jeanne’s core spring 3 certification experiences

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Today I passed the Core Spring 3 certification exam with a score of 92%.  This blog entry is similar to Jeanne’s SCEA part 1 experiences – a place to share all the information about the process.  For SCEA, it was an place to weed through all the information out there and organize it a bit.  For Spring, it is the opposite.  There is an information shortage out there.  Not much is written up and most of what is out there goes with the 2.5 version of the exam.  As a result, this entry is much longer and has been split into a series of posts.

  1. Background information
  2. About the test (includes Scope of the test and Spring 2.5 vs 3.0 exam)
  3. What did I read and how were the resources I tried
  4. My study plan
  5. Skills guru mock exam
  6. What I would recommend as a study plan

Background information

I took the Core Spring class the week of July 20th.  It comes with one free attempt at the test.  Retakes are $150.  Luckily, I didn’t need a retake.  Based on what I had heard about the 2.5 test, it went deeper than the course and required a lot of studying.  As a result, I decided to wait a month from taking the course before taking the test.  Now that I know what the test is about, I know I could have taken it a week or two earlier.  Or even earlier if the voucher arrived sooner.

In late 2013, Jakub Staš added noted some changes in the exam.

Update May 2017: no longer need to take a class to take the exam

Next page: About the test

Note to those who are thinking of asking for a copy of the class materials:

The Core Spring course material is copyrighted by Spring Source. I cannot share it with others.  Please do not waste your time e-mailing me to request them.

85 thoughts on “jeanne’s core spring 3 certification experiences”

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  5. Hi,
    Many thanks for sharing your experience which helped me to clear the Core Spring 3 Certification today with a score of 94%. No doubt that the spring courese material is enough to prepare but the way you have put things as a study plan etc. gives a comprehensive reference point to prepare for the exam.
    Thanks again and will try to add some questions in blackbelt website.

  8. Congratulations Jeanne. I am dreaming about it for a while. Mind telling us how much “Core Spring class the week of July 20th” class cost?

  9. I don’t remember. Probably about two thousand. It depends on where you live though. If you register with springsource.com, they will tell you the price for your city.

  11. Hi Jeanne, I’m writing from Spain, and I congratulate you on your
    certification in spring.
    I would ask you a favor, if you think that is possible.
    Could you send me the course material “Spring Core”, labs, text, ppt?
    anything to help me prepare for certification, with the material
    course official.

    Thank you very much

  13. Congratulations Jeanne !
    Good Score achieved.
    I am following your study notes to prepare for Core Spring Certifications.
    If you have any other material , please send to me.

    Looking forward to your co’operations.

  15. Hi Jeanne, First of all, thanks a lot for providing quite good information on spring v3.0 certification exam. I followed your study notes and did clear the exam successfully with a decent score.

    Thank you.

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  17. Hi Jeannne,

    Thanks a lot for such an useful information in this blog and also for authoring the Core Spring 3.0 Certiication Mock in blackbeltfactory.

    I have completed my exam today and I cleared it.

    From the day one, I have been following up only your blog and I cannot stop thanking for providing such valuable information for Spring.

    Thanks once again.

    Note: I would like to contribute to the Certification Mock in Blackbelt factory. Hoping to start it soon.

    Thanks,
    Kali

  18. Hi Jeanne,

    I’m scheduled to take the Certification test this Wednesday, 10/12/11. I tried to take the Certification Mock in Blackbelt factory, but wasn’t allowed because I don’t have enough points. I just registered today. Is there a way I can pay for the Mock test? I took all the Skill Guru tests, but hear that yours is the best. Thank you in advance!

  21. Hi Jeanne,

    First of all thanks a lot to share valuable
    information regarding the Spring 3.0 cert exam. Because of this i could able to pass this desirable cert today. Your notes help me a lot during my study for this cert.

    Thanks
    Sameer
    India.

  22. Hi Jeanne,

    Please, could you clear my doubts regarding how to get the spring certification’s soft/hard copy from springsource/vmware ?.
    This ‘ll really help me.

    My doubts are as follows

    1. Did you get your soft copy of the certificate ?
    2. How many days it will take for the soft copy ?
    3. Will there be any hard copy sent ?

    Thanks in advance.
    Sameer
    India.

  23. Sameer,
    I got a printout off a certificate/statement I passed at the testing center. I don’t remember receiving anything else whether soft or hard copy. It wasn’t important to me so I didn’t follow up with springsource to see if I was supposed to.

  24. Hi Jeanne, I came across this site just now: http://www.springcertification.com, which has some useful resources regarding the Core Spring exam and preparing to study for it. Your visitors may also find this site useful in their studies.

    There is a survey on there as well where you can register your vote to make the exam open for all to keep the whole process more democratic. Come on and make it open for all!

    Regards

    Dan

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  28. You can’t pay to take just the exam. You have to take the course (which is 2-3 thousand dollars) and it comes with an attempt at the course. My employer paid for the course. It was a great course, but not the kind of thing you take on your own.

  30. I passed the Core Spring certification exam last week. I was given a printout at the exam center that included my “Unofficial Examination Results”. Do we ever get an “official” certificate or printout from Spring Source? By the way Jeanne, your blog was very helpful for my preparation for the exam. Thanks very much.

  33. Thanks Jeanne for posting this blog, it has helped me with my review for the Spring 3 exam.

    I have backread, and saw that you mentioned never getting anything official (ie. SCJP sends you a certification and badge as you probably have), how else can you then prove that you passed the exam? Is there at least a way for Spring to publish your credentials (ie. suncertmanager)?

  35. Would appreciate if anyone would let me know if we can go back to the previous questions during the exam?

    Are all questions multiple choice? Thanks!

    Lin

  38. I just passed this exam this morning. I just wanted to say thanks!, I don’t think I would have done it without your valuable notes and advices.

  40. Jeanne, I passed the Core Spring V3.0 exam yesterday! Thanks to you and Gavin Lasnitzki for posting your notes and study guides.

    To pass the exam, I think it’s really important to understand the topics thoroughly. 🙂

  41. Thanks Jeanne for your good advice and sharing your approach. It helped me pass.

    It’s a pitty that VM Ware doesn’t offer us a real certification paper, but I don’t think that matters that much.

  43. For basic Spring, Just core Java. And a book on Spring.

    To learn the more advanced technologies of Spring, you need to know the concepts they rely on like web apps, databases, queues, etc.

  46. hey jeanne
    i am going to give the exam in 3 days
    i was just wondering what kind of questions they normally ask
    is it related to finding error in codes or something like that
    or is it more straight forward questions?

  47. Rohit: Good luck on the exam. It’s not tricky like the SCJP. THere are some errors in code, but mainly conceptual. And not “find the missing semicolon” type questions.

  48. Thanks for your blog and tips it help me lot for preparation and very very thanks for your notes. I scored 76% just passing marks but your blog guidance give me confidence.

    Regards
    Siddhartha Mukherjee

  49. I understand that, all questions are multiple choice. But, are there any questions for which we need to select multiple answers?

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