Deadline for Passing the Exams and Access to a link on the Data Science Forum

[mandronicou]

Hi,

Can someone please confirm whether taking the exams need to be within the time period set by SAS when you enroll in the SAS Academy for Data Science course? E.G. If the course material expires in November 2020, could you actually take exams for the Data Science Certification in December 2020? Or do you need to complete all 5 exams before that?

Thanks,

M 🙂

P.S. I was trying to access the link "Estimating Your Study Time" in the About section of the Forum but it was unavailable. Can you please provide another link for this pdf? All the other links seem to work. (see screenshots)

[Cynthia_sas · Accepted solution]

Hi:

  The e-learning for the SAS Academy for Data Science is just the e-learning. There is no link between studying the material and taking the exams in the current program. You can study the material in 2019 & have all the classes for a year of access, have the classes expire in 2020 and take the exam or exams in 2021, if you want to and feel prepared. Most people do take the exams while they still have access to the material so that they can go back and refresh themselves if they don't pass one of the exams on the first try.

  When we taught the Data Science classes in person, we taught the classes that prepared for one of the exams, the students then did the case studies and then took the exam. Then we moved to the next set of classes. We did not put off all 5 exams until the end.

  You need to take each of the exams when you feel ready. You might feel ready right away for one level, based on your experience, but need more time studying and practicing the material in the classes in another level. When we taught the SAS Academy classes in person, we did it in 12 weeks of solid work, 9-5, Monday-Friday. All 18 classes were covered and all 5 exams were taken in that 12 week period.

  However, people have different constraints on their time, when they are using self-paced e-learning and working on their own. Here are the estimated study guidelines: https://www.sas.com/content/dam/SAS/en_us/doc/other1/Training/time.pdf -- as you can see, we've separated the estimates into just the time for the Big Data Professional work (Level 1)  and the Advanced Analytics work (Level 2) and then have a separate estimate for purchasing the entire package of both levels. To finish all 18 classes within 6 months, our estimate is that you'd need to spend approximately 16 hours a week. However, every person's experience will be different, based on their learning style and their own personal time constraints.

  Thanks for noticing that the link was broken. Hope this helps you do your planning.

Cynthia

[mandronicou]

Hi Cynthia,
Thank you very much for your prompt reply. Indeed, very helpful for my planning.