I actually enjoyed this class. I am somewhat familiar with Excel but not to the extent required for this class. I skipped the reading material and just downloaded the practice exam at the end. Then I just worked through the practice exam several times until I figured out the formulas.
The PA allows you to submit your work as many times as you want and receive a score. I worked through it until I got a perfect score then saved it for reference. On subsequent practice run-throughs, I would refer back to the saved PA to get the right procedure.
There’s a YouTube video from a kid who walks through the entire PA. It was useful and I watched it a few times.
The PA and the OA are very closely aligned. It’s not difficult. Although I worked through the PA several times to memorize the functions, I did find I actually learned some new things about Excel which I’ll carry over into my day job.
Skip the reading material and just do the PA several times until you figure it out
The What-If Analysis and Solver are fairly simple and worth some decent extra points
Search YouTube for a video of a kid doing the practice exam