Finished the AZ-204 exam yesterday with an 820 out of 1000. The passing score is 700 so I had more room than I expected, but the case studies at the end were stressful and I wasn't confident until I saw the score. I've got about 2 years of Azure experience at work but I'm primarily on the infrastructure side, not development, so there were real gaps to close before sitting.
I spent 6 weeks preparing, roughly 75 minutes a day on weekdays and about 3 hours on Saturdays. The areas where I invested the most time were Azure Functions, API Management, and the message queue services — Service Bus versus Event Hub versus Event Grid, because the distinctions come up constantly and the exam tests them precisely. I also spent extra time on Azure AD app registrations and OAuth flows since the exam asks for specific configuration details, not just conceptual understanding.
The case studies are where a lot of people struggle. You get a long scenario document and multiple questions that reference it, and if you misread the requirements you can miss a chain of questions. I practiced this by doing timed walkthroughs where I forced myself to annotate requirements before answering anything. That discipline probably saved me 20-30 points on exam day.
Two resources that actually helped: Microsoft Learn paths (free and current) and a practice exam set where at least 50% of questions felt unfamiliar. If everything on your practice set feels familiar you're not testing yourself adequately — the real exam surfaces formats you haven't seen before.
820 is a strong score. I've been putting off this exam for 6 months and posts like this are the push I needed to just schedule it. The 6-week structure sounds completely doable alongside a full-time job.
How did you handle the lab sections if there were any on your version? I've been preparing for the standard questions but I'm nervous about anything hands-on under time pressure.
Congrats! I passed mine 3 weeks ago with a 760. The Service Bus vs Event Hub distinction tripped me up more than anything else — I studied it for two weeks straight and still second-guessed myself on two questions during the exam.
Your point about case studies is important. I failed my first attempt and the case study section was where I lost the most points. I didn't have a system for reading them efficiently and ran out of time.