I passed the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) on my first attempt and wanted to provide some insight, considering how helpful other threads have been for me.

While preparing, I spent a lot of time searching for answers to questions like:

• Is Stephane Maarek's course enough?
• How should I actually use Tutorials Dojo's different practice modes?
• Is Tutorials Dojo harder than the actual SAA-C03 exam?
• What practice exam score means you're ready?
• How long does it take to prepare for SAA-C03?

So I wanted to answer as many as I could based on my own preparation and exam experience.

Are Stephane Maarek and Tutorials Dojo Enough to Pass SAA-C03?

I wouldn't recommend overcomplicating it. These are the 5 resources I'd use (and I think you only really need the first 3):

1. Stephane Maarek's ‘Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate’
2. Jon Bonso’s ‘AWS SAA-C03 Practice Exams’ on Tutorials Dojo
3. An LLM (I currently use ChatGPT)
4. AWS Skill Builder’s Official Practice Question Set
5. Ronit Sachdev's AWS SAA-C03 guide (particularly the ‘Exam Traps & Key Patterns’ document!)

I used ChatGPT to clarify and review concepts consistently through the entire process. I used voice dictation for a large majority of the interaction. I find that verbally expressing my thoughts helps me internalize concepts.

My Background & Preparation Time

I’ve previously earned the AWS CCP, am currently enrolled in the AWS re/Start program, and have gained hands-on experience with AWS, though I don’t have professional/production AWS engineering experience yet.

I pursued the certification while simultaneously completing program work and building an independent project. My goal was to earn the certification as fast as possible to focus more of my time on developing practical skills.

My preparation took 20 calendar days (October 6–25): 13 active days on Maarek's course and 4 days of practice exams and review.

I took zero notes and used zero flashcards.

Is Tutorials Dojo Harder Than the Real AWS SAA-C03 Exam?

In my experience, yes. The rough measurement I've seen of TD being ~10% harder feels accurate.

Question length and wording: The real exam had shorter, more direct questions.

Answer choices: The real exam's answers were less ambiguous. Even when I wasn't fully familiar with a particular service, eliminating incorrect choices felt easier. TD's distractors were difficult to eliminate. 

Topics that stood out: S3 (Lifecycle Policies really stood out), VPC, EC2, DynamoDB (and database migrations), Lambda, IAM, and CloudFront

What Tutorials Dojo Score Should You Aim for Before SAA-C03?

I saw a lot of discussions about whether you should be scoring 70%, 80%, or even 90% before attempting the real exam. My three full timed practice scores were 66.15%, 66.15%, and 76.92% — never scoring 80% on a full timed set. Based on my experience, I wouldn't treat 80% as a strict requirement.

One thing worth noting: even on my 76.92% test, I encountered questions I'd already seen and reviewed through previous timed or section-based sets. So that score wasn't entirely independent of earlier practice.

I only used TD's timed, section-based, and topic-based modes, using ChatGPT to review everything. 

Simple process: Timed exam → identify weaknesses → targeted review/drilling → another timed exam.

The real value of practice exams was identifying weaknesses I could investigate and understanding why particular answers were correct.

---

Immediately after finishing the exam, I was fiending for the results and spamming refresh on Credly, wondering how long my AWS results and badge would take. I needed to take my mind off everything and catch a long-awaited break to watch a series without thinking about upskilling at all.

I finished the exam on Sunday at 1:55 PM. Both my AWS exam results and Credly badge notification arrived simultaneously at 11:07 PM—nine hours later.

---

I hope this helps someone preparing for SAA-C03. Happy to answer questions about my preparation, resources, or practice-testing approach!

i intend to go the whole way stacking certs, but i just turned 42. is that worth it, as in employable?

EDIT: Apologies everyone, lemme give a bit of context. Continuing education student and legitimately have pure love for IT. Wanted to get certs and transferrable courses done with before going to WGU. Hence was about to begin with cloud practitioner, so far seems harmless to be honest. But then, just suddenly someone commented on a picture and said you dont look 42. Super. I forgot that detail. Female, btw. If that'll stand in the way I'd genuinely like to know.

This man sent me this invite on Upwork and demanded my certifications for only $100. The thing is that this kind of abuse of AWS certs just to get competencies & badges etc. is a total violation and should be reported immediately to AWS.

Now, how can I report it to AWS anonymously (without revealing/showing my identity) or to tell them not to disclose my identity?

Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/efs-networks-inc/
Company Website: https://www.efsdevops.com/

Any suggestions, on new SAP-C03 exam guide. Recently I attempted but failed in SAP-C02 with 738. So I’m in a confusing state to go for C03 or try once C02. Your suggestions are appreciated.. If any expert on new additions in exam then suggest to way next..

Doing SAA now, are the questions for set 1 timed and set 1 review the same? i'm planning to do all the review mode before i try the timed but if they are the same i might just brush up on my weak points instead of doing the quiz again as i have a tendency to memorize answers then it won't be as helpful

If this is really true, then what path should I take to get there ?

I'm planning to start prepping for SAP and trying to figure out the timing with C03 coming.

I did SAA-C03 with Cantrill's course and honestly it's one of the best courses I've ever taken, so he was my first pick for SAP too. His roadmap says "Course planning is happening for the new SAP-C03 version - Aiming to have this released very soon after the new exam is released."

I emailed twice (once directly, once through the contact form) to ask if it makes sense to start with the C02 course now and just cover the C03 changes once it's out, since the C02 course hasn't been updated in a while. No reply yet, so figured I'd ask here.

For those of you who did SAP-C02 or are planning to go for C03, would you start with C02 material now or just wait it out? If you used Cantrill for SAP I’d love to hear how it went. And if you went with something else, what was it and would you recommend it?

I've seen a few negative threads about the platform lately, but I’m not really interested in the drama.

Background: Level II desktop/bench IT at a hospital, CS degree, AWS Cloud Practitioner. I'm trying to move into cloud engineering, and my SAA-C03 is booked for a week away (already rescheduled it once because I didn’t feel ready enough)

What I've done: a ~25-hour video course, Tutorials Dojo practice exams (timed and review mode), topic-based quizzes, flashcards, and one-page sheets for the lookalike services and feeding my missed questions into AI to help me learn better and make flash cards

Scores (pass line is around 72%):
Full sets: 60% → 61% → 48%
Topic-based quizzes: about 77%

What I'm seeing:
I do fine when the topic is one I've reviewed, then a fresh mixed set drops hard.
Many misses are "which service does this job" questions on things I haven't met (CloudFormation CreationPolicy, Aurora Serverless v2 reader, File Gateway).
I keep mixing up lookalikes: GuardDuty vs Inspector, Kinesis Streams vs Firehose, security groups vs NACLs.
The video course didn't stick, and I remember almost none of it.
I have ADHD, and every study session now feels like a pass/fail verdict. I'm burned out and my anxiety is slowly turning into anger that I’m still not getting everything despite being on this road for a while.

Feel like even if I slow down and read the questions it doesn’t really help as everything seems jumbled together and similar and I feel like I’ve hit a wall and just want to give up completely and move out of IT and cloud all together out of anger and frustration with the amount of material to learn

Questions:
If you plateaued like this, what actually broke it?
What study method worked for the breadth, if videos didn't?
With about a week left, would you reschedule or sit it and use it as data?
How did you handle burnout in the final stretch?
Thanks, any advice helps.

Missed the mark by less than 3% 😞. Sad day.

Is there any cheat code for clearing the exam ??

I passed the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) exam with 776 on my first attempt last week!

I'm sharing my experience because candidate reviews and exam reports on Reddit helped me tremendously throughout my preparation. I frequently read other people's experiences, study plans, and practice-test scores to evaluate my own progress and understand what to expect. I hope this post can offer the same kind of help to someone currently preparing for the exam.

1. My preparation

I spent exactly 222 hours and 59 minutes preparing for the exam. Took the exam on day which was the 62nd day of my prep. efforts.

My primary study resource was Stephane Maarek's Udemy course. I completed the entire course and took extensive handwritten notes.

In total, I produced 317 pages of notes:

• Around 190 pages covering the course material.
• Around 130 pages documenting mistakes, misunderstood concepts, and explanations from practice exams.

I regularly reviewed these notes, including before going to sleep. Repeated revision became an important part of my preparation.

2. Practice exam results

I completed nine full-length practice exams using Stephane Maarek and Tutorial Dojo.

Here are my scores in chronological order:

Stephane Maarek:

• Test 1: 53%
• Test 2: 47%
• Test 3: 60%
• Test 4: 70%

Tutorial Dojo:

• Test 1: 68%
• Test 2: 66%
• Test 3: 73%
• Test 4: 70%
• Test 5: 66%

My overall average was approximately 64%.

As you can see, I wasn't consistently scoring 80% or higher. In fact, my first two practice exams averaged only 50%.

I gradually improved, but my scores remained around the upper 60s and low 70s.

3. The actual examination

One thing I'd like to mention is that, before taking the exam, I had read many Reddit reviews saying that the actual SAA-C03 exam was easier than both Stephane Maarek's and Tutorial Dojo's practice exams.

That wasn't my experience.

Personally, I found the actual examination slightly more difficult than both Maarek and Tutorial Dojo. I encountered several concepts that I hadn't come across during my preparation, and some questions were particularly challenging.

After finishing the exam, I estimated my chances of passing at around 50%. I genuinely wasn't sure whether I had passed.

However, I received my result and passed!

Of course, exam experiences vary, but I think it's worth being prepared for an actual exam that may feel more challenging than the practice tests.

4. What I would recommend

Based on my experience, here are a few things I'd recommend:

• Don't underestimate note-taking. Writing down concepts in your own words and documenting mistakes helped me consolidate the material.
• Review your incorrect answers thoroughly. Don't just memorize the correct option. Understand why the other options are incorrect.
• Don't panic over every low practice score. My first two scores were 53% and 47%, and I still passed the actual exam.
• Don't assume the real exam will be easier. Prepare for unfamiliar scenarios and questions that combine multiple AWS services.
• Revise consistently. I found repeatedly reviewing my notes particularly helpful.
• Take not of irrelevant stuff in the practice tests. In addition to, what is correct and what's not, if you see anything in the question that you feel that you don't know at all or are confused about. Take a note of that and after the exam make sure to add that in your notes, too.

5. Final thoughts

My preparation took exactly 222 hours and 59 minutes. It was a demanding process, but passing on my first attempt made it worthwhile.

If you're currently scoring somewhere between 55% and 70% on your practice exams, I hope my experience gives you some encouragement.

I'm not suggesting that these scores guarantee success. Everyone's preparation and exam experience are different.

But don't let a few disappointing mock results convince you that passing is impossible.

I'm already preparing for my next certification, and I'm currently considering the transition from AWS Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) to AWS Certified Generative AI Developer – Professional (AIG-C01). I'd love to hear from anyone who has made a similar transition and is willing to share their preparation experience, recommended resources, or thoughts on the difficulty of the new exam.

Good luck to everyone preparing for SAA-C03!

Hi everyone!

I have around 2 years of experience in software development, and I’m currently preparing for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate (SAA) certification. I don’t have any prior cloud experience, so I’ve been learning the concepts through YouTube and getting some hands-on practice with exercises.

One challenge I’m facing is that I tend to forget concepts I learned a few weeks ago, even after understanding them initially.

For those of you who have passed the SAA exam, I’d love to hear about your learning strategies!

Did you take handwritten or digital notes?

Did you build any projects to reinforce what you learned?

How did you revise topics and retain concepts in the long term?

Did you use the AWS Free Tier for hands-on practice? If so, what projects or services would you recommend for a beginner?

Any tips, resources, or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone, long time lurker here...

I took the AWS SAA-C03 exam yesterday at 1pm and received my results late that night. Thanks to u/stephanemaarek for his Udemy course and practice exams. I studied for a month, and spent the last three weeks of that month taking practice exams from Stephane, TutorialsDojo and I used ChatGPT for explaining the correct and incorrect answers.

My test featured questions on DB(heavily), ECS, Security (heavily), Monitoring, EC2, S3, VPC, IAM, Route53.

Materials used:

Stephane Maarek's Udemy Courses & Practice Exams

TutorialDojo Practice Exams

Ronit Sachdev GitHub Repository - https://github.com/RonitSachdev/aws-saa-c03-guides/blob/main/topic-guides/00-README.md

What I'm going to do next

I'm going to build, maintain, and document some projects using AWS resources with IaC (Terraform). I already have my Terraform Cert from two months ago. Update my resume and hopefully look forward to helping a company or business in the future out there that needs help with their cloud infrastructure.

​

Hey everyone

I’m a **3rd-year B.Tech Computer Science and Engineering student at Sri Aurobindo Institute of Technology, Indore**, and I’m currently preparing for a career as an **AWS Cloud Engineer**.

My goal is to build strong cloud computing skills, work on real-world AWS projects, and prepare for opportunities at **Amazon and other leading tech companies**.

I’m looking to connect with like-minded students who are also interested in AWS and Cloud Computing so we can:

✅ Learn AWS services together

✅ Practice hands-on labs and build real-world projects

✅ Share learning resources and interview preparation tips

✅ Stay consistent and motivate each other

✅ Prepare for internships and job opportunities

You don’t need to be an expert. Whether you’re a beginner or already learning AWS, you’re welcome! 🤝

📩 **Interested? Drop a comment or DM me, and let’s create a learning group to grow together!**

Let’s learn, build, and achieve our goals together. 💻☁️

#AWS #AmazonWebServices #CloudComputing #CloudEngineer #AWSCommunity #LearningTogether #ComputerScience #CareerGrowth

I guess this question doesn't get asked a lot but I find it hard to believe that a test like the Security + would be harder than these test. I barely passed the SAA and the AZ104.

I passed the Cloud Practitioner exam yesterday!

I have 2 years of experience as a developer, and I studied by working through practice exams from Stephen Maarek and free practice tests on the internet

The Whole preparation was a roller coster ride, I had only 1.5 week to prepare as my coupon expiry date was 24th Oct. I had 2 years of AWS hands on exp at my prev company. Before relieving I took a voucher and kept rescheduling until there was no other option. At one point I cancelled my exam as the rescheduling limit exceeded, then connected with support team to reuse the same voucher.

Don't get overwhelmed with Stephane Maarek sample tests, I gave only one and it was 54% but I spent a complete day reviewing my mistakes and learnt new concepts mentioned in the sample test. I was majorly using AWS documentation and claude, slides were way too lengthy.

Big shoutout to this community. A day before my exam I got to know about AWS Skill builder practice tests, so I tried the free 20 questions which were super easy (on comparison with Stephane's exam). This was a confidence booster for sure. I recommend trying this for any certificate.

I gave the exam online and there was disturbance in my home for 10-15min which distracted me a lot, so I was worried about the result. Nevertheless, everything went smooth.

(I got to know about ESL from this community but it was just a week before exam, so didn't have a chance to claim it. If you are a secondary English speaker make the most of it. Just make sure to initiate the process at least 2-3 weeks before planning your exam)

Hello everyone,

I hope you're all doing well. 🙏

I'm currently pursuing my MCA and working hard to build my skills in AWS and cloud computing so I can improve my knowledge and career opportunities.

I really want to earn these two AWS certifications:

1. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02)

2. AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03)

As a student, paying for both certification exams is financially difficult for me. I'm trying my best to learn, prepare, and earn these certifications, but the exam fees are a significant challenge.

For the Cloud Practitioner certification, I'm currently working toward collecting 21 badges on AWS Builder Center, hoping to earn the foundational exam voucher through its rewards program within 60 days.

However, I'm struggling to find a way to afford the Solutions Architect – Associate exam as well.

🙏 I'm sincerely requesting your help and guidance.

If anyone knows of a legitimate AWS program, student opportunity, community initiative, event, challenge, or promotional campaign that offers a 100% free exam voucher for the Solutions Architect – Associate certification, please share it with me.

I'd be extremely grateful if someone who has successfully received a voucher could explain how they obtained it and how I might apply.

Please share any advice, official links, or opportunities you know about. Even a small suggestion could make a real difference for me.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post. I genuinely appreciate any help the community can offer. 🙏❤️

Just passed SAP-C02 and thinking about doing DOP next. My job is mostly DevOps stuff (CI/CD, docker, AWS infra) so it feels more relevant to what I actually do, but I’m not sure it adds much on top of SAP. Anyone here done both? How much overlap was there and how long did you study for DOP? Or would you go for something else like Security Specialty or CKA instead? Thank you very much.

SAP-C02 Sample Question

Can someone help me understand AWS logic here? I put A, I now get that the SCP would violate each BO attaining their own account that's fine. What I'm not following - the question asks to develop a solution that prevents spending. A billing alarm will alert the admin sure, but that wont necessarily stop them from over spending if no other actions are taken or limits put on the resources. I'd argue that D falls into same category as C as it requires someone to manually review.

Am I way overthinking this?

Studying for SAA-C03 and running labs in a personal AWS account? The bill shocks usually aren't one big lab. They're small things left running:

1. A NAT gateway from a VPC test, still charging hourly after you finished on Tuesday.
   
2. Data transfer OUT - moving data out of AWS costs more than moving it in.
   
3. Snapshots and EBS volumes with no server attached anymore.
   
4. Launching in the wrong region and paying that region's prices.
   
5. Assuming the Free Tier is "free forever" - it's time- and usage-limited.
   

The checklist I run after EVERY lab now:
- Stop or terminate EC2 instances I'm not using right now
- Delete test NAT gateways and RDS instances + snapshots
- Empty test S3 buckets or set a lifecycle rule
- Release unattached Elastic IPs
- Check Cost Explorer once a week, sorted by service - the top line is usually the leak

And the rule that saved me most: set a monthly budget cap BEFORE you lab, and if you hit 80% of it, clean up before starting anything new.

Full disclosure: I turned this into a tracker bundle (5-sheet Excel/Google Sheets workbook + 8-page guide with the full 8-week plan and all 20 SAA-C03 topics) - it's $5 on Gumroad if you want the sheets: https://sarangivibes6.gumroad.com/l/vtgkx
Example prices in it are illustrative only, and it's not affiliated with AWS. No pass guarantee - it's just a tracker.

What cost trap got you? Curious what others wish they'd known in week one.