Another milestone in my path toward financial planner in the securities industry. I was thinking about getting on Series 65 exam after passing my SIE but changed my mind in the middle of doing: Since I had already bought my Series 63 exam preparation package before Series 65, and since it only has four chapters in the guidebook, I thought why not get that exam behind me first.
Long story short, starting from October 4th I stopped reading Series 65 and switched to Series 63. Then on October 9th, I paid FINRA $145 to enroll in the Series 63 exam that was scheduled today at 3:15 at the Prometric test center in Alameda.
It turned out that I have given myself too much pressure in such a short time for preparation. The Series 63 is a lot like a legal test, in the sense that there was not a single calculation question, all definitions of tricky terms and subtle differences in scenarios. Two days before the exam I did a simulation exam that ExamFX called “Guaranteed exam,” meaning that if I pass that exam and I failed the real exam, they will refund me the money.
Of course I know this is just marketing, but I took it last Friday night and found the result not encouraging, as I only got 70% right, when the pass score is 80% according to ExamFX. Looking back, ExamFX was trying to scare people like me off, as they only listed 14 errors of mine, which should have been translate into 77% right out of a total of 60 questions [(60-14)/60=0.77], close to their passing score of 80%. Of course, setting off alarms is good for test takers, but it also took a big toll on worriers like me. I was telling myself I would fail for sure. I even tried to reschedule the exam except it was too late for that. Friday night I was essentially sleepless, trying to get a handle on many items and knowledge points.
Fortunately, I found the flashcards very useful tool for people with weak memory. I spent the whole weekend on those cards and felt more confident after Sunday.
Today during the exam (65 questions, 75 minutes) I actually felt great because as soon as I saw the questions on the exam, I can quickly tell what knowledge points the questions are about and was able to quickly pick up the right answer. Unlike last time with SIE, I knew during the first round I had a good chance to pass it and sure enough when the time came, I did get the online notice with four letter “Pass.” Unfortunately they do not tell your numerical score.