How do you know you are well prepared for OCPJP7?

[zach zhang]

When I search the experience other ranchers shared on the exam result board, I find that a lot of them only got around 60-65% score on Enthuware mock exams (someone had around 70%).
They also claimed that the difficulty level of real exam is quite similar to the Enthuware test.

I also got similar scores on the first three mock exams. I don't know how to improve the score in my rest 3 exams. Besides the book, I read more APIs, more javadoc, review and understand the errors I made.
some people suggested that I should put all the error of mock exams into a IDE, run them and check the result, change them a little bit and understand them more deeply.

I had postponed my exam two times because one of my friend just failed the ocpjp7...I was a little afraid...

Any suggestions? thanks!

[Piotr Kalinowski]

When I was learning for my exam a few years ago, I used books and mock exams. In my opinion training with mock exams is the fastest method of learning when you have basics.

[Roel De Nijs]

Hi Zach,

Each chapter has a self-test with some mock exams to test your knowledge of that chapter. And you also have 2 mock exams for both the OCAJP and OCPJP exams (that makes 4 in total). These could give a good idea if you are ready or not.

If you still have doubts about your level, you can buy some mock exams/tests from a mock exam provider like Enthuware and WhizLabs. From other ranchers' experiences I know Enthuware offers very good value for money, so that would be my choice!

Hope it helps!
Kind regards,
Roel

[Aleksandra Semenova]

People around you are right.
Don't just copy -> paste -> run, try to create similar problem yourself.
I wrote 200+ small programs before the exam, and if the case is still not clear - ask on Enthuware forum, they reply within the same day and in general were very helpful, or even better - try solving it yourself by reading the API.
For OCPJP7 my highest score on Enthuware was 69%, and the real exam 75%. So to pass and have a good score you should do 70%+ on practice tests.
Enthuware is very very similar to the real exam in terms of topic coverage, but the questions are much more complicated, then the real ones. If you study every question properly (even the ones that were right), and really understand the concept, you sure wouldn't fail.

[zach zhang]

Aleksandra Semenova wrote:
Enthuware is very very similar to the real exam in terms of topic coverage, but the questions are much more complicated, then the real ones.

You mean the Enthuware is still a little bit difficult than the real oracle exam?

[Aleksandra Semenova]

zach zhang wrote:

Aleksandra Semenova wrote:
Enthuware is very very similar to the real exam in terms of topic coverage, but the questions are much more complicated, then the real ones.

You mean the Enthuware is still a little bit difficult than the real oracle exam?

Yes Enthuware is way more difficult then the real exam questions.

[Bindu Lakhanpal]

All I can remember is Enthuware was more or less equal in difficulty to exam(Real exam around 90% difficult to Enthuware). But I know Devaka's mock were really tougher than exams. I liked both. If you get 80% in enthware and 65% in Devaka, you are quite prepared. Thats my point of view only.

[zach zhang]

Bindu Lakhanpal wrote:All I can remember is Enthuware was more or less equal in difficulty to exam(Real exam around 90% difficult to Enthuware). But I know Devaka's mock were really tougher than exams. I liked both. If you get 80% in enthware and 65% in Devaka, you are quite prepared. Thats my point of view only.

Suppose one don't get 80% in enthware 6 tests, why should he or she do next? Review all the errors and understand them? read more APIs? We can't know the score before we take the mock test.

[Bert Bates]

In a few months we'll have received feedback about K & B 7's mock questions. Historically they have been a little harder than the real exam, but not as hard as the hardest mock exams.

Also, I completely agree that one of the best ways to study for the exam is to write lots and lots of little Java programs. We wrote lots and lots of little Java programs (hundreds really), while we were writing this book.

[zach zhang]

Bert Bates wrote:Also, I completely agree that one of the best ways to study for the exam is to write lots and lots of little Java programs. We wrote lots and lots of little Java programs (hundreds really), while we were writing this book.

I am currently do this. I think little java programs will help me understand a lot of tricky points more deeply.

[Bindu Lakhanpal]

Hi Zach,

I remember, I could not get 80% in all. In fact, I failed my first enthuware test. But then I studied the concept I was weak at and as you said then keep on improving in next tests, noting down, studying, coding more on my weak points.

Then after a gap of 2 weeks, I took tests again. Then I got average 80%, I think. May be 75%. I don't remember. Its a long time now. As you already know, the key is the improvement you can have after each test. In real test I got 82%. And yes I also did K & B mock tests too. Those were great!

[zach zhang]

Bindu Lakhanpal wrote:Hi Zach,

I remember, I could not get 80% in all. In fact, I failed my first enthuware test. But then I studied the concept I was weak at and as you said then keep on improving in next tests, noting down, studying, coding more on my weak points.

Then after a gap of 2 weeks, I took tests again. Then I got average 80%, I think. May be 75%. I don't remember. Its a long time now. As you already know, the key is the improvement you can have after each test. In real test I got 82%. And yes I also did K & B mock tests too. Those were great!

I think you took the OCPJP6 not 7. But your experience do help. I should put more time on it. As I know, Oracle do raise the bar for OCPJP7. In fact, from the scores shown in the exam result board, OCPJP7 has a much lower average score.

[Roel De Nijs]

zach zhang wrote:

Bert Bates wrote:Also, I completely agree that one of the best ways to study for the exam is to write lots and lots of little Java programs. We wrote lots and lots of little Java programs (hundreds really), while we were writing this book.

I am currently do this. I think little java programs will help me understand a lot of tricky points more deeply.

I hope you follow the advice given in many study guides and on this forum. When you are preparing for a certification exam, you should use a text editor and javac/java, not an IDE to write your little java programs.

[Paul Statham]

Actually I have a question regarding this, I have my 1Z0-805 upgrade exam next week, I have been studying for coming up to 9 weeks. In reality I had covered all the topics within 4 weeks and done 400+ questions within 7 weeks.

I'm now at a point where I've run out of questions and 'know' the answer to all the questions I've read even the ones I got wrong the first time round.

But that's the problem I'm not sure how well I really know it, I can see a question I've already covered and know which ones are the right answer even before reading the question properly.

I also have the Herrera, Esteban practice questions for the exam, which were much more difficult than Enthuware questions, mostly because it has a lot of questions worded 'Choose all that apply', and there were a number of chapters I failed

Anyone else have this problem?

[zach zhang]

Roel De Nijs wrote:
I hope you follow the advice given in many study guides and on this forum. When you are preparing for a certification exam, you should use a text editor and javac/java, not an IDE to write your little java programs.

Any reasons? If I am preparing for a coding interview, where I need to write a program from scratch, your advice is correct because IDE will correct the error or at least give you some advice. However, for a certification exam,
I think there is no big difference between them but text editor do help.

[Roel De Nijs]

zach zhang wrote:However, for a certification exam, I think there is no big difference between them but text editor do help.

On the certification exam you'll have to spot compiler errors (and runtime errors) too without the help of an IDE. The IDE does things for you which you have to do on the exam yourself. The most obvious one is spotting compiler errors. But an IDE will also take care of the classpath, something you should also know for the exam. Here you'll find a rancher's experience who benefited of the switch from IDE to text editor.

[zach zhang]

Roel De Nijs wrote:

zach zhang wrote:However, for a certification exam, I think there is no big difference between them but text editor do help.

On the certification exam you'll have to spot compiler errors (and runtime errors) too without the help of an IDE. The IDE does things for you which you have to do on the exam yourself. The most obvious one is spotting compiler errors. But an IDE will also take care of the classpath, something you should also know for the exam. Here you'll find a rancher's experience who benefited of the switch from IDE to text editor.

Yes, your advice is useful.

[Roel De Nijs]

Paul Statham wrote:But that's the problem I'm not sure how well I really know it, I can see a question I've already covered and know which ones are the right answer even before reading the question properly.

How often did you take each mock exam to know them almost by memorization?

Paul Statham wrote:Anyone else have this problem?

I know that feeling/problem. When I was preparing for SCJP6 (the old OCPJP6) I just read a chapter and take the self test. Then I actually study the chapter and take the self test once more. And with the 2nd attempt I already "know" some answers. So I never do a 3rd attempt, because that would be almost nothing but memorization. I have never bought additional mock exams. Just study K&B, write lots of code snippets to clear my doubts, ask a question or 2 on these forums, try to answer a few of them as well and then just relax & take the exam

I know Enthuware has a Last Day exam. I assume you probably already took that one as well. So probably not an option anymore. Maybe you can find some additional mock exams on ScjpMockTests.

Paul Statham wrote:I also have the Herrera, Esteban practice questions for the exam, which were much more difficult than Enthuware questions, mostly because it has a lot of questions worded 'Choose all that apply'

This kind of questions I like a lot. These are without any doubt harder than the actual exam, because on the actual exam you'll know how many answers you have to choose. So you can guess and select as many as needed if you don't have a clue. On the exam I use this technique as well: I look at every answer and convince the little voice in my head why that answer is correct or wrong

Hope it helps!

[Paul Statham]

Roel De Nijs wrote:

Paul Statham wrote:But that's the problem I'm not sure how well I really know it, I can see a question I've already covered and know which ones are the right answer even before reading the question properly.

How often did you take each mock exam to know them almost by memorization?

I got to the point where I was fed up with looking over my notes and others notes so started to test my knowledge, I did the standard tests and averaged out about 75%.

Then I decided to use the Leitner mode for moving questions up the ladder from unlearned to learned, it only took a few repetitions to move them all to learned.

Roel De Nijs wrote:
I know Enthuware has a Last Day exam. I assume you probably already took that one as well. So probably not an option anymore. Maybe you can find some additional mock exams on ScjpMockTests.

This particular enthuware doesn't have a last day exam test. Thanks for the link but they seem to be quite out of date, I can't spot any that would be specific to the topic covered in the upgrade exam?

Thank you for confirming that it's not just me who has had similar issues. My plan now is to list a number of important classes across all the topics and write as many little programs as I can think of to test them, first of all by referencing the API material and then trying to recreate the same programs without looking at it.

It's a little tricky however what with all the different methods of achieving the same thing.

[Roel De Nijs]

Paul Statham wrote:This particular enthuware doesn't have a last day exam test. Thanks for the link but they seem to be quite out of date, I can't spot any that would be specific to the topic covered in the upgrade exam?

When I mentioned this link, I forgot you were preparing for the upgrade exam. My mistake!

I think most books/resources are focusing on the regular exam and not the upgrade exam. That makes it harder to find appropriate mock exams/questions. You mentioned Enthuware and Herrera, Esteban practice questions. It seems WhizLabs also has mock exams for the upgrade exam, but are quite costly (and the experiences on these forums are not as good as Enthuware's).

Probaly this reply is a little late, because you migt already took the upgrade exam. If it is, it might be useful for other ranchers wanting to take the upgrade exam and looking for some additional mock exams/questions.

Hopefully everything went well and you aced the OCPJP7 exam!