I completed my VCAP DCA last week and like all bloggers need to write about my experience with the exam :)
I took the 5.5 version of the exam and there were some differences in the exam blueprint.
For studying, I referred the official guide (http://www.amazon.in/VCAP5-DCA-Official-Cert-Guide-Administration/dp/0789753235).
and the unofficial guide: http://www.virtuallanger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/The-Unofficial-Official-VCAP5-DCA-Study-Guide.pdf
After going through these, I checked against the exam blueprint and found there were items not covered in the above mentioned guides as they are based off the older version. So the objectives which are not covered are listed very nicely in this blogpost:
http://paulgrevink.wordpress.com/2014/04/10/vcap5-dca-exam-vdca550/
I then read through the official documentation for the specific items not on the earlier blueprint.
Of course, just reading is NOT enough. You need to be able to have hands on on all these objectives.
Tips:
1) Practice the sample questions listed in the official guide AND do these on a single monitor. The exam shows you the question and you have to switch to the lab environment. I wasted quite a bit of time with this task switching as I am accustomed to a dual monitor setup.
2) In the scribbling board provided, maintain a list of questions answered and questions not answered. This will help you to quickly review your progress.
3) If you don’t know the answer, move to the next question. Time is very precious!!
4) As everybody says, the exam IS slow.
5) The 5.5 version has 5 hosts provided instead of the 2 used in the 5.0 exam. This has its advantages. The questions may be a lot less interlinked.
All the best to the exam takers! Hopefully I will pursue the DCD certification as well! :)