6.1. Exam Preparation Strategies

This section focuses on the practical mechanics of acing the exam. We will cover the exam's structure, effective time management techniques, strategies for deconstructing complex questions, and the importance of practice.

• Understand the Exam Structure:
  • Format: Multiple-choice and multiple-response questions.
  • Questions: The exam has 65 questions, but only 50 are scored. The other 15 are unscored questions AWS uses for future exam development (you won't know which is which).
  • Time: You have 170 minutes. This gives you roughly 2.6 minutes per question.
  • Passing Score: The score is scaled from 100 to 1,000. The passing score is 700.
  • No Penalty for Guessing: Your score is based on the number of correct answers. An incorrect answer is the same as an unanswered one, so you should always guess if you don't know the answer.
• Effective Time Management:
  • Pace Yourself: Keep the ~2.5 minute per question average in mind. If a question is taking too long, it's a signal to move on.
  • Flag for Review: Use the exam's "flag for review" feature. If you are unsure about a question, make your best educated guess, flag it, and come back to it at the end if you have time. Don't let one difficult question derail your momentum.
• Tackling Complex Questions:
  • Deconstruct the Scenario: Read the question carefully and identify the core business problem. What are they really asking?
  • Identify Keywords: Look for keywords that point you to the right domain (e.g., "predict a number" -> regression; "without ML expertise" -> managed AI service; "unlabeled data" -> unsupervised learning).
  • Eliminate Incorrect Options: Actively look for reasons to eliminate the wrong answers. Often, two options will be clearly incorrect. This improves your odds even if you have to guess between the remaining two.
• Practice, Practice, Practice:
  • The best way to prepare is to take high-quality practice exams. This builds your mental stamina, exposes you to the style of questions, and helps you identify your weak areas for further study.

That is why Mindmesh Academy provides a full suite of exam preparation tools, including realistic simulators and categorized question banks, designed to build your practical skills.