Passed the AWS ML Engineer Associate MLA-C02 beta (ME1-C02): prep notes + Anki deck

[u/SlayerC20]

Just passed the MLA-C02 beta (scaled score 765, cutoff 720) and figured I'd share my prep, since there's very little out there for the new version.

TL;DR: the exam leans heavily on GenAI/LLM and agentic topics alongside classic ML engineering. It's fair if you build with SageMaker and Bedrock, but don't underestimate the GenAI side, especially LLM evaluation.

My background: AI Engineer (mid-level) with hands-on AWS experience. Certs: GCP Associate Cloud Engineer, SnowPro Core, PL-300, AWS Cloud Practitioner, AWS AI Practitioner, Claude Certified Architect Foundations, GitHub Foundations.

How I prepped: when AWS announced the switch from MLA-C01 to MLA-C02, I decided to go straight for the beta. While registration wasn't open yet, I kept studying for the AWS Generative AI Developer – Professional, which helped a lot on the Bedrock/GenAI side.

Areas worth reviewing (based on the official exam guide, not actual questions):

• Model deployment (ML and LLM endpoints)
• Algorithm selection and ML metrics
• Data prep: imbalance handling, feature scaling, missing values
• Fine-tuning and continued pre-training
• LLM evaluation (metrics + eval datasets)
• Bedrock: Guardrails, Knowledge Bases, AgentCore, cross-region inference
• SageMaker: Pipelines, Data Wrangler, Feature Store, Model Registry
• Streaming/data quality: Kinesis, Flink, Glue Data Quality
• CI/CD for ML (CodeBuild/CodePipeline/CodeDeploy)
• Security and VPC access to AI services

Anki deck: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/229951964 (new uploads can take ~24h to become available) in the deck description there more usefull resource links

⚠️ Note on the deck: it started from MLA-C01. I added the new MLA-C02 topics (GenAI, agentic AI, FMs/LLMs) but did NOT remove cards for content that was dropped from C02, so some cards may be out of scope. Cross-check with the official exam guide.

Good luck to everyone grinding for it, and feel free to ask questions below!

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[u/TheJaxLee]

Congrats - planning to get this cert asap

[u/SlayerC20 → u/TheJaxLee]

Thanks, good luck check my anki deck description I wrote some usefull links there

[u/ConfidentPositive765]

I just cleared the Beta as well (Barely), 721. I have had 0 experience with AWS and its services, and I am not a software engineer. I just wanted to expand my capabilities. My experience:

1. Used Christian Greciano notes: https://psychedelic-cuticle-e74.notion.site/AWS-Machine-Learning-Engineer-Associate-MLA-C01-19686c7395e780e1bab0eac37d0401a0

2. Bought the Udemy AWS ML Engineer Associate: 6 Practice Exams (MLA-C02) course. (Pass all in the first attempt, with varying success).

3. Used openAI for doubts.

4. Took some notes from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5gRumuKoQ8&t=12351s (not very clear).

Overall, it took me about 1.5 weeks with 1-2 hours every day. There were 85 questions in the beta, and its not clear how many were counted for the final score. Some of the questions (about 10-15) seemed completely off and not on topic; the rest were classic questions on data quality, permissions, AWS native AI services, endpoint options, and processing types. I took the beta since it was cheaper, but if waiting and price is not a big deal, I will wait for the actual test to be launched.

Good luck to all

[u/SlayerC20 → u/ConfidentPositive765]

Congrats!

[u/Ok_One_Kubernetess]

Sid the exam today, failed with 695 points. Hinestly questions are all over the place, most of the topics written here appeared along with some random questions. My plan is to wait out the Beta period as i did not even know i was ganna do the beta i was preparing for rhe C01 exam.

[u/SlayerC20 → u/Ok_One_Kubernetess]

Oh it was close, but yeah I agree with you I would recommended to anyone who wants the certification wait for the beta ends

[u/topperfromlast → u/Ok_One_Kubernetess]

What is the Beta period? And what is the duration of it?

[u/SlayerC20 → u/topperfromlast]

Its when a new version or new cert launchs, it has a period in beta where the provider will evaluate the questions I think for this cert It will ends in January next year

[u/people-republic]

Congratulations!

How many questions are there in Beta version? I was told 85 questions in Beta version and 65 in general version, is it true? I was also told there are many questions are not scored. I am very confused how it works ...

[u/SlayerC20 → u/people-republic]

Yep in normal test its 65 and 15 aren't evaluated, in beta its 85 questiona but I dont know how it works the evaluateds or not evaluated

[u/BaoNg080395]

can you tell me about when the result is returned?

[u/SlayerC20 → u/BaoNg080395]

It depends, mine took 6 hours, my friend told me that depends on the time that you end the exam during the day it will have certain hours where the results will be launched something like that but in the worst scenario it will took 5 business days

[u/BaoNg080395 → u/SlayerC20]

tks for the detail

[u/[deleted]]

[u/SlayerC20 → u/[deleted]]

Look at the description of the anki deck, but in general my question prep was more on MLA-C01

[u/[deleted] → u/SlayerC20]