Failed A00-232 SAS 9.4 Advanced Programming

[cfsison88]

I failed the A00-232 SAS 9.4 Advanced Programming Performance-Based Exam by 15 points. Can anybody give advice on how to study better for the re-take?

I'm super upset because when I took the exam, it seemed really easy. I understood every question and all of my programs ran without any errors. I validated each of my programs multiple times. 

Here are my current study materials. Please recommend some more:

-SAS Certified Professional Prep Guide: Advanced Programming Using SAS 9.4 textbook (I've studied the chapter quizzes and programming scenarios in addition to reading the textbook twice)

-Free SAS Practice Exam
-SAS Exam Content Guide

I REALLY need help. Thank you!

[Astounding]

You don't need more books. Instead, use your test results. For each question you got wrong, figure out why your answer is wrong and the correct answer is right.

[cfsison88]

Thanks! But the exam score report doesn’t show me which questions I got wrong. Any suggestions?

[Patrick]

@Cynthia_sas Is this a question where you could provide some guidance?

@cfsison88 You could also ask SAS directly.

[Cynthia_sas]

Hi:

  In addition to what you've mentioned, the recommended classes to prepare for that exam are the SQL 1, SAS Macro Language 1 and Programming 3 classes.

  The Prep Guide is good, and it is designed to supplement these classes If you've been using SAS for 2 or more years, then you've probably already used SQL and SAS Macro Language and possibly used hash tables (just some of the topics from these 3 classes). But if you've not used SAS Macro processing or you've not used has tables, etc, then the practices in these classes can help you prepare for the Advanced certification exam. Did you go through the content guide for the exam to make sure that your studies addressed all the exam topics? Also, my understanding is that the exam results show you which areas you need to concentrate on.

  I believe you are correct that you do not see the results for each question when you take the Pearson exam, but the questions will be different the next time you take the exam. But, for example, if the results indicate that you did OK on SQL and Macro topics, then perhaps you need to spend more time with the advanced topics from the Programming 3 class.  

  It sounds like you've got study materials. I always recommend that you answer EVERY question in the Prep Guide practices and for students taking classes, that they do ALL the practices (we typically have 3 levels of practice questions in the classes). You can always send mail to certification@sas.com if you have questions about the score you got .

Cynthia

[LinusH]

You can sign up for free practice exams:

https://support.sas.com/edu/viewmyelearn.html?activationCode=FAEADVPET

[cfsison88]

Thanks! But as I’ve mentioned, the free practice exam is already one of my study materials

[TheresaM]

I've failed the exam twice so far. The first time, I was 50-50 on whether or not I would pass. I didn't do horribly, but still failed. The second time, I felt very confident that I would at least pass the exam (though maybe not get perfect score). I did much better, but still didn't pass.

My main roadblock that I know of is that I don't have a lot of practice with SAS, i.e., I can write programs to do x, y, or z, but if the question throws me a slight curveball and asks me to do something I haven't done before, I spend too much time looking at the SAS documentation (that you're allowed to look at during the exam) and am apparently still not able to get the program and related questions right.

Anyway, I'm hoping by now that you have passed the exam!  I am taking the exam again next Tuesday and have been using the same study materials that you have. By now, I know the practice exam too well, so it isn't helpful for me to keep retaking. So, I am trying to do as many practice questions as I can find online so that I am better versed in all types of questions that I might get. Let us know if you've passed it yet, it would give me inspiration! 🙂

[ballardw]

@TheresaM 

Look at the questions people post on this forum in the Programming section. How many can you provide an answer for? or attempted? Lots  of questions with some curves.

I suspect that you need to do more problems to get to where some pieces don't require looking up documentation so frequently. The training materials available are a good start but, like getting to Carnegie Hall, speed and accuracy come from practice practice practice.

[TheresaM]

Thank you @ballardw -- yes this is exactly what I'm doing this time around... trying out as many questions as possible. Like you said, I realized that all the studying I did was great but now I really need practice! Thank you for your input!

[TheresaM]

I finally passed the exam yesterday!!   

Here's what I think finally helped me pass:

- I re-took the practical part of the official practice exam a dozen times.  While the Scenarios in the Prep guide were good, I found that the official practice exam questions were more similar to the exam questions in difficulty and wording. I wish there were more than one practice exam because the questions and answer descriptions were really helpful.  Anyway, I made sure that I could write the code to each program without hesitation so that I didn't have to waste time looking at the online documentation during the exam.

- I read the three articles Mark2010 mentions at the bottom of his Tips and Strategies post:

• SQL: Merges and Joins
• Macro: Macro Quoting Functions
• Advanced Topics:Hash Objects

These articles helped me understand those topics at a greater depth so that I wasn't relying purely on memorization of code.

- I did subscribe to SAS Advanced Programming Professional Subscription. It is expensive (to me) but I felt like it was worthwhile. I find the instructors to be excellent, and the presentation of the topics is incredibly clear. It takes a while to go through all the videos but it was helpful to be able to watch the video instruction on the topics I was still a bit fuzzy on.  For example, hash objects lesson did a better and more thorough job of explaining that topic than everything I had already read on it.

- I scoured the web for practice questions but I didn't come up with a lot that wasn't trying to sell me a course or that had reliably correct answers.  So instead I read through some of the posts here regarding the different exam topics, since I was much more confident that the answers given here were backed up by real people (and others calling out any mistakes they saw). 

Good luck to you! Don't give up. I think I would've been pretty devastated if I had failed this time since I studied so hard!  If you can pass it on the second try, you'll have done better than me!

-Theresa