Questions Regarding Preparing for the SAS 9.4 Certification

[TokyoSAS]

1) Will my test score be affected if I fail to save my program during the exam?
I understand that the exam results will be displayed after submission, and it's unclear whether failing to save the program significantly impacts my score. 

2) Is A00-211 relevant to my A00-231 certification exam?
I've purchased affordable online practice exam packages, but they contain numerous past questions from A00-211. Should I consider reviewing A00-211 materials, or can I ignore them since A00-231 is an updated version and A00-211 may no longer be relevant?

[Anne_A]

Hello @TokyoSAS ,

1) For your first question, I'm not sure either, but if you're asked to save your programs why not doing so? It is generally good practice to comply with instructions when taking an(y) exam 🙂;

2) For your second question, I'm actually surprised you purchased online practice exam packages, considering SAS offers their own practice exam for free: https://www.sas.com/en_us/certification/resources/sas-practice-exams.html. Generally speaking, you should review ALL SAS recommendations (https://www.sas.com/en_us/certification/credentials/foundation-tools/base-programming-specialist.htm...), including the very important exam content guide, when preparing the exam.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Anne.

[Mark2010]

A) Save your programs. It will keep you more organized as you work through the exam and is well worth your time. What happens if you accidentally close the UI and you lose your work? Far better to take a moment to save the program as explained in the exam instructions. It won't directly affect your score but could have a huge indirect impact if you don't. (Also, for clarity, on the A00-232 Advanced Programming exam, you must save your programs to get credit for your work.)

B) Stay away from questions you found on the Internet, regardless of their age.  Many are wrong or will waste your time when they aren't connected to the current A00-231 exam content guide. Also, note the SAS Certification integrity expectations and candidate agreement. Note the section on Non-Independent Test Taking and gaining pre-knowledge of exam questions, particularly:

Pre-knowledge refers to the use of study materials containing questions from the actual certification exam.
Anyone who uses actual certification test questions (obtained by any means, intentional or not) to prepare
for an exam, compromises their ability to test independently.

As @Anne_A pointed out, SAS provides full length practice exam for free for you to check your preparation ahead of your exam.