My Journey towards the SAA-C03 AWS Solutions Architect Associate Certification

Posted Nov 4, 2023

By Grant Davis 3 min read

I’m a AWS Solutions Architect Associate!

Introduction

Below is some of the study material I used to pass the AWS Solutions Architect Associate Certification (SAA-C03) Exam. I found this exam quite challenging. For background, I have been in IT for 20 years, and my experience has mainly been in the infrastructure space. So, even though I’m comfortable with foundational computing concepts like DNS, Networking, Virtual Machines, etc., AWS was new-ish to me when I started this exam journey.

The beauty of learning AWS versus on-premises technologies is that a lab is just a few clicks away, where you can spin up various AWS services (some are free in the AWS Free tier, but some come with a cost) and play around with them, as opposed to paying for a home lab for VMware and ESXi.

Studying Approach

I first went through the Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate SAA-C03 on Udemy by Stephane Maarek course. This is a video instructor-led course that covers all AWS services in the exam, with a general introduction to the Public Cloud. I didn’t take many notes during this course but made sure I completed all Hands-On Labs that didn’t incur a cost.

The course took me about 3 weeks to complete.

After the course, I went through the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Practice Exams SAA-C03 2023 by Tutorials Dojo. These practice exams came in various formats. Some were timed like the real exam, some allowed you to review your answers straight away once you answered a question, and some were bundled to be specific about a topic.

I completed all the topic-specific exams using their attached cheat sheets. When I got questions wrong, this helped me study a specific AWS service. Then I completed all the exams where I could review my answers straight away. These were great because they provided a very good summary afterward. Not only did they give the correct answer with a thorough explanation, but they also went through every wrong answer with an explanation of why it was wrong.

I then did Practice Exams | AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate by Stephane Maarek & Abhishek Singh. These were 6 exams with 65 questions each. I treated these like the real exams and revisited topics when I identified any areas I was struggling with.

Next, I reviewed all FAQs and tried to retain as much knowledge as possible. In most practice exams, I was scoring between 60% and 70%. I wasn’t exactly sure if I was ready for the actual exam. To be honest, I took it because I was getting frustrated and thought I wasn’t retaining any more information. But I passed with a score of 790!

Whats Next

Projects: I am going to get more hands-on experience with AWS, which is part of the reason for this blog. I have scoured the internet and have a list of things I want to do so I can gain practical experience and a better understanding of AWS.

Developer Associate: I’ve been told that if you pass one Associate Exam, you are 50% there for the next one, so hopefully, the developer associate complements the skills I’ve already gained.