With countless posts on the internet explaining the "best" way to study for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam, I thought I would add my own experience to the mix.
TLDR:
- Adrian Cantrill's SAA course
- Tutorial Dojo's practice exams: One question on the exam exactly matched Review Set 7. Many services like Karpenter were covered, which I either forgot or didn't remember from Cantrill's course.
- Start with Review Mode, complete each exam in an hour and a half.
- Study incorrect answers using flashcards or another easy-to-review method.
I've been dabbling in the DevOps field for a couple of years now. My job has me wearing many hats: sales, development, debugging, monitoring, finding solutions for other devs to improve workflow.
In late 2023, I became serious about making DevOps my career path. After some searching on Reddit, I discovered Adrian Cantrill's course and committed to doing 20 minutes of coursework daily from November onwards.
I quickly realized the videos had a notes section and started taking notes during the videos, which slowed me down as I paused to write things down.
Life got busy. My job got responsibilities ebbed and flowed, and I lost motivation. Plus, I am expecting my first child in July. By April, I was still slogging through the videos but 80% done. I dedicated nights to finishing them, taking notes, and moving on. Eventually, I powered through and completed the course. This is not a shot against the course. At the time, I did not have the discipline to stay on a schedule.
Adrian recommended Tutorial Dojo's practice exams. I bought them, but since I had started studying in November, I had forgotten much of what I learned. Fortunately, I had my notes. After each video, I copied and pasted my notes into a Notion document, but they were timestamped and hard to study from.
So, I used ChatGPT to refine my notes and add any useful information for the SAA exam, a process that took about a week. I reviewed my cleaned-up notes and then moved on.
I took the first Review Mode practice exam in an hour and a half to simulate real exam conditions. My first score was 58. Oof. There were questions and services on the test I had never seen before!
Through Cantrill's article (You Might Be Using Practice Exams All Wrong), I adopted a system: take a test in an hour and a half, copy and paste all answers into a Notion document, and study the ones I got wrong. After studying, I retook the test without timing myself and rationalized every answer. This helped, but I still struggled with many services and API calls.
I then bought index cards to write down information about AWS services I had trouble remembering (SQS queue maximum retention period is 14 days!). I quizzed myself repeatedly with 100 flashcards. My practice test scores improved, and I found a 33% off code on Reddit. I scheduled the test for July. For the reader, here is my takeaway from the exam.
Challenging Topics on the Practice Tests:
More Kubernetes and containers than expected
No specific API call questions
Some CloudWatch, IAM roles
NLB
FSx questions
Test Day Advice:
Take the test at a testing center if possible. Friends have had their tests shut down when taken remotely.
If the test center gives you a whiteboard, use it. It's easier to draw out the architecture (for me) than to think about it in your head.
Flag questions if you're not 100% sure of the answer within 5 seconds.
Use the full hour and a half.
Don't spend more than 2 minutes on each question during the first pass.
Take a break after the first pass if needed: leave the room, do jumping jacks, use the bathroom, drink water, and reset mentally.
Review flagged questions in the second pass.
Repeat until you run out of time.
If unsure, and the question asks for the least overhead, choose the service (avoid scripts, Lambdas, EC2, etc.).
I passed with a 791. I left the test thinking it could have gone either way, but I'm very glad I didn't have to retake it. Happy to offer any additional advice that worked well for me! Good luck! On to the next certification! Either SAP or CKA. Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback. :)
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