The New Series 66 Exam Advice
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After passing the series 7 just a few weeks ago i immediately began studying for the 66. It came to my attention that the series 66 was updated as of January 2010 and the new passing score would be a 75%. After reading some of the post about this exam I realized a lot of people are having trouble passing with the new requirements. Today I passed with exactly a 75% and I would like to share my thoughts about the exam. First I'd like to say that the material I used was STC's study manual, practice exams, and on demand lecture. I believe they offer the best products for this exam even though I have heard much different when it comes to STC and the 66. I took about three and a half weeks of studying, 4 to 5 hours a day to complete the course. If you are using this program I suggest that you don't take the exam until your getting at least and 80% on all your practice exams. You should know a lot about the laws whether it is under the Uniform Securities Act or the Investment Advisor Act because my test results it showed that I had 50 questions on this topic. As for the taking the exam I highly suggest using the mark for review button on the questions your not sure about and save your self ample time to go back and review those questions. Although a lot of people say don't change your answer, I changed about five of mine because when I had more time to read the question it made more sense to me. The test is definitely bell curved meaning that the easiest questions are at the beginning and the end leaving the hard questions in the middle. I hope this helps, and let me know if you have any questions!
- Joe
I read the Walker book "Pass the 65" on Amazon / studied it for 2 days and passed with 78 ; excellent book
I took the Series 7 in the late 1990s. I had left journalism at the time to go work for a broker/dealer --- but only we were a marketing firm, a third-party marketing firm raising assets for small asset managers. I thought the Series 7 was a total joke, had nothing to do with what financial advisors were doing day-to-day anymore.
Has the Series 7 changed over the last decade? Is it useful? I hope the exam has been changed. Would love comments about Series 7 and the other exams, to wit, do they actually help you prepare for life as an advisor? Or can they best be viewed as a hurdle to jump, a cost of doing business and nothing more?
Good to know. Im studying for my 7 to take in Dec and will be taking the 66 in late Dec or Jan.
[quote=David, RR editor]
I took the Series 7 in the late 1990s. I had left journalism at the time to go work for a broker/dealer --- but only we were a marketing firm, a third-party marketing firm raising assets for small asset managers. I thought the Series 7 was a total joke, had nothing to do with what financial advisors were doing day-to-day anymore.
Has the Series 7 changed over the last decade? Is it useful? I hope the exam has been changed. Would love comments about Series 7 and the other exams, to wit, do they actually help you prepare for life as an advisor? Or can they best be viewed as a hurdle to jump, a cost of doing business and nothing more?
[/quote]
I can't say just yet whether or not the Series 7 is helpful in the day-to-day business of being an advisor, but I can say that it did help familiarize myself with a lot of things out there that I didn't have a very good understanding of. I don't know how many advisors are dealing with options contracts on a daily basis, or ever, but if they are, then I'm sure the Series 7 was probably a good start. The Series 66 seems like it would apply more to what FA's do...but again, I'm not totally sure yet.
take at least 1500 practice questions, and that is bare minimum and you will pass.
1. Force yourself to read each chapter, then never read the book agin.
2. Practice test after practice test and you will pass
thats all you need to do to pass but this test is very difficult, I passed the 7 with a 93 and a 77 on the 66.
In regards to the 7 it is very useful for a rep that is more than an asset gather, it teaches you alot about syndicate (if you work for a decent BD syndicate is a great tool to use, if your lost by this sentance i suggest you look into it). I have 2 friends that work for Cref and never use anythign from the 7, I thought I would be the same but it is very relevant in my daily business
the 66 sucks. i miss all the things i promised i would never do right before clicking the "submit" button to get my score, but i passed with a 78 after getting high 80's on 7. 66 is written by lawyers, almost every question started with, according to the USA, and from what i remember, bunch of questions about canada and mexico...wtf? anyway glad thats all behind me and good luck. only advice is keep taking practice tests until you know the answer and the reason behind the answer without looking at the choices