A few minutes ago i passed my exam with 85%!
Because there is very few information about the new exam i decided to put my story here.
Story:
I prepared a year ago by reading HFSJ 2nd edition book after work for 3-4 weeks but only scored 60% on final mock exam (never done anything with
Servlets or JSPs before).
I was very disapointed about that score so i decided it will be too risky to take the exam without further preparation.
But i delayed further preparation when i heared of the new SCWCD 6 exam (now called OCEJWCD which was delayed several times).
Last week i decided that i will no longer wait for a preparation book for the new version and instead re-read HFSJ book.
I learned 5 days with an average of 5-6 hours a day, so 25-30 hours total.
I have taken alle mock tests in HFSJ book and all examulator summary mock tests.
I additionally scattered some blog posts for the new servlet 3.0 specification and took the Nullhouse Blog Mock tests (see SCWCD links section).
My Scores:
HFSJ Chapter Mocks: ~80% average
HFSJ Final Mock: 71%
Examulator: 80%, 91%, 91%
Nullhouse Servlet 3.0 Mock: only ~40-50% (but learned a lot because of the very good explanations!)
Topics:
As mentioned in another topic by another user, there are about 15% of the questions to the new Servlet 3.0 topics, focussing on web-fragments and security and nothing on deferred EL.
Because im not allowed to talk about the questions i of course cannot confirm this statement but i decided to rely on it for preparation
Actually there is no adequate study guide, blog psot or anything that will you prepare for all the new topics, so if you want to get a realy high score you will have to read the spec.
But you can get half the points related to this topics by reading some blog posts and taking the Nullhouse Blog Mock exam.
Hints/Advices:
So because im not allowed to tell you the topics and question details i can only give you one advice:
Read HFSJ 2nd Edition vom cover to cover and try to remember everything. Although the book is realy thick there almost nothing you could skip (and almost nothing missing for JEE5 part).
Dont let it take too much time to read the book, after 3 weeks of learning i already forgot several things from first chapters.
Perhaps read it twice, and try to read it the second time in not more than 5-10 days.
And dont be fooled by low grades in the final mock exam, if you get >= 60% you are ready, experiance of most exam takers here in the forum is that you score at least 20% higher in the read exam. You probably have to reduce this if you take JEE6 exam without preparation, but even 60% would be enought as stated before.
Another tip: Make sure you realy understand everything on security (old and new Servlet 3.0 part), it was the hardest part for me.
General Notes for JEE5 and JEE6 Version:
JEE5 Version calls Oracle Certified
Professional, while JEE6 Version calls Oracle Certified
Expert
JEE5 Version needs 72% while JEE6 Version only demands 60% pass grade
So JEE6 Version has a higher title (Associate < Professional < Expert < Master) AND its easier! (because of lower passing grade)
Even if you dont know anything about the new Servlet 3.0/JEE6 features it will be VERY likely that you will pass because of the lower pass grade.
Say you would make 75% on JEE5 exam, but you decided to take JEE6 exam and you can only make a guess for every question relating the new topics you will get at least the nessesary 60% needed for passing.
So i highly recommend to take JEE6 version.
General Notes for Prometric vs. PearsonVUE:
PearsonVUE doesnt support any drag&drop questions (as far as i heard - remember im not allowd to talk...
)
PearsonVUEs
test software is similar (but more modern and with some nice features) to Prometric, you will have no problems if you are familar with prometric exams.
PearsonVUE takes VAT on top of exam fee at least here in europe, this was not true for Prometric. So depending on your country overall fee increased up to 25%!
PearsonVUE makes an image of you in the testing center which is at least printed on your score report (dont know if its used anywhere else), so make sure you have taken enough sleep the night before
Preparation & Exam time:
You have 120 minutes to complete the exam and i finished after 50 minutes, so time is not a problem at all.
Even if you decide to review your answers (which i dont) you will have plenty of time.
I would say a preparation time of 30 hours at least is needed (25 hours solely for reading the book, rest taking other mock exams and perhaps some coding).
It doesnt matter much if you know anything about Servlets and JSPs, you will have to prepare for the exam anyway.
So whats next?
I submitted my OCMJD 6 (formerly known as
SCJD 6) 4 weeks ago and still wait for the result which can take 8 weeks or even longer
Next i probably will take the
EJB exam, at least i will buy an EJB 3.1 book.
