How I Passed AWS Solutions Architect Associate (My Exact Strategy)

Last month I shared how I passed my AWS Cloud Practitioner exam in just 7 days. You guys loved it, so I'm back with the sequel: how I passed the AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam.

This is one of the most valuable AWS certifications you can get, and I'm going to break down exactly how I prepared for it.

Why Solutions Architect Associate?

The AWS Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03) is one of three associate-level exams, and most industry experts recommend this certification path:

1. Cloud Practitioner (foundational)
2. Solutions Architect Associate ← You are here
3. Developer Associate
4. SysOps Administrator Associate
5. Professional level certifications

The Solutions Architect exam gives you a solid understanding of the breadth of AWS services, architectures, and best practices. It's the most popular AWS certification for a reason.

The 50% Discount Hack

After passing my Cloud Practitioner exam, AWS gave me a 50% off voucher for future exams. My Solutions Architect Associate exam cost me $75 instead of $150.

This alone is a great reason to start with Cloud Practitioner - you save money on every subsequent exam.

My Background (Why This Matters)

I previously had a technical architect role, so I already understood core system design principles:

• High availability
• Disaster recovery
• Scaling and load balancing
• Security best practices

This foundational architecture knowledge made the exam significantly easier. You still need to learn how AWS implements these patterns, but understanding the "why" behind architectural decisions helps enormously.

If you don't have this background, don't worry - you'll just need a bit more time with the fundamentals.

Breaking Down the SAA-C03 Exam

What AWS Says You Need

AWS recommends:

• 12 months of hands-on AWS experience
• Experience with compute, networking, storage, and database services
• Experience deploying and managing workloads

My honest take: 12 months is excessive. Based on StudyTech's data from thousands of users, if you have zero cloud experience, you can pass in 4-6 weeks with focused gap-based preparation. If you've recently passed Cloud Practitioner, you can do it in 2-4 weeks.

Exam Format

• Questions: 65 multiple choice
• Duration: 130 minutes
• Passing Score: 720/1000 (72%)
• My Score: 734 (74%)

I'll be honest - I just barely scraped by. But a pass is a pass.

The Four Domains

The exam tests you across four areas:

My gaps were in security and cost optimization - which is where I focused all my preparation.

My Gap-Based Study Strategy

Just like with Cloud Practitioner, I didn't try to learn everything. I focused purely on identifying and filling my knowledge gaps.

Step 1: Take a Mock Exam First

Before studying anything, I took a mock exam to see where I stood. This immediately showed me:

• Which domains I was strong in (resilient, high-performing)
• Which domains needed work (secure, cost-optimized)
• Specific services I was getting wrong (Route 53 routing types kept tripping me up)

Step 2: Track Every Wrong Answer

I created a Notion page with:

• Every question I got wrong
• The correct answer
• A brief explanation of WHY

Across 12 mock exams (about 780 questions), I got roughly 130 questions wrong. These 130 questions became my entire study focus.

Step 3: Active Recall Daily

Every day, I would:

1. Go through my list of wrong answers
2. Try to recall the answer BEFORE looking
3. Take another mock exam
4. Add new wrong answers to the list

The key insight: I wasn't studying "AWS" - I was studying my specific gaps. This is 10x more efficient than watching 40 hours of video content.

Step 4: Analyze Patterns

I noticed I kept getting the same types of questions wrong:

• Route 53 routing policies (weighted, latency, geolocation, failover)
• S3 storage class transitions
• Cost optimization scenarios

So I doubled down on these specific areas until I stopped getting them wrong.

What You Actually Need to Know

Core Services (Know These Cold)

Compute:

• EC2 (instance types, pricing models, placement groups)
• Lambda (limits, integrations, cold starts)
• Auto Scaling (policies, cooldown periods)

Storage:

• S3 (storage classes, lifecycle policies, versioning, encryption)
• EBS (volume types, snapshots, encryption)
• EFS vs FSx (when to use each)

Database:

• RDS (Multi-AZ vs Read Replicas, Aurora)
• DynamoDB (partition keys, indexes, capacity modes)
• ElastiCache (Redis vs Memcached use cases)

Networking:

• VPC (subnets, route tables, NAT gateways)
• Security Groups vs NACLs (stateful vs stateless)
• Route 53 (all routing policies!)
• Load Balancers (ALB vs NLB vs CLB)

Architecture Patterns

You need to understand WHEN to use each pattern:

• High availability (Multi-AZ, auto scaling)
• Disaster recovery (pilot light, warm standby, hot standby)
• Decoupling (SQS, SNS, EventBridge)
• Caching (CloudFront, ElastiCache, DAX)

Taking the Exam

Exam Provider

I used Pearson VUE and took the exam at home. A few things to know:

• There might be a queue when you join (I had 30+ people ahead of me, but it moved fast)
• Make sure your desk is COMPLETELY clear
• Use a see-through glass for water (no labels)
• Remove watches and jewelry
• No reading questions out loud

During the Exam

I finished in about 45 minutes (you get 130 minutes). I didn't go back to review - I've learned that second-guessing usually makes things worse.

Trust your first instinct.

Getting Results

Unlike Cloud Practitioner, I didn't get my result immediately. AWS reviews your exam footage before confirming results. I got mine about 4 hours later.

If you pass, you'll get your badge within 24 hours. LinkedIn congratulations incoming.

Are Certifications Actually Worth It?

My opinion hasn't changed: yes, with caveats.

The Reality

Certifications verify your understanding, but they don't prove you can actually build things. I've seen people pass with flying colors but struggle when they need to:

• Design a real architecture for a client
• Debug production issues
• Write infrastructure as code

Hands-on skills matter more than certifications. Most competent engineers use Terraform or CloudFormation, not the console.

When Certifications Help

That said, certifications are valuable if you:

• Want to stand out as a freelancer or contractor
• Need to prove knowledge to non-technical stakeholders
• Work at a company that rewards certifications
• Are transitioning into cloud from another field

My Advice

If you're an engineer: build the foundation first. Get comfortable with the console, then learn IaC tools (Terraform, CloudFormation, CDK), then get certified.

The certification validates what you already know - it shouldn't be your only source of learning.

My Certification Roadmap

After Solutions Architect Associate, here's my plan:

1. ✅ Cloud Practitioner
2. ✅ Solutions Architect Associate
3. ⏳ Developer Associate (next)
4. ⏳ Security Specialty
5. ⏳ SysOps Administrator
6. ⏳ Solutions Architect Professional
7. ⏳ DevOps Engineer Professional

Pro tip: When you pass the Professional certifications, they automatically re-certify your Associate certifications. So eventually, I'll only need to retake the Pro exams.

Summary: How to Pass SAA-C03

1. Start with a gap assessment - Find your weak domains before studying
2. Focus only on gaps - Don't waste time on what you know
3. Track every wrong answer - Build a personal "study this" list
4. Take lots of mock exams - I took 12 before the real thing
5. Analyze patterns - Notice which topics keep tripping you up
6. Trust your first instinct - Don't second-guess on exam day

Ready to Find Your Gaps?

The hardest part of my strategy was manually tracking 130 wrong answers across 12 mock exams.

StudyTech automates this entire process.

Our AI identifies your weak domains in 10 minutes, generates practice questions focused on your gaps, and gives you a readiness score so you know exactly when to book.

Most users pass in 4-6 weeks. With some architecture background like I had, you can do it faster.

Originally based on a video from Tech With Soleyman's YouTube channel, adapted for StudyTech readers.