When do you know you are ready to take the exam?

[Mark Kramer]

Hello everyone -- I'm new here on the forum. I have been preparing for the SCJP exam for the last month or so. I am primarily using the Sierra and Bates book but I have also been using the Sybex book. I have completed the practice tests in the books and I have been taking Learnkey Masterexams 1 and 2 in open book mode. I am saving the bonus Masterexam 3 for the end and I will take it in certification mode to measure my readiness for the real exam.

My question is: at what point can I deem myself ready for the real exam? Are scores on the Masterexam a reliable predictor of success on the real exam? I understand from reading other posts that the Masterexam is actually harder than the real thing. Is there a correlation between scores -- i.e. can it be said that if someone scores above n% on the Masterexam, they will most likely pass the real one?

[Shanky Sohar]

you will not get satisfied with your preparation till you clear the exam.

[Mark Kramer]

Shanky Sohar wrote:you will not get satisfied with your preparation till you clear the exam.

Thanks Shanky.

Can you elaborate on your response? Are you saying that regardless of how much one prepares, they will never feel completely confident of their readiness?

[Shanky Sohar]

i want to say how much we prepare we are not able to get satisfied till we give the exam.
even before 1 hour before the exam we feel we are not prepared.

i wanna say..prepare as much as you can and do not get satisfied with your preparation..
do more mock exams.spend much time on reading.

study more and more...and when you get completely exhausted with your preparation for scjp and feel that no more thing is left
Then go for a exam.

[Frits Walraven]

Hi Mark,

Welcome to javaranch!

If you want to be sure than I can suggest buying the Enthuware mock exams. If you do all 9 mock exams and you are able to pass them you will do well on the real exam. The way questions are asked is simular to the real thing and the level of difficulty is just a bit higher (but not like the K&B masterexam)

For your information: I did buy them for SCJP and SCWCD, did all mock exams (passed them) and on the real exams I scored better than all of them individually.

Good luck preparing!
Frits

[Shanky Sohar]

Also try to do ExamLab and donot worry about the score.
The question are very tough....

[Mark Kramer]

Thanks for the advice. I'll have to check out some of these additional resources.

I've also been using Examforce's Crammaster which I do not recommend. Many of the questions have strange wording and don't make sense even after they are explained. They also include questions on topics not covered in the books as well as some that the book specifically tells you not to study.