My SAS Certification Log

[Nietzsche]

thanks, this is my personal log for my own certification journey. Happy to help other members out in their own thread, when I get into more advanced exams, right now I am just focus on passing the BASE exam, already booked on the 20th Nov.

[Nietzsche]

Happy week 46.

Week 45 update, total SAS study time this week is 12.4 hours.  Up to chapter 12 of the specialist prep guide.

[Nietzsche]

Happy week 47. 

Here is what I have done in week 46.  total study time on SAS is 18.2 hours (while working full time).

Almost done with the prep guide, just chapter 16 on ODS and chapter 17 practice scenario to go.

I moved the base exam to Dec as I realised I need more actual programming practice as oppose just reading theory after doing the practice exam.

I will try to finish SAS Essentials by Elliot and The Little SAS Book before I attempt the base exam.

[Nietzsche]

Happy week 48

Total study time on SAS in week 47 (Nov 20th to 26th) is 16.1 hours.

Finished the official Base specialist prep guide, lot of errors in the book given that it is like the 4th/5th edition of the book and their reference guides. Also finished base practice exam (which also had errors in the instruction for loading data for SAS studio users).

Given that it was my first time reading that book and I have very basically no sas experience and that an errata was already published for it, yet there are still so many errors that I have found. I am suspicious if the book was even proof read before publishing.

Seems like SAS Institute have did not devote enough resources into quality assurances into their official resources, one would think the official study materials from SAS institute would have better quality than third parties.

Hopefully their examination department is not like that.

Moved onto third party books, about 1/3 through Ron Cody's A Gentle Introduction to Statistics Using SAS Studio in the Cloud, very easy read given I have finished prep guide. will use it as a reinforcement. Then do the practice exam and the scenarios in the prep guide again, then move onto Elliot's SAS essentials, then hopefully take the exam.

[fja]

"Moved onto third party books, about 1/3 through Ron Cody's A Gentle Introduction to Statistics Using SAS Studio [...]"
Let me draw your attention to the curren 55% off campaign. I found the exams being significantly more difficult than the preperation material. Why not give it a go before December 15th, just for knowing what level to prepare for ... or passing the first time. 🙂

[Nietzsche]

sorry I made an error, I am 1/3 through Getting Started with SAS programming using SAS studio in the cloud. Not the one I mentioned previously.

yes it is my intention to take the exam before 15th Dec. What materials did you use and how many hours do you think you logged to pass the Base exam?

[fja]

Being familiar with relational databases and sql and given that I am experienced in many programming languages it did not take me too long. 4w for the advanced programmer, about the same time for the base programmer. I did not log the actual time spent, though.
But it is worth mentioning that the timeframe for taking the exam is quite tight. So I passed, but I found it to be a bit of a challenge. So do not underestimate the actual exam, would be my advice.
--fja

edit:

I have not responded to the resources I used: 

(a) The Little SAS Book (I keep on recommending this)

(b) The online documentation (which is really brilliant, chapeau!)

(c) some introductory material from various sources out in the internet.

[Nietzsche]

Happy week 49.

Week 48 study stats.

Total time studied on SAS is 16 hours.

Realised that I don't have much time before the 15th Dec, so I abandoned reading books for now, and started making Anki cards to convert what I read (mainly the prep guide) into short-term memory to pass the exam.

The target have all cards that cover all syntax and some theories. I estimate about 80 to 120 cards will be needed to pass the exam (around 70 for syntax, 30 for miscellaneous stuff).  Target average internal is 7 days with recall rate @ 80%. So far 31 cards (from 31 notes) have been made.

[Anne_A]

Hello @fja ,

You say you found the exams being significantly more difficult than the preparation material (scary 😅😉). Would you say the same is true for the practice exam?

Many thanks in advance!   

[fja]

Hello @Anne_A!
Unfortunately yes, given the prep exams 2 yrs ago. But I heared that they have changed and improved. Nevertheless I conclude that one should make sure to have covered all topics thoroughly that are mentioned in the exam guide.
--fja

[Anne_A]

Thanks very much @fja . I am indeed extensively using the Exam Content Guide. We'll see what happens 😥!

Cheers.

[fja]

---

@Anne_A wrote:

We'll see what happens 😥!

---

I am sure it will work with a decent preparation. I do not want to scare you off, it is just that I would like you not to underestimate the exam.
Tell us if that you have succeeded afterwards. 🙂 

Best

FJa

[Anne_A]

Thank you very much @fja for your kind messages (hence actual support!). I can now confirm I have passed the exam 😊.

Cheers!

[MarkusWeick]

Congrats!

[fja]

Congratulations! 😃