OCP Java SE (1z0-851)

The book
I used the following book for studying: Oracle Certified Professional for Java SE 6 Exam by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates. Just about anyone I asked about a decent study guide recommended this book to me, and I gotta say: it's worth every penny! I've read one other book by the same authors (which I also recommend heartily!), so I was already familiar with their style. Somehow, the authors manage to make dull, theoretical stuff like Garbage Collection, sound fun and exciting. They approach every subject with lots of humor. The book is also filled with lots of practical hands-on tips for taking the exam. You quickly get an idea what to expect on the exam, and when it comes t
The preparation
These are the steps I took to ensure a good passing rate for the exam:

I read the book cover to cover. I read chapter 1 and 2 twice, because I had a "false start". This actually helped a lot because those chapters contain fundamental stuff that's imperative to understand in order to fully comprehend the later chapters.
After reading and learning each chapter, I took some time making the practice questions for that chapter, and reviewing them. The reviewing part is especially important!
I made an overview in Excel detailing what exam objectives are covered in what chapters. Because I made it, you don't have to! I actually kept score of everything I did, including the practice questions in the book. It gives you a nice overview of your progress.
Now it was time to use the Enthuware software: I made all of the "Objective-wise tests". Every Objective Test contains 36 questions about one broad exam objective. Before making each test, I carefully read the chapter summaries of the chapters dealing with those objectives. Enthuware took great pains in explaining the right and wrong answers to each question, so it's really valuable to review each test thoroughly!
Then I started making the Standard Tests 1 - 12, each time reviewing the answers before going on to the next test. These tests are actually very very close to the real exam. They contain the same amount of questions, with those being a bit more difficult than the real exam. Expect each exam including reviewing afterwards, to take at least 2 hours.
Lastly I read all of the chapter summaries again and then I made the Last-Day test. The last-day test contains slightly more questions (72), and those questions are not only unique, but are also selected by Enthuware as being "The most important questions".
The Exam!o that, you're not spared one bit. Each chapter followed by a set of example questions, and those are brutal.