Just passed the 65 today first try. My experience!
Note: This post was transcribed from my voice using AI because I didn’t feel like typing all of this out if anything sounds weird.
I just took the Series 65 exam today, and I wanted to share my study strategy since I found it pretty effective. I’m a senior in college majoring in finance and took the SIE last year, which definitely gave me some foundational knowledge, but there was still a ton I needed to learn.
My study timeline was about a month total. I started by going through the Kaplan book chapter by chapter, typing out all my notes. Once I finished the first pass, I took a different approach: I sent AI the pages from each Kaplan chapter and had it reorganize the material into a cleaner, more structured format instead of dense paragraphs. This made everything way easier to digest.
From there, I grouped the 24 chapters into sets of four. Each day I’d read through one set using the AI summaries, then take about an 80-question practice quiz on those four chapters. I did this cycle for all six groups.
The final stretch was key: three days before the exam, I focused on topics I was shaky on and worked through full practice exams. Two nights before and the morning of, I watched Series 7 Guru, Dean Moffett, and Mighty Ninety videos to reinforce concepts.
On test day, I’d say the exam wasn’t too brutal. There were maybe 20 to 30 questions where I wasn’t confident, but overall Kaplan did a solid job preparing me. The test really emphasizes regulations, fiduciary responsibilities, a lot on investment advisers/their representatives, and proper recommendations for customers more than anything else.
Anyway, that’s the playbook. Happy to answer any questions!