Certified Associate Developer Exam Preparation Reccomendations

I'm currently preparing for the Certified Developer Exam having no prior experience with Appian. I see other threads mention it is best to use Appian for a few months first, but my company encourages pursuing this exam (and the Senior developer certificate) before employment begins. I am completing the associated course (inculding all optional and practice content) but others have noted that this may be insufficient for the difficulty of the exam. Even the practice test indicates that the real exam will be more difficult. Does anyone have an reccomendation for how else to prepare or links to more in-depth practice resources?