Failed S63 - what now?

I failed the Series 63 exam today, after having passed the SIE and the S79 shortly before. Honestly feeling dejected since this is not the start I wanted for my career. Plan on re-taking it as soon as I am eligible to (ie. in 30 days).  

Question: Will this have an impact on my reputation or bucket or opinion within the group I am joining? Was the top intern within the group last summer but I just feel like seeing 99% of the people pass the exam and me being that 1% really undermines my performance. 

Also for those that didn't pass the S63 the first time, what did you do to make sure you passed the second time along?

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63 is all about memorization of the rules. No other way around it, just know that shit cold. I wouldn’t worry about it honestly. It sucks now, but people will forget and the series exams are not any indication of how well you can do the job. My MD failed his S79 as analyst for example. All good dude, not the end of the world.

 

I did have knopman, but they used the Kaplan Qbank for S63 where I think the biggest issue was for S79 and SIE the Qbanks were harder than the actual exam, and here it was flipped. I think now that I have more days I am just going to drill down conceptually through the textbook, will only practice Qbank questions once I am very confident in the material because I am gonna run out of questions otherwise. 

 

If you don’t want to wait 30 days you can take the Series 66 which will qualify you as both an agent and IAR. That is, it covers the requirements of both Series 63 and Series 65. Just make sure your firm’s compliance department permits it.

It’s a sunk cost at this point - just get back to studying and pass it next time. Crack a new book to utilize as a different resource if you thought the first one wasn’t good. Supplement your reading with practice questions every day which reinforces the memorization.

 

Just to add to the above excellent suggestion, if you did not pass the 63, doing the 66 may be a lot and I found it helpful to do them separately, including because they are quite different as you know:  Series 63 mainly re B/D requirements and 65 portfolio structuring.  

I used Knopman for the 63 and was quite happy with the materials.  The 63 is a lot about "concepts" (e.g. exempt securities etc.) so I think it is very important to go back and forth between practice tests and the various themes in the 63.  I can't imagine you would have to memorize every single "exempt transaction" (and even if a question required that you did, that would just be one question).  So know the all the concepts (in the study book) well and alternate with a lot of practice questions.

But not so many practice questions where you feel you are burning out on questions.  You want a fresh mind.  I did a whole framework of how to approach these exams on Reddit (don't cram etc.) and I could try to track it down if you want.  Every approach is different, but worked for me -- I passed SIE/63/65 on first try.

Good luck. 

 

Watch the lectures, repeatedly read the key concepts, and take practice exams. Take quizzes (10-20 questions) on any units/chapters you find difficult. I had Knopman too and passed within 4 days. Just make sure to get a lot of practice questions in (550+)

 

I only read parts of the textbook where I was continuously getting answers wrong. Another thing I forgot to mention was I alternated between full exams on all units and full exams with just units 2,6,7 as they comprise the largest portion of the exam (this is what Knopman recommended). On the benchmark exam I got 87% and I was averaging around 83% in the 4 practice exams prior (including diagnostics).

 

I didn't call the guy dumb. I said his priorities need to slightly be reevaluated. He mentions his bucket and reputation above asking about how to pass the exam in the first place. This IMO is the reason why people who are more than capable of passing such hurdles trip in the first place. Distracting themselves with things like bonuses, buckets and success which they will have plenty of time to dwell over soon enough. The single assigned task during onboarding from the start is to pass these exams. If you've been hired, your firm has paid for you to go through training, you aren't under the kosh on multiple deals, then just focus on the single job given to you and study for the exams.

 

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