SIE , Series 79 and Series 63 Advice

Hey fellas,

I just wrapped up getting my SIE, S79 and S63 within 120 days of starting my full time role and I wanted to provide some advice to anyone taking it. I know this topic has been spoken about a lot, but these forums really helped me prepare and I felt like I should do the same. I used Knopman Marks.

High level: Everyone loves to talk about how easy the test were, or how little they studied - DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM. By no means are any of these test super difficult (80%+ first try passing rate), but they aren't easy either. You need to have a dedicate study plan and routine to pass these test. There are numerous ways to study, find what works for you. I personally recommend taking notes on the videos, and skimming through these notes a few times a week + QBank + summary + additional notes (email sent from Knopman). MAKE SURE YOU READ THE ANSWER CHOICES FOR ALL QUESTIONS, RIGHT OR WRONG.

SIE:

• Difficulty: Medium - Really high level topics, but an abundance of information
• Study time: 50 hours - 80 hours (depends on your ability to retain information, experience/knowledge, etc.)
• Study tips: Focus on understanding all the topics at a high level, definitions and associating words (i.e; old investor > conservative investments > liquid + stable > munis, money market, etc.). Don't get caught up in the quantitative questions and work on eliminating answer choices. This is an ENTRY LEVEL TEST!!
• How I prepared: Knopmans videos + workbook > class summary > QBank (wrote answers/notes next to respective section in summary). Was hitting low 80s before test and mid 80s on assessments/benchmark

Series 79:

• Difficulty: Medium/Hard - More in-depth than the SIE with more difficult quantitative questions (not that much harder though)
• Study time: 60 hours - 120 hours 
• Study tips: Same tips as the SIE, but make sure you focus on word associations - this will help you eliminate answer choices. Write out all the major topics: IPO, M&A, Tender, Bankruptcy, Documents, Placements, Regulations, Suitability, Advisor Roles, and Quantitative. When completing the QBank you will get ultra-specific answers, it is important you read these, but also recognize which ones are stupidly complicated. Financial Statements provided on test are super small (10-15 lines), and are pretty straight forward. 
• How I prepared: Knopmans videos + workbook > class summary > QBank (wrote answers/notes next to respective section in summary > note sheet). Was hitting low 80s before test and on assessments/benchmark

Series 63:

• Difficulty: Easy/Medium - Gets pretty specific and often times is underplayed as super easy
• Study time: 25 hours - 50 hours 
• Study tips: This test has a small amount of material. It is important you read and understand all of the material provided, and are able to rationalize your answer choices. A lot of the answer choices were extremely similar and had one word differences. Know the big 5 (BD, Agent, IA, IAR, Admin) and State v Fed regulations/jurisdiction
• How I prepared: Knopmans videos + workbook > class summary > Kaplan QBank (wrote answers/notes next to respective section in summary). Was hitting mid 80s before test and low 90 on benchmark - however, I felt like the Kaplan questions were not as strong as Knopman's questions on other test. 90% on Kaplan = 80-85% on Knopman

Timeline Breakdown:

• 6 weeks for SIE
• 8 weeks for S63
• 2.5 weeks for S63

Study Tips:

• Create a schedule (1 chapter every 2 days, etc.)
• I found taking 30Q after each chapter to be the most effective way to learn
• Prioritize the heavily tested chapters
• Most of your time should be allocated towards doing the QBank
• Make sure you are understanding what you are reading, not just reading