Personal experience

AWS SAA small exam guide

I want to share my learning path to the successful certification for AWS Solution Architect Associate. Initially, I wanted to write detailed notes (like here) but then realized that I was just retelling official AWS documentation, and skipped that.

Here is what my one-month crash course consisted of:

1. Video course at CloudGuru — AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate.
   Price: $50 for a monthly subscription.
   Tips: They have a 7 days free trial, which is actually quite enough to view the whole course. But I strongly recommend purchasing a full month, because it is better to view the lectures gradually during couple of weeks for better learning. Plus they have a nice exam simulator where you can practice several times.
2. Practice Tests set at Udemy — AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Practice Exams.
   Price: $40 or only $12 if you’re lucky to get it during a sale. But they make sales quite often and they frequently provide discuounts for new students. I purchaced it for $12.
   Tips: practice tests are very useful, do not skip buying them. You will find your weak spots and also learn a lot by passing these tests. This particular set has a quite good explanations for each question.
3. Exam Guide at O’relly Media AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate All-in-One Exam Guide.
   Price: this one can be easily read during 10 days free trial period 😉
   Tips: The new exam version is released on 23rd of March, so it is better to find a new updated version of exam guide. And I suggest reading the guide after the video course or vise versa, but do not mix them.
4. Making notes. Seriously, note-taking helps you memorize better. Much better! Do not skip it, and note your video courses watching as well as reading the exam guide. Later, you will find your notes very helpful before the exam day — they will fresh up your memory.

Thank you for reading down to this point. I hope my advices were helpful and you will pass the exam!