One of the first questions we get from students is around how long to study for the Series 7 exam. Let’s first get out of the way, the obvious: There are different strokes for different folks. That said, the best advice that we can provide is based off of what we see from the typical student.
Let’s start there.
How Long to Study for the Series 7 Exam…For the Typical Student
When it comes to the typical student, at Professional Exam Tutoring we see a fairly unwavering timeline. For about 70% of our Series 7 Exam students it takes about 6-8 weeks (plus, or minus a week) to study for, and pass, the exam. This timeline is not a sure thing for everyone. However, it is pretty on the nose for our typical student.
Occasionally we run into students that can get the job done in a month or less. This is quite rare. The Series 7 Exam is much more difficult than the SIE Exam, and thus takes more time. Unsurprisingly, we tend to see those with prior experience, or a significant background in finance finish faster.
On the other side of the coin, we also work with students that take 2 or 3 attempts to pass the exam. Unfortunately, pressure from one’s employer can be a common impediment in determining how long to study for the Series 7 exam. If you’re employer pressures you to take it early, it can have negative consequences. Often times, an extra 1 or 2 weeks would be enough – but alas. Consequently, the result is either that the student may get another 30 days (a required break after a failed attempt) to study for the next one, or is let go.
How Should You Structure Your Time for Studying?
The first thing you should do is read the book. We highly recommend that you get Kaplan study material. STC’s textbook is sufficient but Kaplan’s study questions are much more helpful for the Series 7 Exam, in our view. We have heard from dozens of students that scored quite well on STC’s practice exams, that despite their good practice scores, they failed the exam. Although this is still possible with Kaplan, it happens much less often from our experience. In fact, we discuss the minimum Series 7 scores you should expect in order to pass in another post.
Your next step is to take practice questions for as long as it takes. That’s not an exaggeration unfortunately. Ultimately you want to aim for a score in the mid-80s, but upper-80s is even better! Once you hit that point then you’re about ready to go.
For those of you that get stuck in the 60s or 70s, there are some study tricks that can help. Try taking practice questions in Kaplan’s QBank with specific focus on areas where your score is 40% to 60%. Focus on 15 questions at a time in individual lessons. Repeat this on consecutive days, and then by the fourth day try a comprehensive exam (75 questions or more from “all sections”). This should help solidify key concepts giving you issues.
For more on this, please reach out. It works if you apply it effectively.
Other tips include using flash cards or a study sheet at least 30 minutes a day. If you do all of this, which should be about two or three hours of studying per day, then 6-8 weeks should be enough to get you there.
Good luck!