Okay so I'm still kind of in shock but I passed my ACG certification yesterday after two failed attempts over the past eight months. First try I scored a 68 (passing is 72) and thought I just needed to review a bit more. Second attempt I hit 70 and honestly wanted to give up entirely. What changed everything was actually being strategic instead of just re-reading the same material.
The biggest shift was using a solid ACG practice test to identify my weak spots rather than studying everything equally. I was wasting hours on cloud security concepts I already understood while completely ignoring the cost optimization and monitoring sections that kept showing up on the real exam. Once I mapped my gaps, I spent about three weeks — maybe 90 minutes a night — drilling those specific areas with a structured study guide instead of random YouTube videos.
For anyone else struggling with this exam, the practice questions aren't just about memorizing answers. Pay attention to WHY the wrong answers are wrong. That shift in how I approached exam tips and review sessions made a huge difference in my final score. Happy to answer questions about specific domains if anyone's prepping right now.