We help hundreds of students every year. From the feedback we receive, we hear that there is a distinct possibility of you seeing one of three Series 7 Exams, or more, when you sit to take the exam.
In today’s post, we will talk about the three possibilities we hear most about. We will also discuss how you might deal with each of them.
Three Series 7 Exams – What Are My “Options”?
Of the three possibilities, the one that tends to elicit the most fear for students is one that is heavily concentrated on the Options section. FINRA may test you on a small handful of Options questions, or with this possible version of the exam, it could be 20 or more.
In short, we highly recommend that the Options section be a key focus of yours and you’re studying. Be prepared to handle a couple dozen questions of various Options topics (e.g., currency Options, hedges, straddles, spreads, etc.). Another reason to study this section: Should you get another version of the Series 7 Exam, it is still possible that you see at around 5-10 Options questions.
Our general recommendation is to study a little bit at a time.
Specifically try breaking up your practice questions for Options. Do 20 to 25 questions on a Monday, and 20 to 25 questions on a Thursday. This regular exercise will ensure that it sticks to your long-term memory, and that you see them regularly (often if you drop Options strategies like “Spreads” for a couple weeks, you have to start learning again from scratch).
Suitability
While this has never been confirmed, from student feedback, we have a strong hunch that FINRA tracks your exams. By this, we mean that if you fail the Series 7 Top-Off Exam the first time around, they may know what questions you got already.
Hence, if you had an Options heavy exam the first time around, then you may not have the same Options heavy exam the second time. In fact, feedback from students tends to indicate that it may be heavily focused on Suitability the next time around.
Although this can be a relief for some, for others it introduces some difficult concepts with gray areas. Determining what is suitable, and what isn’t for an investor involves a number of steps.
Check out our Suitability videos in our Series 7 video course for more help.
Funds, and Taxes, and Miscellaneous…oh my!
As mentioned above, there is a real possibility that FINRA tracks your exam progress. For students that we see after they have already failed the Series 7 twice, we sometimes hear the third exam may be a hodgepodge of topics.
Within this hodgepodge there is the possibility that many areas be tested – such as mutual fund prospectus’, tax issues (Options, stocks, muni bonds, etc), as well as a slew of miscellaneous rules and regulations.
Of course among all of this, you may still get your fair share of Options and Suitability.
With all of the above said, and given feedback from students, we have found prioritizing the following five topics most effective:
- Options
- Suitability
- Muni Bonds
- Margin
- Rules and Regulations (of all kinds)
We tend to see the most success with students that thoroughly know these, and we hope these tips help you out too!
If you need more help, you know where to find us!
Good luck!