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I failed SCJP with 69% - I am down & depressed

 
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I appeared for the SCJP and failed to get thru. I got 69%, I fell short of one quest. Each small error (like forgetting a ; in type-in ques.) are haunting me. I just cant get over the fact that I was so near. I referred RHE. I suppose ques. were not surprising but I fumbled with time. I was short of time for revising and panicked in between.
Now what should I do? The exam will change soon. Will I get a chance to be SCJP?
Ajith, Maha, advise me.
 
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Don't feel depressed, it will only reduce your level of motivatiion. Now that you have been to the real exam, you know for sure what to expect. SCJP is not an easy exam to pass and a lot people have failed. You are not alone. As you have realised for yourself, it was not because of lack of preparation, but the anxiety, poor time management and perhaps one or two conceptual grey areas that caused it.
I am sure if you take the exam again immediately, you will pass. You lost just one question, so with little more preparation you will surely clear it. But don't haste. Take your time and concentrate first on your week areas. I am sure you have the transcript which tells you how much you scored in each tested area. Concentrate on those with lesser percentile. Get another certification book( Exam Cram/ Moghul ) and read through all the chapters. Perhaps you can borrow it from someone, or if you live in the US, you can go to a nearest book store and read it. You should do this even before you start repeating mock exams.You should focus more on practicing, revising and perfecting your skills. Unless you feel very weak on some specific topic, you should not spend a lot of time reading through the chapters again.
When you do the mock exams, make sure you choose one with correct number of questions so that you can time your practice. If you have to do a mock test which has more number of questions, you can either time and do only the required number, or extrapolate your results and see if you overshoot the maximum time. Also practice different strategies - like skipping the questions and coming back later if you feel it takes more time to answer, using the elimination method to improve your chances of guessing the right answer etc. Most of the times, you can achieve the required percentile in the first pass of questions itself.
Have a goal, a tentative date when you would like to take the exam. This will act as a motivating factor. You should first assess your revision requirements and then fix the date realistically. Finally, don't bother too much about changing objectives. Nobody has aunthetic information when it will happen, and I have a feeling it will not happen very soon.
Good luck with your preparations,
Ajith
 
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Hi Ravi,
Don't worry. You will surely clear it next time.
For benefit of those who haven't taken the test yet,
would you please share your results from various mock
exams taken before you took the certification test.
 
Trailboss
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Ravi,
Don't worry about the upcoming changes. It will be the same material just asked in a different way. Sun was getting worried that too many people were sharing the real answers.
My advice is to study some more. If you know the material really well, you won't worry about the time.
If you have already been through RHE, go and hit a mountain of mock exams. For any mock exam question you get wrong, run it through the compiler or come look the question up over here - or open a new thread discussing it.
Spend two weeks doing this and then take the exam again.
 
Anonymous
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Get another book because reading a different book is refreshing
instead of rereading the same one over and over! check bill
brodgen's java exam cram and another good one by Mughal which has
a great mock exam ( the hardest one which makes you better , like
lifting heavy weights makes you stronger.)
Retake the exam ( the same one ) in 6-8 wks. The new one will be out in Oct to my knowledge (same topics but different wording).
Also make an outline of a book on java. This helps focus on the
core topics of java.

 
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Hi,
I am planing to take it on 1'st September. Will the exam going to be changed by then?? Please help me, i am kind of worried now.
- Thanks
 
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Ravi,
Well, I am familiar with the word 'haunted'. I am sure those unanswered or wrongly answered questions are haunting you. I think you failed to make it because you panicked . Even if you are well prepared for an exam but not in the right frame of mind, you can score less. Don't worry about failing. Even people with years of experience in java have failed in their first attempt! Now since you already know the type of questions and format of real exam, you can be well prepared for the second time. I think if you can devote entire time for studies, you should schedule your exam two weeks from now.
When you go for exam be confident, answer the simple ones first marking the difficult ones. And don't panick . Cheer up!
 
Anonymous
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Hi RaviKumar
Don't get depressed. I know exactly how you feel. Read the books in your weak areas first. after that take lots of mock exams. that will help.
regards
VR
 
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Don't get down, besides that being down is no fun, there are worse things. It took me more than twice, (four count 'em FOUR times to pass that thing). (You can't really count my first one because I mistook the test to be of the Microsoft camp where you can study the hell out of an Exam Cram book and pass...WRONG!)
What I did was tried to remember where I fumbled a bit, then went home and programmed until my fingers bled, testing this, testing that, and finally broke a few things, then fixed them. I did that alot, and found that it helped quite a bit. I also replied to people's questions on here and tried to answer. Sometime I was way off but other times I was right on. It always helps to try to explain it to someone else.
Keep hitting it until it surrenders, you can do it! I was in networking for five years, Java is my first real programming endeavour[sp?]. But I finally passed with 81%.
Oh yeah, when you sit down to take the test, don't start right away. Write down your trouble areas that you've crammed for on that sheet of paper they give you. Even if you don't use it on the exam, this helps you get in the Java mind set and out of the "I'm nervous as hell" mind set. The clock doesn't start ticking 'til you start clickin, so take advantage of that time just before you start. It REALLY Helped alot!
[This message has been edited by ryan headley (edited August 15, 2000).]
 
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Ravi,
Sorry for the late response. All good people posted above gave very good advice. The immediate thought comes to my mind is , Don't leave it. It is the correct time to strike again. You just take Maha's words. You WILL SURELY become SCJP the very next attempt. Now you know how the real exam looks you are in an advantage to break it again. We are all here with you. Come on. Lots and lots of people are with you , right now reading this thread and want some advice/suggestions , but haven't posted here. I am also not a very good test taker. But I knew my weekness and accepted and I tried and tried and tried to practice and manage the time.
You know what Ravi, The very first time I took a sample test, I almost ran out of time. Just barely had 15 min I think. Then I knew, I have to overcome this weekness, and I put a separate column for TIME I TOOK TO FINISH in the chart of Mock exams I took , which had MOckName,date,time,#qstns, %Igot , timeItook to finish. I slowly improved on that and finally I tried to finish it within 1 hour and 10 min.
My added advice and a helpful tip is this. We have to get atleast 43 qstns correct Isn't? So you can practice this way also. JUst write all the qstns nos, in the paper which you think you WILL DEFINTLY GET THE MARK for that qstn , and count the total no of such qstns . When you hit 43 count, you WILL definitly pass. If you get less than 42, now go and look again on other qstns and get another qstn for the SURE FOR CORRECT list. Iterate this process, until you get 44 to 45 in total.
Now we know for sure we can pass, and can be an SCJP. We have to have a margin right? So increse the SURE FOR CORRECT list Number.
This is just an idea to gauge ourself. Give it a try. And my another sicere advice is take 3 atleast 3 tests per day, benchmark the result, and in the gap between the 2 successive tests, discuss your doubts here OR refer to a book or jdk and clear your doubts. If possible for the next 2 weeks make this as your #1 priority task. Visit our new site www.javaranch.com/mahaanna Go to MockExams and try to do ALL MOCK EXAMS. At the end of 2 to 3 weeks from now you WILL be an SCJP. Now no wasting time. Come on you have work to do. See you again.
regds
maha anna
 
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Hi
Ravi, Just remember only one thing �NO DEFEATE IF FINAL UNTIL U GET SUCCSSED�. We all are here for each other. Our west wishes are with u. don�t waste time go head and get it. We all knows here that u can do it man.
Best of luck.
vivek

[This message has been edited by Vivek Shrivastava (edited August 15, 2000).]
 
Anonymous
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Hi donot worry I too got 69% on 2nd August, I am giving again on 17th (tommorow) August.
 
maha anna
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Our best wishes to you Smitha. You keep an eye on the time and main thing DO NOT get tensed. You will do definitly well.
regds
maha anna
 
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