Didn’t pass SIE exam

Hey, so I have no finance background. Thought I could just read the book and videos and that I would pass Bc I know the content. Well that ended up not being the case. I almost got a 70 but didn’t (right below, like a 65-67 range). 
 

I went over the STC material and did the finra practice test and another. What would you recommend me to do?? I also have to study for series 7 and 63 which are harder. I’ve not slept much Bc of the stress so I know that my life being all over the place Bc of external reasons has been a factor too. And just the pressure of these exams.
 

I have 30 days to retake this SIE exam

 
rickle

Don't waste time re - reading the book. Just drill and drill and drill. Take tons of practice tests AND review the answers (both the wrong and right ones) and basically memorize them. Many of the exact questions are on the test. It's not about really knowing the stuff, it's about passing.

You might want to know that the prep providers no longer write the questions that are on exams.  Memorizing questions and answers might have worked 25 years ago but it is not a good strategy today. 

 

I disagree. Took the exam last year with no finance background. I felt the STC practice tests were the most helpful thing to study with followed by the videos. The book is an inefficient way of studying and is the last option I’d go to.

 

Sorry to hear that, but it is pretty common! The overall first-time pass rate for the SIE is something like 70%. You're really close and you'll pass on your next take.

Check out the test prep WSO recommends - Achievable SIE exam prep.

We wrote it specifically for people new to finance and our materials have a reputation for being a lot easier to understand.

PM me and I'm happy to give you a discount code~

Founder of https://achievable.me - modern test prep for the FINRA SIE, S7, and GRE.
 

It’s not common, all of our new analysts and associates passed it on the first try. At a proper form we had one fail the 63, but they were the worst analyst I’ve ever worked with. That said, it happens and OP needs to study harder, starting by reading the book, then watching the lectures and finally doing all of the questions striving to understand what they got wrong and why.

 

I mean, I'm also interested.  I never took it b/c I was grandfathered in, but it's what they made the MARKETING people take when it started, and I don't think a single one of them failed.

Is it stupid memorization like the 7/63/65? (Have/had all of those)

I don't have advice, but I took a really odd path and had my charter before I first sat for the 7/63.  I found everything except the stupid laws sections boring/useless and easy.  I knocked both out in two weeks.  I had also actually done financial planning for years before getting my CFP. (they gave us three days.  I went on a four day bender with a long weekend then took it in two hours[hardest part was the mandatory hour lunch break] and was back before the lunch specials ended at my local bar.)

Study and suck it up.  I know a guy who spent six years getting his CFA charter.  He's just as respected as the guy who spent 18 months and threw in a CAIA for good measure.

The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.
 

i have taken all three and I don't know about you but the exams are basically hit or miss and have no reflection on the persons intellect. You basically have to memorize almost a thousand questions to give yourself a fair shot and is not reflective of the type of work we'll be doing. You don't need to know retirement accounts or the settlement dates for 13F offerings to be a banker. 

The answer choices are so vague and ambiguous its basically feels like a guessing game. Like asking cardiology students after months of hard work and studying the heart:

"What do we breathe in"

A. Air

B. Oxygen 

C. Nitrogen

D. A mixture of gases 

The finra exams make you study specific topics only to ask questions that can only be described at ancillary to the study material at best. Which is why everyone is saying reading the textbook is a waste of time.

 

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