has anyone taken the exam? if so please share your experience.

The only programming I did was 5 years ago as a freshman for an introductory java class. Is that too little exposure to programming? I mean i definitely plan to study the book and all, but is my background too weak for base certification exam?

plus, which book is the best to prepare? don't have enough dough to join classes..so will have to rely on textbook..all in all can afford to spend around 200$  plus loads of hard-work...

Good idea.

That is definately not enough exposure, I would say. Of course, your determination and hard work does matter. Go for it.

If you are in a University, you may have free access to SAS Online Tutor with your site license. It's worth to explore. If not, SAS Institute often has a good package deal - evaluation version of the software (good for 3 yrs with certain limitation - enough for Base Certification course), course book and CD - All under $250. Just explore in www.sas.com.

You have 70 questions in the exam of which you must answer 46 correctly. Seems easy target? Not so easy. You should plan to spend 6-10 hours per chapter and give enough practice. There are 22 chapters in the practice book. Make a lot of short programs and try to fix errors without looking at the book.

You will get 50% discount on books and exam registration if you are full time student or working in an academic institution. Be well prepared first time - no discount is given second time.

Well, I hold the base programmer certificate and I have been using SAS in my work for more than five years.

If you are in marketing field, I would encourage to explore SPSS as well.

Good luck!

 

Thank you Gunaraj for your response.

Definitely, sounds tough, but like you said, worth a shot! I will probably keep posting new threads ..maybe on th e same thread in the coming days as I delve into this SAS thingy. hopefully, you will be kind enough to respond ...