How I’ve passed the AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate exam with 3 weeks of preparation while working full time | Step-by-Step Guide László Harnócz Follow Apr 13 · 5 min read

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate exam is intended for individuals with experience designing distributed applications and systems on the AWS platform.

This is the simple guideline I wish I had when I started digging into this certification. It’s a study plan. I’m not a sales person so I won’t go into why you should or shouldn’t get this certification. I’m assuming that you already decided that you do want to pursue this cert but you’re overwhelmed with the amount of available materials and areas of focus.

Do I need prior experience with AWS?

Amazon officially recommends at least 1 year of working experience with the platform but I’m confident that it can be done with no prior experience if you know some networking and architecture basics.

Full disclaimer, I had a bit of experience with AWS before my preparation but it was so basic that I wouldn’t even call it experience. I’ve seen the console before and clicked around in Beanstalk, EC2 and R53 — it didn’t contribute much if anything to my exam. I’m confident that you’ll pass the test even with no prior experience at all.

How much time do I need to dedicate in these 3 weeks?

Obviously, if you have little time to dedicate it won’t be possible to pass the exam in such a short period. To pass in 3 weeks I’m assuming that you do a full time job but do have time to study 2–6 hours every workday evening and about 8 hours on the weekends. You might not have that much free time and that’s totally understandable. This material will still be relevant — you can have a go at it at your own pace.

Why these exact courses?

I don’t get any affiliate money from offering the materials below, I truly believe that they are amazing and have been integral to passing my exam.

Note: I did the AWS SAA-C01 version of the course but the new AWS SAA-C02 only has a few minor differences. The courses that I’m going to recommend are already updated to contain the material for the new version.

Let’s jump right into it!🚀

1. A Cloud Guru’s Course

A Cloud Guru offers a Udemy course that skims through most of the services that are part of the exam. This course is a really good introduction. You should do this course even if you do not plan to do the exam but want to know your way around the most important AWS services. It also contains two mock exams — these are not that good in my opinion, but it’s worth to do it. You can treat these exams as open book.

You should be able to go through this in about 4–5 evenings.

After finishing this course I was able to write 40–60% practice exams.

2. Jon Bonso’s Practice Tests

This is gold. I was skeptical at first, but these tests are just the same as the real exam. If you can do them then you’ll pass the test for certain. Not only that, but after you finish it you get detailed explanations of the answers, cheat sheets and links to reference materials.

I did all the tests and read through all the explanations thoroughly. You’ll find that even though there are 2 hours 10 minutes do a test it can be done in about an hour. This is the same with the live exam as well. Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time!⏲

You should be able to iterate through the 6 tests and the attached materials in about 3–6 evenings.

3. Official FAQs and Documentations

After going through the practice tests I’ve read the following materials end-to-end. I strongly recommend that you do the same, do not skip any. Be thorough. Make notes. With intense focus getting through it can be done in a weekend.

I’ve found this list in a Reddit post a few months ago but can’t find the source anymore. If you recognize it please contact me and I’ll add the link to it.

4. Do the Practice Tests Again (And Again)

At this point you should be able to write 85–95% practice tests. If you can’t I recommend iterating through the previous points. Yes, 720/1000 is enough for the exam, but scoring close to it on the practice tests won’t give you enough confidence to take the exam.

I did the tests twice, the second run took me a good 6 days because at this point I was kind of exhausted. One test a day, then looking up everything I got wrong and also stuff that I got right but wasn’t 100% sure in it while taking the test.

You should avoid getting familiar and memorizing the questions and answers so if you plan to do this in a short period you won’t be able to iterate through it more than 2 or 3 times.

5. Free Code Camp’s Course

This is not mandatory but I’d recommend watching Free Code Camp’s AWS SAA course on 200% speed the day before the exam. It’s an easy watch and a nice refresher of the most important topics. Pause the video at the cheat sheets and make sure there’s nothing new in it.

+1 Official AWS Practice Exams

You can purchase practice exams from AWS for $20 + VAT. These exams have the exact same UI that you’ll find in the real exam. That’s about the only positive thing about it. They only contain a few questions and it won’t tell you which questions you got right or wrong, you’ll just get a percentage at the end. I bought one for my peace of mind but I can’t recommend you to do that, it’s a waste of money.

That’s all Folks! I hope that you’ll have fun preparing for your exam and pass with flying colors. 💯 If you have any further questions or just wish to hear more ramblings about tech from me then feel free to check out my Twitter.