Passed 66 before taking the 7
Sharing my study tips after passing the 66 today. i was a bit overwhelmed initially because i hadnt taken the 7 and i know there is a lot of foundational knowledge you get from the 7 that is used in the 66, but i didnt think the actual 66 exam was as difficult as i had anticipated. I studied HARD and think my method was pretty effective so here it is.
I used Kaplan and was scoring in the high 70s/80s in qbanks / practice exams before test day, but imo the exam had a lot more of the no brainer questions than the kaplan exams did which is why it felt easier. I read the whole chapter without taking notes and took the checkpoint quizzes, THEN went back through it and took notes. this helped because i felt like it took me so long to get through a chapter while taking notes and when i looked at them they didnt help because i was just copying what i read. get an understanding first of what the chapter is about then note taking will be more efficient and tailored to your understanding of the material. i use excel and tab each chapter, using colors for specific things (ie dates / timelines to remember are green, state laws are blue, fed laws are orange, etc). that was helpful on my final review before test day. i also copy/pasted the answers to any qbank questions i got wrong in the corresponding chapter tabs and only deleted them once i understood them and i was confident i wouldnt make those mistakes again. that also helped me visualize the chapters i was struggling with.
USE THE TEST SPECS. Nasaa literally tells you which subjects are weighted more heavily on the exam and once i completed the coursework i use the specs to focus on the chapters that have the most questions on the exam (i was struggling with retirement plans but theres only 3 questions on the test about them so i didnt waste more time than was needed in that area). i spammed the qbanks but made sure to spend more time on wrong answers that fell in the heavily weighted categories. USE THE TEST SPECS.
Ken Finnen is the man. i listened to his videos in the car or at the gym and it was a great supplement to the study material because he doesnt speak like a textbook reciting information, he makes it intuitive on a different level and isnt slow or boring. his videos are super engaging.
i truly believe anyone who finds a study method that works for them and actually dedicates themselves to it can pass these exams. theyre tough, yes, but theyre so doable if youre spending your time correctly while preparing for them. also recognize when you need to give yourself breaks. even if you procrastinated and are on a time crunch, studying on a fried brain is a waste of time- you arent retaining information. towards the end i scored a 73 on a practice exam then played video games for 4 hours then went back and scored an 87 lol.
im no genius but i found a good study method and it got me the pass. good luck my dudes you got this!