Series 79 Top-Off & SIE?
Hey guys; unfortunately I failed the old Series 79 by 2% and have to take the new top-off exam + the SIE. Was wondering if anyone's gone through the new format and what it's like. My company provided me with a Solomon Exam Prep account, but I found the actual FINRA questions to be noticeably more difficult than Solomon's practice quizzes. I come from a liberal arts background so I was learning a lot of the content for the first time, but acknowledge I clearly didn't put in enough hours to compensate. I plan on scheduling my next try for later this month. Any tips would be appreciated, thanks!
Hey aidenheyltor, I think you deserve a response...heck, everyone does. We're listening, sorry about the delay ...my best guess at places on WSO that could help:
No promises, but sometimes if we mention a user, they will share their wisdom: chickencharlie Michael-Acely Muniri
If those topics were completely useless, don't blame me, blame my programmers...
Passed the new Series 79 today. Now for the SIE.
SIE is pretty broad, it might be more challenging without a finance background. It’s basically an overview of everything, but the FINRA questions are harder than practice material.
I believed this is because the test is so new and the practice questions haven’t adjusted yet. If you passed 79 you should be okay.
Any reason you started with 79 instead of SIE? I'm doing SIE>79>63.
How was the new 79? How long did you take to prepare?
Just PM'ed you. Am in the same boat as you, studying for the SIE right now.
How was the SIE??
Very easy compared to 63/old 79. No roman numeral questions (like A) I and II, etc) and VERY little math. There were a few questions that actually made no sense and questions as easy as asking what a Keogh or Euro were. Kind of all over the place. I passed the Benchmark exam for the SIE on Knopman, but never actually passed any other test I took. Definitely wouldn't stress over options/yields as much as I did.
Hey guys and gals, sorry for the delayed response; wasn't following the thread. Hope this is still useful for people. I felt the new 79 + SIE was significantly easier than the original 79. I think the biggest cause of this was reducing the test time to two shorter sessions.
I elected to take the new 79 top-off before the SIE because I didn't want to forget any of the old 79 material that I'd already studied. However, if you haven't been exposed to any of the 79 content yet, I think starting with the introductory SIE is logical.
As for what prep guides I used: I kept using Solomon for the 79 and was able to pass without much difficulty. However, I tried Knopman Marks for the SIE and felt its videos were superior at explaining new concepts; after taking the test, I felt that I almost didn't need to read the textbook, and would have been fine with just the videos.
thank you!
Got it, giving myself like 7 days to study after taking the 79 top off so will see what happens
I passed the SIE last week and have the 79 top-off coming up in about two weeks. Any insight on the exam? Surprises? I'm using Knopman & Marks for prep.
Any others take the 79 top off recently? Do they give you an actual grade? Or only pass/fail?
I only got a pass; don't know what my % was
With the new format its just a pass/fail at the end. Also I would second that while the knopman prep is good, some of the wording on the actual test can be confusing and they may use names for securities that werent the same as the syntax used in the book so watch out for that when you're preparing. Overall the new structure is very manageable as long as you read the book and try not to take big gaps studying when you're prepping.
Just passed. Found it pretty easy -- there were some random treasury yield questions and still hit hard on fairness opinions. Not that many exhibits (1-2) or that much math (4-5 questions -- no LIFO/FIFO, WACC, CAPM), M&A scenarios, and lots of Reg M and Reg D. Goodwill also appeared three times?
PS I'm also selling my textbook with class notes -- someone take them!!
Knopman?
Yes
Old thread, but wondering how ppl liked Knopman for the series exams? Currently prepping for the SIE and curious if anyone has any insight into how similar the practice exams are to the actual exam.
Knopman is honestly all you need; their videos are super helpful. LOL this thread almost feels like an advertisement for them, but they’re definitely the best/closest resource imo
Gonna bump this because I just took it and can answer my own question, which might be a good reference for ppl w/ the same question in the future.
The exam itself is incredibly basic and easy. Thought that Knopman was pretty good, but the exam was significantly more heavy on the regulatory and customer accounts aspect than what Knopman said to expect - answering a bunch of K's practice questions is helpful for drilling that rote BS into your head. Surprisingly light on munis and options (3-4 questions in aggregate), corporate debt was the most heavily tested single topic.
BBA18 - I take the Series 79 this week. Was the wording & format of the exam consistent with how Knopman's Q bank is? I am doing ok (low-to-mid 70s) on the Q bank tests, but nervous about it since the 79 Top-Off exam is new and not enough info is out yet on it.
Does anyone have any information on how accurate the STC (Securities Training Corporation) textbook is? Seems like everyone here had Knopman.
PS - if anyone still has their Knopman flashcards or access, if you could send my way, I would be very grateful. I am taking the exam next week.
Bump. Curious on STC as well.
I've used Knopman for other tests in the past, but now I am using STC for another test. I think I like Knopman better, there's a reason they have such a high pass rate % (although I'm not sure how they gather this data).
I'm prob gonna end up just buying Knopman out of pocket for the new tests I'm taking, my firm gave me STC...I'm not a fan.
One of the big cons of STC in my opinion is that their flashcards suck. The questions on the flashcards are so vague there's so many possible answers. The tests kind of strike me as easier than FINRA tests actually are. Knopman's are harder. In general Knopman's platform is better in my opinion. The guy doing the lectures bores me more than the Knopman bro which believe it or not can be a major con.
Hey - just to give everyone an update, I passed the SIE with the STC. It was very accurate and the practice tests are pretty close to the real thing as of summer 2019. I'll be using it for the 63 and 79
Have you taken the 79TO yet?
Are you will to share the SIE and series 63 and 79 books?
Has anyone here recently taken the S79 top off? I take it in a few days and was wondering what they hit heavy on.
Can anyone comment on the S79 top off using STC materials? My firm gave me STC but I am getting concerned after reading some of the reviews about the questions from STC being vastly different and easier than the actual exam
Interested as well
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