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Just passed my 66

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Feb 7, 2014 1:37 am

Hey guys,

Ive been reading this forum during the process of getting licensed and I just wanted to take a second to add my experience. I just took and passed my series 66 with a score of 81. I failed the first time with passperfect and used TC this time around (3 weeks) and found it to be much much better. You get through the material much faster because there isnt so much material and get to the practice tests. My first time through the practice tests my scores were 85,87,82,89,85 i then ran through the first three again scoring 99,95,95 took the test the next day and scored a 81. It is a hard test anyway you slice it but if you go through the TC material and study for 3 weeks you will pass it I promise. There were a few questions I hadent even seen but the major bulk of them I felt good about. About 20 question gave two really good answers and you really have to think about are you in the USA, Investment advisor act of 40, is this federal or state, and that helps out. Anyways if you guys have any questions for me about the test feel free to ask as I just took it a couple of hours ago. Cheers!

Feb 7, 2014 6:07 pm

That is great news. Congrats! That is unusual with Pass Perfect because people who complete their program are usually successful on the exam. I don’t think taking a shorter period while going through the material is a positive. It also implies that one might not be learning as much. Pass Perfect helps you pass the exam but also helps you become more knowledgeable about this business, which is just as important as passing the exam. If prospects or clients sense that one does not have high level of investment knowledge, they might not become or stay clients. I learned this from a highly successful portfolio managers many years ago.

Feb 7, 2014 6:55 pm

mstudy,

I dont want to knock passperfect as I used it for my series 7 and thought it was great. The thing is after reading all the material on the 7 and taking the test the last thing I wanted to do was open up another book and read about state and fed laws the following day. TC allows you to sit back and listen to a lecture with a highlighter In hand for a much needed change up. I understand you want to have the strongest knowledge base you possibly can in order to do your job to the best of your ability but the truth is we all just want to pass these exams and once we are up and running we will all learn so much more than any system could ever teach us. Thanks for the congrats BTW!

Feb 7, 2014 8:31 pm

Congrats bud. The 66 is a very great accomplishment, can be tough with all the law and wording. Enjoy the beauty of being able to run a fee based business. Your clients will love it!

Mar 4, 2014 9:47 pm

Congrats Kevin. I am in the same boat right now with the 66. I took the Kaplan course for the 7 and failed on the first try. I muscled up the 2nd time and got through it with Kaplan. For the 66 I used Kaplan thinking that my brute force of studying everything would give the best chance. I got a 70%. I did not want to have to fool with Kaplan again so I am giving Training Consultants a try. Day 5 on the lectures and I am averaging 80’s on the section quizzes. Such a relief and it is surprisingly difficult, my knowledge about the securities laws are much better now. I think it is how it is presented. Tina does a good job at presenting it to you. I also love the fact that the manual is 125 pages. I take the exam in 2 weeks and I am feeling a lot better with Training Consultants than I did with Kaplan. The people at TC are friendly too. I never felt comfortable with the information or help at Kaplan. Self study doesn’t and shouldn’t mean that you are on your own. Wish me luck!

Mar 5, 2014 5:53 pm

For what it’s worth - I recently passed the 7 and 66. For both test I used the Kaplan manuals with online question bank, and the Solomon lectures on CD. I passed both tests with a score in the mid 80’s. Kaplan’s question bank comes with a weighted exam simulation that’s supposed to be a good indication of what you’ll score on the test. In my case I took the simulation two days before the actual exam. My score on the simulations were within 2 points of my actual exam scores. My advice is to study every day if possible, take notes, and make flash cards for the areas in which you’re struggling.

Mar 5, 2014 9:19 pm

Congrats Zoomjim! Kaplan is fine for most people willing do the work. It is not my first choice, partly because I cannot track my students progress.

Mar 6, 2014 2:00 am

I don’t want it to seem like I have it out for Kaplan but for what you pay I was disappointed. I had another colleague that was able to attend their 2 day course with a specialist from Kaplan and he said that it was the only reason he passed. If you think about it you work 8 hours a day, if you work hard you are pretty much beat by the time you get home. If you are like me you like to blow off some steam and go workout, eat, sleep. I found it very hard to go through the Kaplan course. With TC (I do not work for TC btw) I can come home from a hard day, whip out this study book, get online and let Tina walk me through each chapter. Therefore I am studying smarter, not harder. I wish that every study guide would adopt this method. My time is limited and my money that I spend on courses is precious. I also ventured out and got Pass the 66 book, what a waste of money. The guy is very smart, but he said that the key to passing the exam is not memorization. That really pissed me off when I read that. Isn’t that the key to every exam? Memorization? Anyway, it was like asking this guy what time it was and he went into how a watch is built. Mstudy is a good reference to use if you need a tutor. He helped me with my 7 on some of the sections that were holding me back. Other than that I like experts telling me how it works. I hope this information is helpful for anyone who is looking at the blog deciding which training course to use.