Overview
Now that you have completed the practice activities, you are ready to take the practice General Code
Assessment (GCA) test. You should take this test as often as permitted.
The more you practice and feel comfortable taking this type of test, the better chance you have to
achieve a score of 295 (equivalent to the previous 650 benchmark) or higher.
What You'll Gain
This practice test will help you:
- Experience the real GCA format and environment
- Develop your time management strategy
- Identify your strengths and areas for improvement
- Build confidence for the actual assessment
Topics to Review Before Starting
Ensure you're familiar with these key areas that frequently appear in GCA questions:
Array Operations
- Traversal
- Manipulation
- Sorting
String Processing
- Parsing
- Manipulation
- Pattern matching
Data Structures
- Hash tables
- Stacks/Queues
- Linked lists
Algorithms
- Searching
- Sorting
- Recursion
Pre-Test Checklist
- Find a quiet environment where you won't be disturbed for 2 hours
- Have a pen and paper ready for working through problems
- Test your internet connection
- Close unnecessary applications on your computer
- Have water available
- Set a timer to track your progress
Instructions
- Login to CodeSignal
- Click on this link to take the practice GCA HERE
- Once logged into CodeSignal, select your preferred language and click NEXT
- Agree to the Terms and Pledges. Click START
- Complete the questions, working through them in order of difficulty
- Click on FINISH TEST when you're done or when time expires
Time Management Strategy
Follow this recommended approach:
- First 5 minutes: Scan all problems to understand their difficulty
- Next 20-30 minutes: Solve Task 1 completely
- Next 30-40 minutes: Solve Task 2 completely
- Remaining time: Work on Task 3, and if solved, move to Task 4
- Last 10 minutes: Review solutions, check edge cases
Remember: It's better to fully solve easier tasks than to partially solve multiple harder tasks!
For your reference
After Completing the Test
Once you've completed the practice test:
- Review your solutions and the test feedback
- Note the types of problems you found challenging
- Practice similar problems in LeetCode
- Plan to take another practice test after reviewing weak areas
Start Practice GCA Test