whizlab

[Alan Hermin]

I Bought The whizlab for scjp5 ,, it contains good,nice, and triky questions, even it contain some objectives not in exam(But Useful)..

as well as i read K&B book for scjp5 (VERY NICE)....

But,Is Whizlab enough for passing the exam with high score?.....

Bye
[ April 26, 2006: Message edited by: ali tareq ]

[Tamara Lopez]

I think people in general do better in the real exam than whizlabs. This was my case anyway. I was getting around 55 - 65 in whizlabs and 79 in the real exam.
If you do all the questions in whizlabs, and pass the exams, and understand the answers for the ones you got wrong - you should be fine!

[Edwin Dalorzo]

I studied with Whizlabs. I think Whizlabs exams were actually more difficult than the real one. But I think it really helped me. Actually I tried to so hard to excel in Whizlabs that I solved the real exam in the blink of eye, in about 30 minutes and I passed with 91%.

My recommendation is, when you fail an answer in a Whizlabs question, find out why you fail. Make a list of all your failures, most of times we fail because our brain does not think as a compiler.

Find out the common reasons why you fail, and try to avoid those pitfalls in the next test.

I think Whizlabs helps you better when you actually do bad at Whizlabs, because that's what teaches you what you are doing wrong. Then you work on it, and there will be no problem in the real exam.

[Bogdan Serban]

whizlab was good for me, i have scored 54 from 61 in whizlab for 1.4 and i have passed the the sun exam for java 5 with 87%. I did not have the whizlab for java 5, but a book and whizlab for 1.4 were enough.

I think too that the real exam is easier that whizlab. One thing that worth mentioning is that the sun exam will ask you from every single topic of the exam objectives. Me, for instance, i have skipped the part with io.Files and unfortunately i have received at the exam two questions about this subject.

[Edisandro Bessa]

Hi Ali,

I also purchased WhizLabs for my preparation. My average score was 77% on WhizLabs and on the real exam I got 91%.

You simply have a Ferrari on your hands.

However, I totally agree with Edwin. If you don't careful read all the explanations and practice all the questions, you may fail the SCJP exam.

As I said you have a ferrari but you have to learn how to drive it.

My atack plan when I purchased WhizLabs was as follows : (Read careful)

1. I wrote the Diagnostics Exam. When I finished I walked through ALL questions including both the correct and incorrect ones, and careful read the explanation provided by WhizLabs.

Those questions I found interesting or tricky questions, I marked them for bookmark for later review.

2. I wrote the Practice Exams #1, #2 and #3 always reviewing ALL questions after each one and marking for bookmark those questions I found interesting.

3. Before start the Practice Exam #4, I started a customized exam containing ALL questions I put on bookmark. And here, again, I walked through ALL questions, correct ones and wrong ones, after finished the customized exam, careful reading the explanations provided by WhizLabs.

4.. At this point, you can imagine how big is our incorrect questions database. Hum, so before start the Practice Exam #4, I started another customized exam containing ALL questions marked as incorrect from all the previous exams. After finish, again I walked through ALL correct and incorrect ones.

5. I started the Practice Exam #4. Again, reviewing all questions after that. NEVER forget it !

6. Now I have finished all Practice exams and I would be tempted to go for the final exam. Don't make this mistake!!! Go to Quiz questions first taking all the 150 questions in only one sitting. When configuring such customized exam, 50 seconds for each question is really challengeable.

7. After that, You're for sure prepared to the final exam. So go ahead and DON'T forget to review all questions from this exam as well.

8. On day before the exam, if you have enough time, start a customized exam containing all questions marked as incorrect from all the previous exams.

9. And FINALLY, DON'T FORGET to read the "Tips n Tricks" and the "Review Notes" provided by WhizLabs. It's a very good stuff.

At this point I think you are really prepared to score more than 90% on the real exam.

Sometimes, the start exam, review questions, start exam, review questions, and again, again, again ... can make your study journey simply boring !!! DON'T SURRENDER. THERE'S A PARADISE WAITING FOR YOU on your D-Day.

Good luck on your study journey.

Best Regards,
Edisandro Bessa.
[ April 26, 2006: Message edited by: Edisandro Bessa ]

[shan Iyer]

Cant understand why people go for commercial mock exams!!. Its very unecessary shelling out so much of money. Agreed there are comparitively fewer free mock exams available for scjp1.5. But more than solving mock exams, having more hands on experience and trying various programs and exercises on your own helps. USE THE SAME MONEY TO BUY MORE BOOKS, WHICH ARE AVAILABLE IN THE PLENTY IN THE MARKET. I believe buying any commercial exam is a waste of money.

[jerry sharma]

hi shanker!

really u hc great thoughts!
i admire you!
can u suggest me abt the books regarding SCWCD exam

best regards

jerry

[Srinivasa Raghavan]

can u suggest me abt the books regarding SCWCD exam

HFSJ by kathy and Bert is a very good to crack the exam. I really like the way the book is built.

really u hc great thoughts!

Ps : This forum is for international readership, so please try to post your questions in english and avoid words like "u", "r" ,"hc" etc etc. What does 'hc' means ?
[ April 27, 2006: Message edited by: Srinivasa Raghavan ]

[Edisandro Bessa]

Hey Shankar,

I respect your opinion concerning the mock exams. But many guys are going to commercial ones simply because there are only a few good free mock exams covering Java 5.

If you search for Java 1.4, you can find A LOT OF free and good mock exams but the same doesn't happen to Java 5.

When I was preparing for my exam, I cound find only one good free mock exam, that's why I decided to choose a commercial one.

I also don't think it's a waste of money, I also would ask you in the same way : Why would you waste your money buying books and more books once you can fin A LOT OF free good Java tutorials through the web ?

Did you get the point ? It depends of your point of view, I personally, love to spend my money buying books even though I can find free tutorials through the web, but I'm also open minded. If everyone tells that WhizLabs is a good mock exam and this mock exam would help me to pass the exam, as it did, why not purchase it ?

[Manuel Comnenus]

Hi Shankar,

There is probably no one preparation approach that will be the best approach for everyone. In my case, I chose to get two commercial products - the Whizlabs and Sun practice exams. My reasons were as follows: I had trouble finding good free SCJP 5 exams. And, I was going under the assumption that commercial practice exams are more likely to have editing to ensure concise and clear language and a quality check to ensure that the answers are correct. I got the Sun product after the Whizlabs product and I did this in part to determine whether the Whizlabs product was providing the right preparation for the test.

I have yet to take the practice exam that comes with the K&B book, but I found some problems with a couple of the practice problems answers and did not get a response from Osborne/McGraw-Hill, the book's publisher. (I consider the K&B exam to be a freebie - one is really paying for the book).

My experience has been that both the Whizlabs and Sun practice exams are good, but even they suffer from occasional mistakes in their solution sets. Good luck with getting someone to respond to an inquiry with a serious effort to correct a problem and then notify you of any corrective action that they took.

Even though they appear to have occasional errors in the solutions (like a Sun problem that doesn't compile and run according to Sun's provided answer - the same goes for Whizlabs), I have found that their questions are well worded. I think that the Whizlabs product, in particular, is well designed.

Some of the freebies, even though they are well-intentioned, do not always use clear and concise language. Unless the actual exam employs the same type of poor language and the freebies are trying to prepare us for this type of language on the exam, I don't think that it is helpful for us to be getting confused and on the wrong track due to language issues. The subject matter and the exam are difficult enough without us needing another matter to sidetrack us.

I have yet to take the test, although I am taking the test soon. For me, the ideal situation is to spend no money and no time for preparation and achieve an outstanding score on the test. The reality for me, though, is that I have to make tradeoffs that include spending time and spending money. I have chosen the approach to try to minimize the amount of time that I need for preparation and to reduce the risk of poorly using this time. Will I pass? I don't know. Yet, the commercial mock exams have provided me with a good source of feedback on my progress.

I completely agree with you that on the books issue. I like to have discussions on topics from angles. Unfortunately, apart from the K&B book, I have not found any good books for SCJP 5. The K&B book is 800 pages long and seems comprehensive. However, since I have not taken the exam, I have no way of knowing whether that book will be enough for me to pass the exam. There is no way for me to know it at this stage. The commercial mock exams have confirmed for me, that the K&B book is an excellent source for studying the material. At the same time, I don't think that the book, alone, would have been enough for me to have a chance on the exam.

I hope that this helps. If you have more to share, please do so and we all will benefit from your experience.

Thanks,
Steve

[Edwin Dalorzo]

Cant understand why people go for commercial mock exams!!

Mock exams, like Whizlabs, give you the chance to experiment with more than simply knowing the answers of the questions.

For instance, I can experience how the real exam environment is going to be. I can customize the exams just to work on aspects I am weak. What takes me to the next, I can easily identify the aspects in which I am weak.

In order to pass the SCJP I not only invested in the Mock Exams, I also invested in a good amount books that coverered all the topics.

The mock exams are just part of the strategy of some people (like me). It worked perfectly for me, and that's why I recommend the strategy to others, and that's why those of us who used Whizlabs do not consider it a waste of money.

[Shrik Josh]

hi
Those who already passed SCJP1.5 using Wizlabs , they
can sold out there Wizlabs.

Shrikant

[Deepak Bala]

I dont think you can re sell Whiz labs products like that, if that is what you meant. Yes, the number of free mock exams for SCJP 5 is quite low. I found the two Master exams that came along with the book to be good. I have never taken any other mock exam for SCJP 5. Its understandable that people wanted to go for the Whizlabs solution since people were recommending it and hey, its Whizlabs

I hope to see more free mocks for SCJP 5. If any one looking for a free SCJP 5 mock is reading this please feel free to look into the links below. Classes work for some, mocks for others. Programming experience can help. Its just a matter of choosing what works for you.