FAQs for MOS Certification at SMU

Have questions about the about the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Certification and testing? We have answers.

If you have additional questions not answered here, feel free to reach out to us at ittraining@smu.edu.

Yes, students who score an 800 or higher on at least one practice exam are more likely to pass on their first try.

The Microsoft Certification exams are $120 for a specialist voucher with the option to retake one time. The GMetrix practice exams are $40 for a single product or $75 for the full suite. LinkedIn Learning membership is $29.99 a month.

You may download GMetrix on a personal that has Office 365 installed on it. System requirements may be found on the .  Unfortunately, the GMetrix SMS software is  To alleviate this issue, we recommend that students utilize . Visit your class Canvas course for instructions. GMetrix is also available on all public computers in Fondren Library, the Cox Business Library, and the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center.

All active ÃÛÌÒ½´students, faculty, and staff have access to Microsoft Office at no charge. You can install Office on your computer by going to .

While there is a Mac version of GMetrix, the Microsoft Office practice exams only work on Windows. This is because the Mac versions of Office does not match the official certification. The tests are specifically designed for Office 365 for Windows. 

Unfortunately, the GMetrix SMS software is  To alleviate this issue, we recommend that students utilize . Visit your class Canvas course for instructions. GMetrix is also available on all public computers in Fondren Library, the Cox Business Library, and the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center.

You do not need to certify in all of the Office 365 exams. You can take just the exam of your choice.
Please note: The Associate exams are not required to take the Expert level exams.

Yes. All public Windows computers in Fondren Library, the Cox Business Library, ADSA, Underwood Library 3rd floor,and the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center have GMetrix installed on them.

When you are ready to schedule your exam, visit . You may schedule your exam appointment in person or to be tested online remotely if you choose.

Testing will be held in Fondren Library East, Room 109.

Outlook saves all of your personal data in a .pst file. This file saves all of your personal settings, and other user specific data. Without administrator rights, the GMetrix SMS software may be unable to unload your profile, and load our sample profile that is used by the test. GMetrix protects personal data,so if there is ever a problem unloading your personal email account, the software simply stops. This is why you may see your own account when you start an Outlook test instead of ours. Here is a workaround that will get the GMetrix sample email account to load.

  1. On your computer, click on the Start menu.
  2. Click on Control Panel.
  3.  Click on Mail.
  4.  In the dialogue box that comes up, click on Show Profiles.
  5. On the new dialogue window, click Prompt for profile to be used.
  6. Click Ok.

This will prompt you to select which profile to use when opening Outlook. When you are taking the test, you will want to choose the GMetrix profile. This option will pop up every time you access Outlook, inside or out of the GMetrix system. Once you are done taking the test, you can simply go in through the previous steps and uncheck Prompt for profiles to be used to return to normal. Another issue that occurs when the GMetrix Outlook test is running without administrator rights is security alerts from Outlook. With administrator rights, the GMetrix system suppresses these alerts, but without them, you will occasionally get an alert that a program is trying to access something in outlook that is abnormal. That is the GMetrix system trying to grade the question, and should always be allowed. Simply click “allow” or “continue” on any security alerts that pop up, and the system will continue with the test.

Don’t worry, you can always retake the exam. However, for MOS you need to wait 24 hours after the initial exam. This gives you plenty of time to take another practice test and study a little more if needed. If you do not achieve a passing score the second time, you will need to wait 48 hours before retaking the exam a third time or for each subsequent exam retake. All exams and first retake are free of charge to students, as OIT is covering the fees, however, on the 3rd attempt and beyond a $50 proctor fee will be charged for each retake.

We've made this quick video to give you some information on how to get certified to fulfill a class requirement: