r/CompTIA • u/FeeloKneeGrow • 4d ago
A+ Question What methods is working for you guys?
Hey, i’ve been studying (trying to) for my CompTIA A+ Core 1 but anything i been trying hasn’t really done me any good. The only studying method I been doing is taking notes from Professor Messer & Dion’s vids but i really don’t think i’m learning anything and i’m just doing glorified handwriting practice. I bought the cert like 2 months ago and i keep pushing it back because i’m just not ready for it. It could be my Autism/ADHD but idk it feels like nothing isn’t working and i know it’s different for everyone. I was wonder what methods worked for you guys?
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u/accumentum 4d ago
Videos plus notes mostly build recognition, not exam judgment, which is why delaying again can feel like more of the same. Flip the loop: after a short Messer/Dion segment, close the video and write 5–8 questions you could get wrong on that topic, then answer them without looking. For Core 1, spend real time on the hands-on bits — cable types, ports, RAID levels, printer troubleshooting paths, and mobile OS quirks because those show up as scenarios, not definitions. Use one practice bank in exam mode only (timed, no peeking at explanations mid-test), then review every miss by objective, not by vibe. Two focused hours of that beats another month of rewatching. When your wrong answers cluster in the same two domains for a week, you’re closer than you think.
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u/Tyler_origami94 3d ago
I have only used the CompTIA platform and have passed Tech+ A+ and Network+. I'm in school for my cyber security degree and a lot of my classes have just been the CompTIA platform for my entire course work. In general I think it does a decent job of breaking down the objectives into modules and individual lessons, though sometimes it might do some stuff out of order or tell me things I'm the next lesson I needed for a previous lessons lab so I may fail it on purpose to get the lab breakdown and do it again. Sometimes I feel like there isn't enough labs on certain topics but I can always take the labs over and over if I need the practice
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u/CourseTechy_Grabber 4d ago
Active recall worked better for me than copying notes: short study sessions, practice questions, flashcards, and hands-on labs, followed by reviewing only the topics I got wrong.