Donny Nadolny
[ September 10, 2004: Message edited by: Donny Nadolny ]
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