Passed today on the 3rd try!
So I finally passed after the third try. I wanted to share my experiences while they are still fresh.
I took it the first time around after only studying for 10 days after I passed my series 7. I will say, I passed the series 7 and the SIE on the first tries with no problems. I failed the first time with a 68, and the second time with a 72, which is frustrating to say the least. I 100% blame myself for the failures as the first one I was trying to rush it before major surgery, and I still wasn't fully recovered when I took it the second time.
This time, I focused on the core areas I was weak in. I used Kaplan and kept taking practice tests and identified that I was weak in a few core areas. I drilled those heavily over the last week until I could get those question pools into the 80's. I watched all of the Kaplan videos re-read all of the material in those chapters, but I focused where I was weak, not on the whole test. Yesterday, I drilled for about 8 hours again in those areas and ended by watching the 90 minute series 66 video online and took copius notes. I actually had chat gpt questioning me while I drove the hour to the test center this morning and talked through the weaknesses there as well, so I was prepping up until the minute I walked in.
I had a few things in my mind note wise and wrote those down on the provided paper before I did anything. I wanted to retain that info, mainly the "seesaw" bond graphic on nominal yield, current yeild, etc. That for me was a big thing I missed on the previous test.
The test I had today was the hardest by far compared to the other two. There were a lot of questions, which honestly I didn't prep for on tennancy and some super wierd ones on insider information, which honestly I don't know if I got right or not as it was not even remotely clear cut.
The Kaplan Q bank was good, but it didn't not match a lot of what was on the test from a material point of view. The other two tests were much more aligned. I took the test, checked off the ones I wasn't sure on, and then went back. I did take a break after I finished the test and had 1 hour remaining. I went back and revisited every one of the ones I was unsure of (About 15 questions and I changed maybe 3 answers). I then retook the entire test and reviewed every single question again. I finished that second review with three minutes to spare.
Said a quick prayer, and hit the button and was so thankful this one was a pass. I will say that at the halfway point, I was 100% sure I would fail this one again. After I re-reviewed every single question, I felt very confident overall in the answers and felt like it would be a pass.
Read the material, watch all of the videos, test, test test. Focus on where you are weak and put the emphasis into that. Recognize that there are only a few sections on the test that are heavily weighted in the questions, and put your emphasis there.
I probably had 200 hours of total study time for this test when everything was said and done.
Keep at it and you can definetly get it!