Reappear in scjp 6 in less than a month

[carrie chow]

Hi all Java Scholars..

I have today received a bad score with a fail result in the 310 065 exam. Also was depressed and suprosed as the passing score is reduced to just 58% and number of questions to 60, then also I couldnt clear it.

So with my exam voucher allowing another retake expiring before 30 April, I have less than a month's time now. With my job, can you please advise how to not miss hitting the passing score rather a good one the second time?

Any help will be highly appreciated!

Thanks.

[Jehaan Butt]

What was your overall score and what were the individual sectional scores? That would give you an idea what you need to focus on.

[carrie chow]

Anurag Bhatt wrote:What was your overall score and what were the individual sectional scores? That would give you an idea what you need to focus on.

My score was 35% only and I did worst in Declarations, Initialization and Scoping, only 20%.

The best out of score breakup was Flow Control with 63%

[bhanu chowdary]

Did you do the mock tests before the actual test?

[Larry Chung]

First, congrats for the courage to come to this forum to share your disappointment with the exam result.

Second, the situation may not be that bad. I also had only 30 days to prepare for the exam and I passed. There many things that you can do between now and April 30.

1. Be sure that you get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night. You will not be able to prepare well without adequate rest.
2. Visit this forum every day and read and/or answer the Java questions that are raised by members.
3. Use the SCJP Study Guide by Sierra and Bates. Read the "Exam Watch" and "Two-minute drills" everyday.
4. Some people will say concentrate on your strongest topics. In your case its Flow Control. I say work on your weakest topics.
5. Download a copy of ExamLab or try any other SCJP mock exams. Try to complete the exams in less than the allotted time (3 hours).
6. Ask questions for clarification on this forum.

[Jesper de Jong]

"sens senses", please check your private messages for an administrative matter from JavaRanch.

[Prithvi Sehgal]

sens senses, change your first name and last to your real name. No fake names are allowed on java ranch.
It is against the Java-Ranch policy.

Best Regards,

[carrie chow]

Prithvi Sehgal wrote:sens senses, change your first name and last to your real name. No fake names are allowed on java ranch.
It is against the Java-Ranch policy.

Best Regards,

sorry I was bit disappointed so didnt have courage to say my name

But now it is changed..

[carrie chow]

Larry Chung wrote:First, congrats for the courage to come to this forum to share your disappointment with the exam result.

Second, the situation may not be that bad. I also had only 30 days to prepare for the exam and I passed. There many things that you can do between now and April 30.

1. Be sure that you get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night. You will not be able to prepare well without adequate rest.
2. Visit this forum every day and read and/or answer the Java questions that are raised by members.
3. Use the SCJP Study Guide by Sierra and Bates. Read the "Exam Watch" and "Two-minute drills" everyday.
4. Some people will say concentrate on your strongest topics. In your case its Flow Control. I say work on your weakest topics.
5. Download a copy of ExamLab or try any other SCJP mock exams. Try to complete the exams in less than the allotted time (3 hours).
6. Ask questions for clarification on this forum.

Thanks for your extremely valuable suggestions!
Will definitely try to follow them...
my little problem is am working also... and take care of family also... so get less time... i prepared by taking 5 days off from work... and since 2 months before exam I started preparation though i have been involved in Java programming since 2-3 years at my work

I did one mock exam only... and couldnt complete in time...

now.. I have started to give everyday 3-4 hours which obviously is making me sleep less..
do not know how to clear the exam... and I need to do it..

Anyway, thanks all for encouraging me, and will always welcome all your valuable suggestions!

[Larry Chung]

Carrie,

If you are raising small children then I really admire your courage. I have large children (they are in college) and so I had a little more personal time to prepare for the SCJP. Remember that your children come first, you will have them forever. Java will be some day be gone and be replaced by something else.

In your special case of being a full-time mother with a full-time paid job, let me adjust my suggestions.
1. Starting tonight, read at least one "Exam Watch" and/or one "Two-minute drill" every night before going to bed. Do whatever you can fit into one hour time.
2. During breaks in the workday, take quick glances at "Exam Watch" or whatever else SCJP tips you have.
3. Starting tonight, decide on what two days of the week when you can devote 3 hours to complete a mock exam. Those days must be three days apart.
For example, if you can work on an exam on Sunday then spend the next three days to study the answers, especially for the ones you got wrong. Then do another mock exam and repeat the studying.
4. Use your practice with mock exams to train you to eventually finish the SCJP exam in 2.5 hours. Speed and efficiency is important to attain. Therefore, don't worry if you are interrupted for a few minutes to take care of your kids during your mock exam. In the real exam, there will be interruptions too, such as going to the bathroom, getting a drink of water or sudden loud noises in the exam area.
5. Take any interesting Java code from the mock exams, this JavaRanch forum, or K&B's book to compile and run in an IDE. "Interesting Java code" are related to your weak exam topics.

added: Of course, try to read the chapters in K&B book by picking and choosing the chapters that are most interesting to you.
added: Run the interesting Java code in debug mode and watch the variable values change if the mock exam answer explanations do not help with understanding the code.

Good luck.

[Prithvi Sehgal]

Best of luck Carrie,

[carrie chow]

Larry Chung wrote:Carrie,

If you are raising small children then I really admire your courage. I have large children (they are in college) and so I had a little more personal time to prepare for the SCJP. Remember that your children come first, you will have them forever. Java will be some day be gone and be replaced by something else.

I am really thankful to you Larry for taking time out and giving me extremely useful advices. Above all you thought of the scenario of my daily routine! Well I do not have kids but have other family members who are grown ups....

So usual household tasks are there... and the office work i need to bring at home too, since there are deadlines to meet

Larry Chung wrote:
In your special case of being a full-time mother with a full-time paid job, let me adjust my suggestions.
1. Starting tonight, read at least one "Exam Watch" and/or one "Two-minute drill" every night before going to bed. Do whatever you can fit into one hour time.
2. During breaks in the workday, take quick glances at "Exam Watch" or whatever else SCJP tips you have.
3. Starting tonight, decide on what two days of the week when you can devote 3 hours to complete a mock exam. Those days must be three days apart.
For example, if you can work on an exam on Sunday then spend the next three days to study the answers, especially for the ones you got wrong. Then do another mock exam and repeat the studying.
4. Use your practice with mock exams to train you to eventually finish the SCJP exam in 2.5 hours. Speed and efficiency is important to attain. Therefore, don't worry if you are interrupted for a few minutes to take care of your kids during your mock exam. In the real exam, there will be interruptions too, such as going to the bathroom, getting a drink of water or sudden loud noises in the exam area.
5. Take any interesting Java code from the mock exams, this JavaRanch forum, or K&B's book to compile and run in an IDE. "Interesting Java code" are related to your weak exam topics.

added: Of course, try to read the chapters in K&B book by picking and choosing the chapters that are most interesting to you.
added: Run the interesting Java code in debug mode and watch the variable values change if the mock exam answer explanations do not help with understanding the code.

Good luck.

Thanks a lot once again for all these extremely useful suggestions.. I will definitely try to follow the same.

[carrie chow]

Prithvi Sehgal wrote:Best of luck Carrie,

Thanks a lot Prithvi!

Hope I can make best use of the valuable suggestions from the java ranch community, especialy Larry's!

Any futher suggestions/advices are most welcome!

[Larry Chung]

carrie chow wrote:I am really thankful to you Larry for taking time out and giving me extremely useful advices. Above all you thought of the scenario of my daily routine! Well I do not have kids but have other family members who are grown ups....

So usual household tasks are there... and the office work i need to bring at home too, since there are deadlines to meet.

If all the family members are grownups then announce to them that for the month of April you need to prepare for a very important examination. Unless your family members are extremely aged, senile or unenlightened, they should understand the time-honored tradition of studying for an exam.

If you don't think they will accommodate you for just one month then just grab whatever time you can get to devote to SCJP preparation. Study does not mean always using materials. While doing simple, safe household chores, review in your mind some Java fundamentals such as the definitions of "public, protected, default, and private" or the names of the common checked and runtime exceptions. That trick helped me out.

[Prithvi Sehgal]

Hello Carrie,

I think so Larry is making much sense here. Studying doesn't mean all the time wrapping up the stuff from materials.
You can just go through some fundamentals in the mind and review them and seek help by telling you family that you
just need a month to prepare for your exam. They must be understanding enough to help you out.

To be honest with you, i have recently recovered through a massive injury which happened to me two years back in a horrific accident.
I was a fresher when i entered the field, but after working one year and a half, i went through this accident and for exactly 5 months 23
days i was unconscious. It was always my passion to be a programmer but i lost almost 2+ years in the field and lost track of things.
Was not able to concentrate on anything at all. My family made it sure, that at least i do something good with my career. Anyhow after
two years started studying back a little, even today i can't think straight at times, can't do the drippling with the head still when it comes to
tricky questions because at times it feels like, brain is not working at all, and it is all because of my injury. When i see my mates far ahead
of me, but haven't lost hope, may be i won't be able to think as sharp as i used to think before, but i am still struggling.

This is just to tell you, those 2+ years i didn't touch even java. But after recovering still was thinking something about being a programmer
in my head and it pushed me to appear for SCJP. Though still preparing and speed is slow, but hopefully i will complete it. So just a suggestion
to you, don't lose hope, don't be hard on yourself. Do as much as your time permits but keep some revisions in the head and go ahead with
Strong desire, and believe me you will succeed.

Good Luck,

[Larry Chung]

Those are great words of encouragement, Prithvi. I am sure you are well on your way to succeeding in your studies and future exams because your mind is sharp.

P.S. Sincere regrets about your accident and the resulting injuries.

[Prithvi Sehgal]

Thank you very much Larry. These words mean a lot to me.

Warm Regards,

[carrie chow]

Larry Chung wrote:
If all the family members are grownups then announce to them that for the month of April you need to prepare for a very important examination.

Yes Larry I have announced that and they know very well..

Larry Chung wrote:
If you don't think they will accommodate you for just one month then just grab whatever time you can get to devote to SCJP preparation.

I am doing actually the same thing now, grabbing whatever time I can.
I have started with mocks as well reading the K&B book's Declaration chapter and probably the chapter 10 as I remember I got confused in the 2 questions which were based on classpaths and jar files.

Thanks for your brilliant tips!

[carrie chow]

Prithvi Sehgal wrote:Hello Carrie,

I think so Larry is making much sense here. Studying doesn't mean all the time wrapping up the stuff from materials.
You can just go through some fundamentals in the mind and review them and seek help by telling you family that you
just need a month to prepare for your exam. They must be understanding enough to help you out.

I agree on this and that is why started with my weakest cert. objective 1 Decalrations and Access Control plus mock exam.

Prithvi Sehgal wrote:
This is just to tell you, those 2+ years i didn't touch even java. But after recovering still was thinking something about being a programmer
in my head and it pushed me to appear for SCJP. Though still preparing and speed is slow, but hopefully i will complete it. So just a suggestion
to you, don't lose hope, don't be hard on yourself. Do as much as your time permits but keep some revisions in the head and go ahead with
Strong desire, and believe me you will succeed.

Good Luck,

I deeply appreciate your amazing perseverance and labour you are putting into your career! Best wishes to you !!
And yes thanks once again a ton for all those inspiring and encouraging words of yours.

[Muneeswaran Balasubramanian]

Hi carrie,

Failure is the doorsteps for Success.So go ahead....

[Simran Dass]

Best of luck Prithvi . You are a brave person.

[Prithvi Sehgal]

Thanks Simran. Such encouraging words mean alot to me.

Warm Regards,
Prithvi