Playing the odds on your FINRA exam sounds like some form of gambling. But, in fact it’s probably the most efficient and effective way to study. In this post, I describe how we encourage our students to focus on the heavily-weighted areas.
Playing the Odds on Your FINRA Exam – Avoid the Small Bets
Some people don’t get a lot of time to study. A few hours at night, or on the weekend can be the best some get. To maximize your time, you need to focus on what matters. Namely, areas where you’re having trouble. More specifically, areas where you’re having trouble in the highest weighted sections.
Another way of saying this, is that there’s no reason to focus on the small stuff. There’s no sense in focusing on perfecting areas that may not even get tested or are likely to only have one or two questions on the exam. The majority of your time should be spent focusing on very heavily-weighted areas – take notes on definitions, regulations, and formulas that trip you up in these sections.
How Do I Know the Weights?
Exams, such as the Series 7 Exam, Series 79 Exam, and some of the NASAA exams include heavily weighted areas where you should focus your study. Fortunately, textbook providers such as Kaplan, and Knopman Marks have great question bank resources. These resources weight the number of questions they ask approximate to the weights of the exam.
We highly recommend that you spend at least three days to four days per week drilling down on specific topics that are heavily weighted. Use the other days of the week to take practice exams. These practice exams should cover every topic so that you can be sure to hit the smaller weighted topics as well. Taking a full practice exam will also help reinforce the heavily weighted sections out of context.
Overall, playing the odds on your FINRA exam can prove very effective. Most people whose employers have little flexibility on test dates find the most success using this strategy. Focusing on low weight areas is unlikely to get you over the hump without some serious pre-existing knowledge. For more help, feel free to reach out. You can start with an SIE Exam tutor, or whichever suits your needs. Either way, we wish you good luck!