r/Series7exam

I have full access to Kaplan and limited access to STC . Based on your experience which is the best vendor for the 7. I took the 7 twice with pass perfect and failed both times so this is my last shit. Also if you have any advice how to start re-studying for the 7 I’d appreciate it.

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i am about to leave the country for a month next week. i have failed twice and am considering taking it this friday. if i fail a third time i have to wait 6 months before trying again. i have never passed a practice exam.

should i try again this week or wait until i am back and can study for longer?

i just cant seem to get past the 60% mark ugh:(

First off, huge shoutout to Ken.

Pass or fail, much respect for everything you do for people in the securities industry.

Not posting this as an excuse, just sharing my experience for anyone studying for the Series 7.

I spent weeks memorizing a huge dump sheet with options formulas, bond formulas, regs, abbreviations, etc… and I barely used it once. Couldn't even fit all th formulas on the two plastic erasable sheets they give you.

My exam felt completely different from what I prepared for. Very Heavy "taxation and mutual fund" questions. Very few options, maybe 5 total. Had a breakeven, a straddle, and a spread question. Suitability was straightforward, but a lot of the exam felt like reverse engineering scenarios.

What surprised me most:

• Almost no regulations
• Maybe 4 bond questions
• Barely any equity questions
• One current yield question
• No margin math
• No T-chart option calculations

Honestly felt like a different exam altogether! More like a CPA or CFA exam.

For context, I was scoring low/mid 70s on Kaplan and felt like I understood the material. I wasn’t expecting the same practice questions, but I did expect the exam structure to resemble the prep material more closely.

Respect to everyone who passed on the first try, because this exam humbled me.

Hopefully, I get another shot. If my firm gives me a second chance, I’ll use another study vendor next time around. If anyone has any reccos...

Failed the 7 today with a 64% it hurts soooo bad also feeling anxious cuz my firm is gonna give me one more chance to pass this but it’s ok, I’ll definitely study harder next time! I feel like I need to do a better job at pacing myself too, towards the end of the test I realized I was running out of time so I was kinda rushing it which I feel like was why I failed tbh also generally felt like I could’ve put in more effort as well. It’s ok though! This will be some good character development and just gotta put in the extra dedication for next month. Talk to you guys later on my “passed” post! :))

I appreciated the posts that shared feedback so here you have it:

I failed the 7 with a 68 last month, passed today.

A few questions about CDO’s, lots about mutual funds, a few circuit breakers, a few about muni underwriting, lots of suitability, and the option questions that were asked were much more definition based than mathematics. Which strategy is profitable, and there were a few that asked me to determine the type of spread without giving me the premium. Lots of prohibited practices.

After I failed the first time, I watched a few videos on YouTube, and wrote down all of my wrong answers from practice exams onto flash cards and did those every night with my husband. It really helped with recall.

Hope that helps. :)

I just joined a firm and I'm scheduled to take the exam Monday, July 13th, giving me about 8 weeks to get ready. My employer wants me to do a live review the week prior to the exam to really drive the material home and they said I can choose whatever provider I want. Others in the office have used Kaplan in the past successfully. My understanding is that this is a live session attended virtually (or in-person if they have one in Houston I can attend.)

Has anyone done anything like this either virtually or in-person? What provider did you use? I tried searching the sub for "live review" and didn't have much luck. TIA!

I failed my series 7 three times at my other job but now eligible to sit for it again. I’m interviewing at a place this week final round that requires the 7. Does anyone think this will be a problem/have any advice for why I should do? Thanks

I passed the SIE back in September but didn’t really have the opportunity to study at work. To add on, a bunch of people in my office were taking 3 week vacations so I had to put studying on pause.

I should add that the firm uses Pass Perfect and the most I’ve gotten on a practice exam/randomized final was a 67. Yikes, I know.

Shout out to the 2 you know who. The M90 (can’t spell it out for some reason) confirmed that I did understand and remember what I had read. While I only got through about an hour of the brutal exam, there was 1 that was very identical on my actual draw.

On to the 66!
Happy Mother’s Day to the other moms here!

I’m using the kaplan q bank as a supplement, and my last few 130 question simulated exam scores are 77%, 66%, 75%, 76%. Just took the Kaplan mastery exam and scored a 61% which completely destroyed any confidence I had. My overall Kaplan qbank score is at 72%. I test on Thursday and I have no idea how to approach my final day of studying (tomorrow). Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

Hey guys, have my S7 in about 11 days.

Scored 73, 77, 80, 72, 78 and 76 on my practice exams. I feel super confident with options and pretty good on munis too. I watched several like hour long review videos and felt confident on all the content covered, but feel like i'm just getting tripped up on dumb shit like margin/SMA, trick questions, ACATS and TIF stuff timeline, 5% markup and super niche stuff that isn't highly testable.

Is the real test full of as tricky questions as kaplan? Are these scores good enough for me to just keep doing daily practice tests?

Also, I am worried I am beginning to memorize the questions. I saw 2dollar tests has like a 15 dollar test pack, would that be worth it? I don't wanna shell out for a new test provider just for some practice tests but feel like I need new material.

Any advice?

I have a chronic disease and am having a shit flare up and my exam is tomorrow. I haven't been as locked in as I should been but it's hard when you're in pain all of the time. I've already failed once and I feel like I'm going to fail again. I have time in my testing window to take it again, I just don't want to have to sit through the test a third time 😭😭
I just needed to yell into the void, if anyone has any last minute advice or words of affirmation that would be greatly appreciated

I know what I did wrong and where I need to focus. Downloading while it’s still fresh. Had a few margin questions. A lot of bear/bull options, but more recognizing strategy. Bunch of munis sands bonds. I felt my dump sheet sufficed but missing couple of pointers to help me recognize what to choose when SODA SADO bull call/bear call spreads. I will pass the next time.

Hi everyone,

Trying to finish the trifecta on Wednesday with the 63. Any advice on what to remember for the exam or what’s going to be on it? I just finished the book and am going to take 3 practice exams today and tomorrow to support my studies. Currently using Kaplan.

I definitely procrastinated as I just finished the book yesterday but still feel like I have a fighting chance. I had 2 weeks to study, but I was slammed with other things in my life, but I’m not trying to make excuses.

I appreciate everyone on this sub as I wouldn’t have my passed my 7 without yall!