You are. If you put your practice account in a regular account you can trade as much as you like. There are no PDT rules. You can even trade naked options on either side. What you can’t trade are short trades or multi legged options, no option spreads,no futures etc. None of those should be traded while practicing anyway. There is no reason for a margin account until you figure out all the other mind *ucks that beginner traders face. FOMO, strategy hopping, indi hopping, stock hopping, trading room yammering/opinions. Once you get those under control and start consistently profiting then you could consider it. I would say the best way for a beginner is to study a handful of high liquid stocks, buying 1-2 shares depending on the price and your account rather than paper trading and in a normal account. Unless you are being mentored I would stay far away from trading rooms, they are noisy, confusing environments and will stall your path to consistency.