My Standard test score does not increase - 1Z0-829

[tim532]

Hi,

I’ve done five standard tests, but my scores are consistently between 42% and 65%. After every test I did go through each question again and took notes. But I’ve noticed that the questions in each test are always very different, covering various nuances. This makes me wonder how you can raise your score when every test feels so different. I’m also curious how others here are reporting +80% results on their first try.

I’ve already studied all the questions in the Selikoff book and had a failed attempt at the exam, scoring around 45%. (also didnt sleep the night before the test which was probably a mistake ). After this I started with Enthuware.

Now, I’m running out of time to get the certification in a second attempt. How can I increase my score quickly without focusing on out-of-scope topics/questions?

For example, if you only had a couple of days left, how would you study, and what would you focus on? What are the highest-value topics?

I checked the progress report to analyze my performance in the different categories, but it looks scattered, and the categories have varying numbers of questions. Are the categories with fewer questions less important for the exam, meaning fewer questions are likely to appear on those topics?

Thanks for your help!

[admin]

The 829 exam covers a lot of topics and the number of questions in the exam is only 50. So, one test cannot touch upon all the topics. Which is why each subsequent mock test feels very different. But continue with the mocks and soon you will start observing that the questions are different but concepts being tested are the same.

Focusing on high value topics might backfire because every candidate gets a different set of questions so if a candidate got several questions on a particular topic, that may not apply to your test. So you need to work on all topics. Some topics require more practice (such as loops and streams) and some topics require more reading (such as Collections API, IO, and Modules). There is no easy way of improving the score quickly. You have to do mock tests if you have already gone through the theory. If you feel the theory that you have read does not cover the questions, then we recommend you to use this book as a companion while solving the mock tests.

No, categories with fewer questions does not necessarily mean there will be fewer questions on the exam in that category. It just means that there are not many variations/nuances to cover in that category and so there is no point in creating tons of repeated questions in that category.

If you have very less time left, then I suggest you go through all the Unique Tests (the last 3/4 tests under Standard Tests). Take them as if you are taking the real test and see your score. If you pass those tests, then there is a very good chance that you will pass the real test as well. So, even if you fail the first unique tests, don't get disheartened. Read up on all the explanations and then go for the next unique test.

[tim532]

Thanks!

You mentioned the Unique tests—what makes them different, and why would you suggest them for a last-minute approach? I understand that the questions aren’t shared with the standard test sets, but is that all? How does their difficulty compare to the standard tests and the real exam?

Regarding the approach to selectively focus on certain topics, I noticed in the progress view that my biggest categories are interfaces, OOP, streams, and lambdas. Would you say that focusing only on these topics with objective-wise tests isn’t good because the exam won’t have a similar topic distribution as shown in the progress view?

[admin]

I am saying that exam has different distribution of topics for different people. This happens because number of topics are very much greater than the number of questions in the exam. So it is not possible for each exam to have same topic distribution for all candidates. So trying to find out "important" topics is not useful. All topics are equally important.

Questions in Unique Tests are not shared with other tests such as objective and practice tests. We ask candidates to take them in the end (not necessarily last minute but at the last stage of their preparation) because their uniqueness provides a better judgment of what the user can expect to score in the real exam. They also match the real exam more closely than others.

[tim532]

Ah, thanks for the clarification!

So, Unique and Standard tests are each unique, and none of them have overlapping questions. That means neither Standard tests overlap with one another, nor do Unique and Standard tests overlap. The difference is that Unique tests are more similar to the actual exam, which likely makes them a bit easier than Standard tests. I’ve read that Standard tests are slightly harder than the exam, so having a lower score on a Unique test might be more concerning than on a Standard test.

In a last-minute scenario, where time is limited, I might benefit from focusing on Unique tests. If I fail them, I could go through them again and learn the material.

Did I get that right? Please correct me if I’m wrong. Thanks!

[admin]

Yes, and also questions in standard tests (except unique tests) will appear in Objective-wise tests. So if someone is using objective tests, then they can still get fresh set of questions if they take Unique tests.