93% Cleared Part 1

[Harry Byte]

Hi,

this week, I've cleared Part 1 of the SCEA
Since this forum helped me a lot whilst preparing for the exam, I would like to share my exam experience and give something back to you.

I 've prepared about 2 month for the exam. 6-7 weeks Month of deep reading and 2 weeks of extrem mocking.

The following study materials were important for me:
- Books: Design Pattern (Gamma et al.), SCEA Study Guide (Cade, Robertson) & SCEA Technology Study Guide (Allen, Bambara)
- Online Resources: Core J2EE Patterns by Sun (http://java.sun.com/blueprints/corej2eepatterns/Patterns/)
- Mock Exams: WhizLab, EpracticeLab, various online mock exams (http://faq.javaranch.com/view?SceaMockTests)

It took me approximately 55 min to complete all questions and I used the remaining time for reviewing my questions.

I 've experienced the various assessment sections of the test (e.g. Concepts, Common Architectures, Legacy Connectivity, ...) as different hard. For me, the toughest section (by far) was Application of J2EE. This section is dealing with situational question. A lot of text, some key facts as bullet points and a final question. Keep focusing on this final/actual question, since the amount of text could irritate you. For example, I had two (almost) similar questions, that differ merely in the kind/struktur of the final question. I recongnized this while I was reviewing my question. I liked the short and factual question from the Design Pattern and Protocol Sections. I found also the Internationalization and Security Section pretty comfortable to answer since the "universe" from which the question could be drawn seemed to me very small.


Well, now I have to rush to part 2 now and see what to do next ...


Hope this could be useful for you.

Good Luck!

Harry

[Rayssa Moon]

Hi,

Congratulations, it's an impressive score!
Information you provided is very useful, thanks.

Just a question: what do you mean by "deep reading"? I am trying to estimate the time I need to prepare for first part and I am trying to figure out how much time (approximately) do I have to allocate per day to intensive reading to get a score like yours ?

[Harry Byte]

Hi Rayssa,

with "deep reading" I mean not just reading on the surface. For example, I used the SCEA Study Guide (Cade, Robertson) as my study-baseline and did the tests at the end of each chapter (1-7). When I felt uncomfortable with my results of a specific knowledge area (or the overall topic), I deepened my studies by applying additional resources (e.g. Design Pattern from Gamma or some internet articles about security and UML). In addition, it was really really important for me to do as much mock exams as I could in order to get used to tricky and strange questions (Btw: the unwritten rule, that Customers are always entity beans was NOT true in my exam;-).
I also think the time you will need for preparing for the exam depends heavily on your current experience and skills. I read about people who managed their preparation for part 1 within 1-2 weeks, whereas others took a 5 weeks off from work.

I wish you all the best for your exam.
Harry