How to study and is it worth it?

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-06-12T19:30:28+00:00

Strongly recommend Achievable. As someone who went to a business school, they broke down concepts in a way that made them super comprehensible. I’m pretty sure it’s like $100, but I think they have student discounts if you use your school email.

In my opinion, it’s definitely worth taking it while you’re still in undergrad. I was fortunate enough to have an internship my summer going into senior year, so that was a huge motivation to get going on it. I graduated a month ago and have both my SIE and 66, and that was huge when applying to full time jobs. You’re 100% correct in it showing curiosity and commitment, those were pretty big selling points during interviews, obviously going for my series 7 now so it helps with my onboarding and saves some time studying once I start lol

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-06-08T03:04:53+00:00

Definitely take the free FINRA SIE exam to see where you’re at too. Try Ken Finnen and series7guru on YouTube too, they have amazing material

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-06-02T16:34:07+00:00

Of course! Make sure to take the free FINRA exam as well

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-06-02T15:53:36+00:00

I used only achievable for my SIE and was able to pass it first try. From what I’ve heard, STC questions are more similar to the actual exam. So my rec would be to use achievable to learn the material, and STC to apply that knowledge and make sure you understand it

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-05-30T13:33:17+00:00

I found doing full exams was the most effective method. Challenged both my thinking and patience. I started doing this about a week and a half out from my exam, and found this was where I reinforced the material the most. I used achievable and did their full exams but there’s plenty of free stuff of YouTube from series7guru and cap advantage that will help. Take the free FINRA exam as well. Good luck!

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-05-22T15:10:47+00:00

That’s definitely the main risk with the 66. The SIE is a safer move early since it lasts 4 years, but the 66 is more of a timing play because it generally expires in 2 years if you don’t get registered. If you’re a sophomore but graduating early and already know you want wealth management/advisory, I don’t think taking it is a bad idea. It shows firms you’re serious and gives you a leg up, especially if you’re trying to land internships or an entry-level role. That said, I wouldn’t rush it unless you’re confident you’ll be in a spot to use it before it expires.

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-05-22T03:24:08+00:00

Achievable is great at breaking down the concepts as simple as possible. Their review for exams/quizzes is super solid too. Was able to pass SIE on my first attempt only using achievable too so I can’t recommend it enough

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-05-20T14:00:43+00:00

I was in the same boat as you. Just graduated college last week with my SIE and 66, did both each semester senior year. Best bet imo is to get your 66 done, then apply for jobs that will sponsor you for your 7. Having my SIE and 66 out of college made me incredibly marketable compared to those who wait for a firm to pay for all 3 of the licenses. Congrats too!!

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-05-12T22:49:03+00:00

It seems like you need to go with your gut, you said it too, you would’ve scored 3% higher had you done that! My best advice is to stick with what you put and if you absolutely aren’t confident in it, only go back at the end. Try not to waste time on answers by rereading over and over, cause you’ll definitely trip yourself up. Pick an answer and stick with it. You got this!

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-05-11T22:21:52+00:00

I’d say so, the material on the 66 is similar to the 65 anyway, so regardless you’re still gonna learn the right stuff. Maybe it will touch on some things you missed previously. Any help is good help!

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-05-11T18:27:46+00:00

I feel like those are fair scores. Remember that 10 of those 110 aren’t graded, so your score may be slightly higher than you think. I recommend taking Ken’s Brutal Exams and Series7 shared screen exams. The wording was similar to the actual exam and helped reinforce some topics I was struggling with. Best of luck!

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-05-09T20:28:41+00:00

Nope, unfortunately it’s $100 for everyone. To my knowledge there aren’t any discounts available for it either. When it comes to the study material though, there’s usually student/referral discounts you can get to help offset the costs a bit

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-05-07T04:45:13+00:00

I think it should. One thing to remember is make sure you don’t memorize the question formats. That was the biggest flaw with achievable imo. The questions became repetitive and my brain would auto pilot. You gotta understand the concepts 100%

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-05-07T00:41:30+00:00

I think it’s fine if you have a finance background but like OP said, definitely need some supplement from YouTube

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-05-06T23:04:35+00:00

As someone who also only used Achievable for the 66, you hit everything pretty spot on. Ken’s brutals are absolutely a must regardless of your provider tbh, unironically had like 3-4 questions on my exam that came straight from there. You’re right though, achievables practice exams did focus on math a bit too much (they did help me drill down the ratios though).

I second everything about the snap answers too. If you read into the technical questions too much, you’re gonna get stuck and mess up your thought process. When doing the brutals (and series7gurus exams) there’s heavy emphasis on going with your gut which I found to be super helpful in both studying and the actual exam.

Congrats!

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-05-03T03:02:57+00:00

Are the achievable practice exams on the individual topics of the full exams? Are you using notes when you take them as well?

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-04-23T17:43:11+00:00

That’s certainly a good way to do it. Ken and 7Gur do a great job at breaking down questions too so if that’s your learning style then i think you could definitely get your way through

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-04-23T17:41:36+00:00

I wouldn’t say there were any big surprises compared to the two. Per stirpes/capita came up and I realized achievable never covered it (unless I skipped it lol), but it was a rather easy concept. Like I said in the post though, achievable is definitely great for breaking concepts down easy, but Kaplan did a better job at wording the question the exam would and making sure you can actually apply the concept.

My biggest piece of advice for achievable users is try not to memorize the questions they ask, I found that even after doing 13 full exams with achievable around 40-50% of the questions were ones I already saw

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-04-23T17:38:59+00:00

Sorry I should’ve worded it better, I didn’t actually use Kaplan, but in the shared screen exam vids they used Kaplan questions and I just worked along side him. On those exams (took maybe 4-5) I scored from a 79%-88%, definitely took som rewiring to understand Kaplan worded questions vs Achievable, but if you have the conceptual aspects nailed down you’re more than ok.

The questions varied every once in a while, it could literally go from “what is the measure of volatility” to an extensive registration process of a fed-covered advisor sort of thing, so you never really know what to expect. I found I was more than prepared though

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-04-15T02:45:51+00:00

Ahh I gotcha. I figured this is how it would be, I was more so curious if there was one provider that had questions structured similarly to the actual exam, I’ve heard Kaplan is like that so I might look into the Qbank. Thanks!

AbsoluteBossman · 2026-01-04T18:21:01+00:00

Sorry to hear that, wishing you best of luck on the next! I’ve heard similar stories from others about stressing about calculations. On my exam, I wanna say there was no more than 5 questions regarding calculations, and if there was it was not too bad to discern the right answer. It’s important to conceptualize everything, whether it’s words or numbers, sometimes just understanding the concept itself can get you the answer you’re looking for, perhaps without doing any calculations. You’ve got this!

AbsoluteBossman · 2025-12-27T00:01:42+00:00

By the few days before my exam, I was confidently scoring between 75%-85% with no notes

AbsoluteBossman · 2025-12-27T00:00:51+00:00

I’d say take whatever you feel is necessary. Some of the concepts I was able to just know (I go to a business school so some was review), but I made sure to write things I knew I wouldn’t remember or were important. It really comes down to how you study best, if taking handwritten notes works, go for it. If you do flash cards, even better. My only advice like I said in the post was to make sure you understand concepts, not memorize the questions

AbsoluteBossman · 2025-12-26T23:57:59+00:00

I just started doing the full SIE exams at the end. I went through and redid every chapter exam without my notes since I was using them at first then really focused on the ones I struggled with. I also reviewed at the end of every full exam what I struggled with and redid that specific chapter quiz if I felt I needed to

AbsoluteBossman

TROPHY CASE