In today’s post, we provide a Series 86 preview. Most people that follow us already have a base level understanding of how tough the Series 86 exam can be. However, if you, or a coworker are not totally clear on what you’re getting into, this post may help.
Series 86 Preview: Heading Into the Unknown
The large majority of our Series 86 Exam students at Professional Exam Tutoring, have spoken with peers or coworkers about this exam before they take it themselves. We highly commend this approach, and encourage it.
That is to say, knowing the exact questions others saw on the exam is not important. However, knowing what you’re getting into overall is very important. For instance, you should know that the text and some practice questions may not include material tested. The actual exam may take liberties that you can extrapolate concepts learned. In other words, some questions on the actual exam may not be fully covered in the textbook.
Since there is only one textbook provider out there, cross referencing content is impossible. That brings us to our next point.
Practice Questions May Not be What They Seem
While many practice questions from the textbook provider may be helpful, not all will be. Questions on practice exams are updated periodically and as of this writing it’s been some time since there has been a complete overhaul.
As a result, we get a lot of student feedback that the current exam is fairly different from practice content. With that in mind, we highly recommend that you seek out other resources for help.
Of course, we provide a Series 86 exam course, and private tutoring. For students that are on their last attempt, or their job depends on them passing, our services can be a job saver.
Lastly, if you’re not totally clear on why this is such a difficult exam and you would prefer to just take an initial crack at it without much studying, we highly advise against this. Many people do this, but then burn through 1 out out of 3 attempts. We often find that folks that do this often also fail the second attempt, but maybe only by a few points.
Of course, that only leaves one more final attempt – the third attempt is the last before you must wait 6 months to retake. Employers often lose patience at this point, or best case scenario, you would have to start studying all over again. After 6 months, material may be forgotten, or the content may be slightly updated during that period and you’ll have to learn some fresh material.
Overall, speak with a tutor or your coworkers about what you should do before you go into this exam. Feel free to reach out if you need any help. Good luck!