MOS Certification @ SF State

Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Certification

Optional Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Certification @ SF State

Administrator:
Daniel Ciomek
Information Systems Department
Lam Family College of Business
San Francisco State University


Mailchimp MOS mailing list:
Sign-up to hear about future test dates and updates to the program:
https://eepurl.com/dtZsuD

If you register for an exam you will automatically be subscribed. Simply unsubscribe if not interested any longer.

http://cob.sfsu.edu/news/post/Finance-and-Decision-Sciences-Major-Receives-Microsoft-Award

Hong

Hong Qin Wu awarded 1st place in the Microsoft Office Specialist State Championship Qualifier

Jeffrey

Jeffrey scores 1000/1000

How can I hear about future test days and any news about the program?

Any news, offerings, and updates about available exam days, training, or free vouchers, or codes to prepare or take the exam will be announced to the MOS mailing list. If you make an exam reservation through this scheduling system, you will automatically be added to the Mailchimp mailing list, there is no need for an extra registration. Unsubscribe if you are not interested any longer. No SPAM, of course, and you can unsubscribe any time.

SFSU MOS mailing list powered by Mailchimp: https://eepurl.com/dtZsuD

We are happy to accommodate, and have done so successfully, but there are a few steps involved. This would have to be scheduled and authorized in advance as the proctoring faculty on site or remote has no ability to adjust for extended time, for example, and cannot modify the software in any shape or form at all. We would work with Academic Technology and DPRC and try to make this happen to the best of our ability. Please review the official exam policies for accommodations and contact the administrator. https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Educator-resources/Exam-policies/Accommodations

Once you submit your ADA request to Certiport and it gets approved, you will need to let us know and and request a special custom session with the proctor. General sessions will time-out after a fixed amount of time regardless of what your accommodation time might allow for. SFSU administrators or proctors have no ability to adjust the time settings. If you get approved by Certiport we will not know that unless you tell us. We will NOT be able to accommodate if you tell us on the day of the scheduled exam, you will need to schedule a special custom session with us in advance. It just requires a little bit of planning, otherwise not a problem.

Yes. The Exam From Home (EFH) service runs in your browser, Chrome browser preferred. You are connecting to a remote virtual machine running Windows and Microsoft Office for you in your browser. That said, the exam is based on the Windows version of Microsoft Office, just like your ISYS 363 course. It will work like the training simulation and the PC-based instructions outlined in your MS Office textbook. Once we are able to hold exams back on campus the exams will be taken on Windows PC's in a special computer lab on campus.

Please watch this 4-min video to get a quick overview of how the proctored MOS exam works:
Please watch this video about the Exam From Home process:
https://vimeo.com/523036481

Excellent question! Here are multiple options:

  1. Please review the official Microsoft Study Guides for the MOS Excel, Excel Expert, and Access certification. You have free electronic access through the JPL Library.
  2. Please review the MOS content mapping from the exams to your Pearson Comprehensive eBooks (Excel & Access) and the chapters: https://m.dcio.cc/QfQzdE
  3. There are three 3-hour training courses on the LinkedIn Learning platform (Lynda.com) for the various exams. You can access these for free if you have an account with the San Francisco Public Library, which you can get for free if you are a SFSU student. Then you have access to a ton of electronic resources remotely. Movies, music, audiobooks, ebooks, it's like an Audible subscription for free. Highly recommended! Once you have a San Francisco Public Library card you can access Lynda.com (LinkedIn Learning) for free via: https://www.lynda.com/portal/patron?org=sfpl.org
  4. If you currently take or took the ISYS 363 course using the MyLab IT platform, check with your instructor if any additional MOS prep resources are accessible in your course. You might still have access to iLearn and/or MyLab IT and the ebook and the training simulations as well as the Excel and Access Grader projects. There are some specific MOS Grader projects as well. Contact your current or former ISYS 363 instructor.
  5. We have a Zoom presentation recording with an overview of the program and study resources available. You receive the link for the recording when you register for an exam. Then please watch the presentation!
  6. The official GMetrix Exam Prep software. This is a commercial offering. The software is installed on all PC computers in the Lam Family College of Business computer labs, for example BUS 209, BUS 214, etc. You will need to create your own account at https://gmetrix.net to login and prep and take the sample exams. You can download the software for your own computer at https://support.gmetrix.net/download. We can provide an educational discount. Please watch the Zoom recording where this info is provided.
  7. Certiport Tutorial about how the MOS Exam works: 
  8. Certiport Tutorial about how to take the Exam from Home works.
On rare occasions, we had free promo codes for the official GMetrix test prep software. If anything like this comes around, it will be announced via the mailchimp mailing list.

You are permitted to take the MOS Certification exams for MS Excel, MS Excel Expert, and MS Access. Other exams are not part of the official sponsored program. You can take them at a public test center instead. We only allow MOS exams for MS Excel and MS Access. You can decide if you would like to take the 2016 exam or the 2019/365 version at the time of the exam. 
That said, if you pass both the Access and the Excel Expert exam and would like to take additional MOS exams, please contact us after you completed both the Access and the Excel Expert exam. We will likely make an exception then and let you take more exams. But first you need to tackle the Excel Expert and Access exam!

The regular retail price for a MOS exam at a public test center is about $100/exam. Exams will be offered for free for qualified students during Spring and Fall 2021 while supplies last. We plan on offering exams every semester, but funding could always change.

You can only make one reservation at a time to make sure everyone has a good chance at getting a spot! Please do not block 2 or more slots. Once you have taken that exam, you can immediately make another reservation for the future, if available. If you make multiple reservations ahead of time they will be cancelled. You will only be allowed one retake for the same exam!

Cancellation policy and no show: if you change your mind, please change or cancel your reservation at least 24h before the test date/time. The sooner the better, so others can take that slot. You will not be allowed to cancel or reschedule within 24h of the exam. No shows for your reserved time might be barred from future test taking. Unfortunately, too many people reserved time slots before and did not show up or cancelled 5 minutes before, rendering that time not usable for others. If you have an emergency causing you to miss the exam last minute please let the administrator know.


If you recently took the course you should prepare for and take the 2019/365 version. That said, you decide that at the time of taking the exam which one to take, and the MOS 2016 exam version is still available.

Retake policy: You will only be allowed one free retake for an exam, so please come prepared. If demand is too high, people retaking the exam have lower priority and might be referred to another time. While the exams are currently free for you to take, they do cost money, and we would like to make sure you are serious about passing the exam and well prepared when you come for the test. We don't want to waste them. When you fail an exam, you cannot retake it within 24h, which is blocked by the system. If you then fail again there is a 72h block. You could take another exam though. For example, if you come to take the MS Access exam and pass or fail, you could not retake the MS Access exam within 24h, but you take the MS Excel exam right after if space is available. Since you are not allowed to make 2 advanced reservations, you would be on stand-by for the second exam, but you could take it if space is available.

We tend to offer about 6-10 test days per semester. Future testing always depends on funding, and availability or authorized proctors. It also depends on the student demand, the availability of the testing lab on campus, and the availability of Certiport virtual machine time slots for remote testing. Due to the SARS-CoV-2/COVID 19 pandemic and the related campus shutdown, exams are currently offered for free to be taken remotely (Exam from Home). February 2020 were the last in-person sessions on campus for the foreseeable future. For Fall 2021 and potentially Spring 2022, virtual Exam from Home (EFH) sessions are planned as long as Certiport keeps offering the virtual exam mode for free. Please sign-up for the mailing list and you hear it first when there are any updates. The MOS testing lab on campus remains inaccessible to us (Fall 2021).

SFSU is a non-public Certiport Authorized Test Center (CATC) for MOS certification, and thus only available for currently enrolled SFSU students meeting the criteria. Successful prior completion of or being a current student of ISYS 363 at SF State is required. Otherwise, for the nearest public test center, please check https://portal.certiport.com/Locator.

You need to bring a valid SFSU student ID for the remote exam. The Certiport Authorized Test Center (CATC) is located in Burk Hall room 229. No food allowed in the room. Covered drinks are OK. SFSU is a non-public Certiport Authorized Test Center (CATC) for MOS certification, and thus only available for SFSU students meeting the criteria. For the nearest public test center, please check http://portal.certiport.com/Locator.

Update: there is currently no on-site testing available on campus due to the pandemic: https://dos.sfsu.edu/covid-19

We are offering Exams from Home. Please watch this video! The proctor will schedule a Zoom session starting 15-min prior to the exam time to check you and your matching student ID.

MOS Certification @ SF State

Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Certification

Schedule Exam

Success Stories

http://cob.sfsu.edu/news/post/Finance-and-Decision-Sciences-Major-Receives-Microsoft-Award

Hong

Hong Qin Wu awarded 1st place in the Microsoft Office Specialist State Championship Qualifier

Jeffrey

Jeffrey scores 1000/1000

FAQ

How can I hear about future test days and any news about the program?

Any news, offerings, and updates about available exam days, training, or free vouchers, or codes to prepare or take the exam will be announced to the MOS mailing list. If you make an exam reservation through this scheduling system, you will automatically be added to the Mailchimp mailing list, there is no need for an extra registration. Unsubscribe if you are not interested any longer. No SPAM, of course, and you can unsubscribe any time.

SFSU MOS mailing list powered by Mailchimp: https://eepurl.com/dtZsuD

We are happy to accommodate, and have done so successfully, but there are a few steps involved. This would have to be scheduled and authorized in advance as the proctoring faculty on site or remote has no ability to adjust for extended time, for example, and cannot modify the software in any shape or form at all. We would work with Academic Technology and DPRC and try to make this happen to the best of our ability. Please review the official exam policies for accommodations and contact the administrator. https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Educator-resources/Exam-policies/Accommodations

Once you submit your ADA request to Certiport and it gets approved, you will need to let us know and and request a special custom session with the proctor. General sessions will time-out after a fixed amount of time regardless of what your accommodation time might allow for. SFSU administrators or proctors have no ability to adjust the time settings. If you get approved by Certiport we will not know that unless you tell us. We will NOT be able to accommodate if you tell us on the day of the scheduled exam, you will need to schedule a special custom session with us in advance. It just requires a little bit of planning, otherwise not a problem.

Yes. The Exam From Home (EFH) service runs in your browser, Chrome browser preferred. You are connecting to a remote virtual machine running Windows and Microsoft Office for you in your browser. That said, the exam is based on the Windows version of Microsoft Office, just like your ISYS 363 course. It will work like the training simulation and the PC-based instructions outlined in your MS Office textbook. Once we are able to hold exams back on campus the exams will be taken on Windows PC's in a special computer lab on campus.

Please watch this 4-min video to get a quick overview of how the proctored MOS exam works:
Please watch this video about the Exam From Home process:
https://vimeo.com/523036481

Excellent question! Here are multiple options:

  1. Please review the official Microsoft Study Guides for the MOS Excel, Excel Expert, and Access certification. You have free electronic access through the JPL Library.
  2. Please review the MOS content mapping from the exams to your Pearson Comprehensive eBooks (Excel & Access) and the chapters: https://m.dcio.cc/QfQzdE
  3. There are three 3-hour training courses on the LinkedIn Learning platform (Lynda.com) for the various exams. You can access these for free if you have an account with the San Francisco Public Library, which you can get for free if you are a SFSU student. Then you have access to a ton of electronic resources remotely. Movies, music, audiobooks, ebooks, it's like an Audible subscription for free. Highly recommended! Once you have a San Francisco Public Library card you can access Lynda.com (LinkedIn Learning) for free via: https://www.lynda.com/portal/patron?org=sfpl.org
  4. If you currently take or took the ISYS 363 course using the MyLab IT platform, check with your instructor if any additional MOS prep resources are accessible in your course. You might still have access to iLearn and/or MyLab IT and the ebook and the training simulations as well as the Excel and Access Grader projects. There are some specific MOS Grader projects as well. Contact your current or former ISYS 363 instructor.
  5. We have a Zoom presentation recording with an overview of the program and study resources available. You receive the link for the recording when you register for an exam. Then please watch the presentation!
  6. The official GMetrix Exam Prep software. This is a commercial offering. The software is installed on all PC computers in the Lam Family College of Business computer labs, for example BUS 209, BUS 214, etc. You will need to create your own account at https://gmetrix.net to login and prep and take the sample exams. You can download the software for your own computer at https://support.gmetrix.net/download. We can provide an educational discount. Please watch the Zoom recording where this info is provided.
  7. Certiport Tutorial about how the MOS Exam works: 
  8. Certiport Tutorial about how to take the Exam from Home works.
On rare occasions, we had free promo codes for the official GMetrix test prep software. If anything like this comes around, it will be announced via the mailchimp mailing list.

You are permitted to take the MOS Certification exams for MS Excel, MS Excel Expert, and MS Access. Other exams are not part of the official sponsored program. You can take them at a public test center instead. We only allow MOS exams for MS Excel and MS Access. You can decide if you would like to take the 2016 exam or the 2019/365 version at the time of the exam. 
That said, if you pass both the Access and the Excel Expert exam and would like to take additional MOS exams, please contact us after you completed both the Access and the Excel Expert exam. We will likely make an exception then and let you take more exams. But first you need to tackle the Excel Expert and Access exam!

The regular retail price for a MOS exam at a public test center is about $100/exam. Exams will be offered for free for qualified students during Spring and Fall 2021 while supplies last. We plan on offering exams every semester, but funding could always change.

You can only make one reservation at a time to make sure everyone has a good chance at getting a spot! Please do not block 2 or more slots. Once you have taken that exam, you can immediately make another reservation for the future, if available. If you make multiple reservations ahead of time they will be cancelled. You will only be allowed one retake for the same exam!

Cancellation policy and no show: if you change your mind, please change or cancel your reservation at least 24h before the test date/time. The sooner the better, so others can take that slot. You will not be allowed to cancel or reschedule within 24h of the exam. No shows for your reserved time might be barred from future test taking. Unfortunately, too many people reserved time slots before and did not show up or cancelled 5 minutes before, rendering that time not usable for others. If you have an emergency causing you to miss the exam last minute please let the administrator know.


If you recently took the course you should prepare for and take the 2019/365 version. That said, you decide that at the time of taking the exam which one to take, and the MOS 2016 exam version is still available.

Retake policy: You will only be allowed one free retake for an exam, so please come prepared. If demand is too high, people retaking the exam have lower priority and might be referred to another time. While the exams are currently free for you to take, they do cost money, and we would like to make sure you are serious about passing the exam and well prepared when you come for the test. We don't want to waste them. When you fail an exam, you cannot retake it within 24h, which is blocked by the system. If you then fail again there is a 72h block. You could take another exam though. For example, if you come to take the MS Access exam and pass or fail, you could not retake the MS Access exam within 24h, but you take the MS Excel exam right after if space is available. Since you are not allowed to make 2 advanced reservations, you would be on stand-by for the second exam, but you could take it if space is available.

We tend to offer about 6-10 test days per semester. Future testing always depends on funding, and availability or authorized proctors. It also depends on the student demand, the availability of the testing lab on campus, and the availability of Certiport virtual machine time slots for remote testing. Due to the SARS-CoV-2/COVID 19 pandemic and the related campus shutdown, exams are currently offered for free to be taken remotely (Exam from Home). February 2020 were the last in-person sessions on campus for the foreseeable future. For Fall 2021 and potentially Spring 2022, virtual Exam from Home (EFH) sessions are planned as long as Certiport keeps offering the virtual exam mode for free. Please sign-up for the mailing list and you hear it first when there are any updates. The MOS testing lab on campus remains inaccessible to us (Fall 2021).

SFSU is a non-public Certiport Authorized Test Center (CATC) for MOS certification, and thus only available for currently enrolled SFSU students meeting the criteria. Successful prior completion of or being a current student of ISYS 363 at SF State is required. Otherwise, for the nearest public test center, please check https://portal.certiport.com/Locator.

You need to bring a valid SFSU student ID for the remote exam. The Certiport Authorized Test Center (CATC) is located in Burk Hall room 229. No food allowed in the room. Covered drinks are OK. SFSU is a non-public Certiport Authorized Test Center (CATC) for MOS certification, and thus only available for SFSU students meeting the criteria. For the nearest public test center, please check http://portal.certiport.com/Locator.

Update: there is currently no on-site testing available on campus due to the pandemic: https://dos.sfsu.edu/covid-19

We are offering Exams from Home. Please watch this video! The proctor will schedule a Zoom session starting 15-min prior to the exam time to check you and your matching student ID.