Keep on with the practice tests.  Try to find other practice tests from other providers like Kaplan, Princeton, etc…  I think these practice tests are the number one determiner of success.

I mean I’ve been studying for a the past 8 weeks or so, but a lot is riding on it.  I had a gameplan of go through each chapter carefully and take notes, which took awhile…now I’m just watching on demand lectures while taking notes, and then it’s just review notes and take practice tests non stop until the exam.  That is my gameplan. 

What I’m saying is that doing the practice exams will prepare you better than anything else.  I have 7 FINRA licenses and the last 4 of them I only took the practice exams and nothing else.

I think I still have 20+ practice exams to do…haha

When I took it I would guess that 30-40% was option problems. It was
said to me that if you feel comfortable with options you have a
significant portion of the test nailed.

The only “lecture” I would be watching is one on how to pass the exam.  And then keep taking practice exams until you consistently score 80% and above.  Then you have a chance of passing.

Good luck.

Ditto what everyone else has said.  Practice tests, practice tests, practice tests.  If you are consistantly over 85% on practice test you will be fine.

take it drunk

Keep doing what you're doing.  Lots of practice exams.  Know options and muni's like the back of your hand. 

Hey New Rep -

Don’t worry…it’s really not that bad!  I didn’t do much studying, I just attended the crash course put on by training consultants and voila!  I must say, that the 2 or so minutes that you watch the hourglass spin while to computer grades the test is the longest ever!  Just for a point of reference, I took 5 final exams prior to taking the 7 the week before and scored 79,86,84,82,77 and I got an 84% on the exam, so the practice tests are the way to go!  email me if you you want anymore specific pointers, the crash course was really great and she gave us some helpful hints to pass the exam.  A few weeks back she gave a course and she had 100% of the people pass!  And anybody else that’s studying…check out the training consultants website, Tina is the lady that runs the course and boy is it well worth the $$!  I would bet that if someone were to just take her course and then study for 3-5 days after…they would pass for sure!

Well one more day of studying.  Today I went through practice tests on the specific topics, so I went through Issuing Exempt Sec, 1933, and I’m working on Margin now.  I figure if I nail these specific topic practice exams (online version, test bank I believe pulls every question from all the practice tests on each topic), I should be okay.  My only concern is that I’m scoring between 70-80% so I’m focusing on area of weakness and the major topics today and tomorrow.  I’ve taken probably 8-10 practice tests but I don’t have enough time to every single practice test so I’m using this methodology.  I’ll probably take a few more practice tests tomorrow and call it a day.  Really nervous but realize there isn’t anything I can do about it.  Thank you for the feedback.

Margin is a small part of the exam. I would focus more on options and bonds - municipals and government. You can always reschedule.

Here is my story.  I’m a career changer who was brought on by a small financial planning firm.  I started the Series 7 training in early September using the Pass Perfect books & on-line quizzes/tests.  Took me well into October to complete the first textbook (which included Debt and Options).  Only took me a few more weeks to finish the second textbook.  I used most of November just to review and take practice tests.  Those results were not all that great.  Early scores were mid 60s and 70s.  Ouch.  I eventually improved on the scores but rarely got higher than low 80s.  I was not impressed with the Pass Perfect books so I also used Investopedia’s on-line Series 7 tutorials and Series 7 Exam Cram to supplement things.  Finally I bought Series 7 for Dummies.  That simplified some of the concepts for me.  Despite that I was concerned about the test.

On the day of the test I was a nervous wreck.  With the test on the screen I found the first 30 or questions very elementary.  I ended up not having to spend a whole lot of time per question.  Ninety minutes later I had completed for first section of the test.  I felt pretty good.  After the mandatory half hour break, I resumed.  This time it took a little longer to complete but I was still done before lunchtime.  Scored an 80%.  Whew.

Thoughts:  (1) Options are complicated and the text books tend to give you the most difficult concepts.  I thought the options questions on the test were basic in nature and tested your understanding of the overall concepts rather than number crunching.  (2) Debt and margin were like options.  The test grilled you on the basics and very little on number crunching.  (3) The Pass Perfect tests were much harder than the actual test.  Probably designed that way to back up their money back guarantee promise.  (4) Expect to see questions/concepts you have never seen before.  These may be part of the “not counted questions” or may be inserted in there just to prevent folks from getting super high scores.

In conclusion, the best advice I can give is do all the practice tests you can.  If you can routinely pass them you should be okay.

Hey NewRep…how’d it go?

I did not pass and I was let go from MSSB.  I was a few % off.  In retrospect, I spent too much time going through and reading each chapter while take notes.  I would have just read through and started taking practice exams.  I got my password for the software a week late but I just ran out of time I didn’t get through as many practice exams as I wanted to.  I plan on taking it somehow in 25 days, I just need to find a sponsor.  I feel terrible about this but I have to move forward.  I am going to take it and pass it. Any advice or suggestions on how to get sponsored would be appreciated.

Apply at another firm.

I’m going to apply to other firms, but I might know some people who own a few small investment companies locally that I can try to have sponsor me.  I’m hoping with my 7 in hand in 25 days, I will have more flexibility, go back to MSSB or another company at that point.  But I will be applying to a few companies, I know EJ is hiring locally right now.  It really sucks but this is what I want to do and I’m not going to let this hold me back.

i was sponsored by a boiler-room-esque stock brokerage, passed the 7 and 63 (they gave me 3 months, which is more than a wire would have) and left shortly after being put in production because i didn’t really like it. but, they hit me with a bill when i left. now im 7 & 63 in hand, indebted about 1,500.00 to my old boss, and looking for a reputable joint to take me.

According to Series 7 Tutor, http://www.series7tutor.com/Tutoring_Assessment.html the options portion should only be 20% of the exam, not 30% to 40%.  How did you end up doing on the exam?