I recently completed an AWS cloud gauntlet - obtaining 3 AWS Certifications in one month! In this article, I’ll go over what worked for me for studying for the exams.

Actually, I lied. I passed AWS AI Practitioner (AIF-C01) on October 3rd, AWS Developer Associate (DVA-C02) on October 21st, and AWS Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03) on November 4th. So it was technically a day over a month :\

These three certifications brought my total to 4, as I had passed AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner last year.

With 2 years of hands-on experience as a developer using AWS, I had a solid foundation. My strategy leveraged my background and focused on two key resources.

The Essential Study Tools

My study plan for all three certifications was simple and effective, relying on two main pillars:

1. The Video Course GOAT: Stephane Maarek

Shoutout to the AWS GOAT, Stephane Maarek! I have used his Udemy courses for every AWS cert I’ve studied for. His lectures are incredibly comprehensive, covering pretty much everything on the exam blueprint, and his accompanying slides are an excellent reference for quick review. He also personally congratulated me on r/AWSCertifications multiple times.

Here is a link to his Udemy account:

Stephan Maarek | Udemy

2. Essential Practice Tests: Tutorials Dojo (TD)

Tutorials Dojo (🇵🇭) is absolutely excellent - it has a TON of practice questions with an excellent interface for review. The exams closely matched the difficulty of the actual tests (especially the AI Practitioner and SAA exams, imo).

The practice tests cost around $15 per certificate, but they often go on sale for a couple dollars off. Highly worth it in my opinion.

Here's a link to the TD website:
Tutorials Dojo

These two resources are pretty much the most common combination of resources I’ve seen people use to study for the AWS certifications, and for very good reason.

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My (Accelerated) Study Strategy (2–4 hours/day)

My study method was consistent for all three exams, taking around 1–2 weeks for the AI Practitioner and about three weeks each for the Developer and SAA exams (though for a week or so I was studying for both the Dev and SAA certs at the same time).

1. Complete the Course and Take Notes: I first finished the relevant Stephane Maarek course on Udemy, diligently taking notes on all major topics and services.

2. The Practice Grind: From there, the real work began: grinding the Tutorials Dojo exams.

   • I started with the Review Mode until I was consistently acing each one.

   • Then, in the days leading up to the actual test, I would spam the Randomized tests. I took so many practice tests that I got to a point where I could skim the Randomized test and score at least a 90%.

⚠️Warning: Overfitting to Practice Tests

While the practice tests are essential, be cautious of “overfitting”. The practice tests are quite similar to the actual tests in my opinion, but they aren’t exact, of course. Toward the end of my prep, I had grinded the practice tests so many times I was basically memorizing answers based on specific keywords rather than truly reinforcing the underlying knowledge. If I were to do it again, I would spend more time simply reviewing and studying my notes to ensure deep understanding, not just pattern recognition.

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Subject Mastery

To avoid simply memorizing practice test answers, I recommend a crucial step:

Don’t just understand the specific question/answer combination—master the subject of the question.

For example, if a question asks for the best FSx option (and the answer is FSx for Lustre for example), don't just move on! Take a moment to understand why the other options (FSx for Windows, FSx for OpenZFS, etc.) were incorrect and what specific scenario would have made them the right choice. Tutorials Dojo has a great interface that explains each and every option and why it is right/wrong. Read through them and make sure you understand them!

“Flaky” Subjects

As I went through practice tests, I kept a list of subjects that I was even slightly "flaky" on. After the test, I would take more in-depth notes or review those specific topics/services.

My tutoring background taught me this: the best way to know a topic strongly is that you are able to explain it to someone with no technical background. If there was any part of a question—a service, a configuration—that I couldn't explain to a five-year-old, it went straight onto my flaky list to be reviewed more thoroughly later.

Explain it out Loud

I sometimes like going through my notes as if I’m giving a presentation or tutoring someone. Explaining them out loud to yourself is good, but if you have someone to talk to, that’s even better, as their clarifying questions will genuinely test your ability to fill in the knowledge gaps.

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Solutions Architect vs Developer Associate Comparison

Studying for the Developer and Solutions Architect Associate exams around the same time was a huge advantage, as the content has a lot of overlap. The services covered by both exams are pretty much the same, it’s really a matter of looking at them from a different scope.

If you finish one of Stephane’s courses for the Developer cert, you probably only have about 10 hours of new content for the SAA (and vice versa).

• The DVA exam felt a bit harder for me due to the need to recall specific command/config details.

• The SAA was more on par with the TD tests, though it had many tricky scenario questions focused on networking (VPC, hybrid cloud networking) and storage solutions (EBS vs EFS, FSx types/protocols/use cases).

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Test Taking Strategies

Below are some pretty generic test taking strategies, but it’s always nice to have a reminder.

1 - Understand the Why

A lot of questions have multiple valid answers, but the prompt will be asking for the answer with "the LEAST operational overhead" or "the MOST cost effective." Knowing the correct answer isn't enough; you must be able to explain why one approach is more efficient, cheaper, or more reliable than another.

2 - Process of Elimination on Tricky Questions

My general approach to each question was:

1. Skim the Question and Answers: Immediately identify what exactly makes each answer choice different from the others. Most choices are identical with only one or two words/services swapped out.

2. In-depth Elimination: Re-read the question more deeply to do a methodical process of elimination for each distinct component of the answers.

3 - Review, Review, Review

I flagged any question that I had ANY doubt about. I ended up having around 20 flagged questions on one of the exams and scored well (about 85%). On your second and third pass, make sure to:

• Review your flagged questions.

• Spend a little time reviewing even the questions you didn't flag, as a slight misreading of the original question can change your entire interpretation. I changed a lot of my initial answers on the second pass of the Developer exam.

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Final Recommendation: Take the test in person!!!

In my opinion, I think it’s a LOT better to take the exams in person at a test center.

I took the CCP and AI exams online, and the whole time I was distracted by worry: Am I fidgeting too much? Am I looking around too much? Will my internet cut out? I had to completely clear my desk area, which involved a brief, frantic filming session where I chucked everything off my desk just to meet the proctoring requirements! I’ve also heard that you’re not allowed to read questions aloud during at-home tests because you can’t open your mouth.

Taking the more complicated tests (Dev and SAA) at a test center allowed me to chill out and just focus on the exam. I was able to lean back, stretch, and was given a whiteboard for notes.

Pro-Tip: Make sure you bring TWO forms of ID! A guy before me forgot that rule :(

Good luck with your certification journey! You can absolutely achieve your goals with a focused plan and the right resources.