r/Series66Exam

Passed last week on my third attempt of the 66. I passed my SIE, and my series 7 on the first go around and went into the 66 very confident. My firm paid for Kaplan so I felt confident. The first attempt I got a 60 and the second attempt I got a 72.

After the second attempt I decided that the Kaplan Qbank was not similar enough to the actual exam wording and bought the TestGeek Video courses and final as well as the STC exams. I thought the STC exams were easily the closest to the real wording from the exams, even having 5 or so questions practically word for word. I used the advice I saw a lot in this group about Ken's Brutal Exams and it was absolutely right. His two video exams on Youtube were very good in terms of closeness to the real exam, with another 3-5 almost word for word.

All in all, very happy and relieved to have finally passed my last license exam. Good luck to everyone still taking this exam.

Taking my test on the 29th I used Kaplan highest I’ve got is a 71 so far I’ll really start to study now that I’m about a week and half out. I’ve watched both Kenna brutal exams and felt good about them both I’ll rewatch them next week. Anything else I should do or focus on?

Kaplan is garbage

Way too many "kaplan style questions" any long math problems are a absolute waste of time.

--------------------

Examfx is garbage

Way too many "examfx style questions" any long math problems are a absolute waste of time.

------------------------

Passperfect is garbage

I didn't purchase this but probably way too many "passperfect style questions" I use google gemini and chatgpt to check one of their questions. https://www.reddit.com/r/Series65/comments/1tfc432/i_would_probably_avoid_pass_perfect/

google gemini is pretty excellent to be honest. it is easily much better than chatgpt and much more free. chatgpt gave me a bs answer cause it had no idea. gemini straight up just said "none of these choices are correct." dont trust passperfect

-----------------------

Achievable is garbage

you can do achievable practice test and you will see it has the same issues as the others. way too many questions that is in their "own style."

-------------------------

What absolutely murdered me.

Long questions that were a absolute waste of time with these exams. The actual exams have 0 long math questions and these exams will absolutely waste a extreme amount of your time by giving you a ton of long math questions that do not relate to the exam at all.

If you want to verify what I said type in "example of math problems that could be on series 65 test" in google gemini. It will confirm at the end "there arent long math problems on the exam." Math questions are going to be 2-3 maybe 4 sentences long and include bonds, yield, holding period, dividend, rule of 72.

You will never get a math problem that requires 10 different steps and your calculator cant even do parentheses. Why they give you questions like this? Simple The test materials are devoid of logic and reasoning. They are a complete waste of money.

What else is on the test

---------------------------

529 plan

UTGA

UTMA

and that other thing

Make sure you know all that.

There will be questions that are entirely 50/50 because there are two answers that mean the exact same thing Grammarly.

There will be questions that just make absolutely no sense whatsoever and probably cant be found anywhere in the stc/kaplan/examfx books.

-------------------------------

Other suggestions

-----------------------------------

You can probably use google gemini to give you common question examples, math question examples, and maybe create a practice test for you.

You may can also use google gemini to populate questions on series 65 that are extremely tricky or just doesnt make any sense. You may need to buy a upgraded version of google gemini. Google gemini is much more intelligent than chatgpt and can clearly explain questions that chatgpt just doesnt quite understand. Google gemini also will not give you a bs answer but chatgpt 100% will if it cant figure it out.

Google gemini explanations are also much more clear than chatgpt.

What I currently purchased right now is STC. So hopefully that is enough to pass series 65 next month.

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!

I have an issue and could use some advice. I leave for Italy on May 29, so I’m debating whether I should take the Series 66 exam on May 28 before my trip, or wait until after I get back.

So far I’ve only taken 3 STC practice finals, and my scores from earliest to latest were 54%, 68%, and 70%.

If I take it before Italy, I’d have about 9 more days to study. The other option would be to keep studying while I’m in Italy, come back on June 13, and take the exam on June 26.
I’m not sure which option makes more sense. Any advice?

I got a 66 the first time. Rushed and didn’t study as hard, figured i didn’t need to since half the material is from the 7. wish i knew that was a big reason a lot of people fail first time around.

First time only used kaplan, after I failed I bought pass perfect. if you have the money i highly recommend paying for it, i think its the sole reason i passed both the 66 and 7.

I started studying at the beginning of April. On my own time too, so I didn’t have a life last month and the first half of this month. I used PassPerfect, which over-prepared me for the real exam the same way it did for the 7 and 63. I kept my study strategies simple. Made lots of flash cards because writing things down is how I retain information. Always read over the explanations of any questions I got wrong on a quiz or practice final. I also practiced writing a “brain dump” sheet over the last week that contained various facts and formulas that I knew I needed help remembering.

I briefly looked at Ken’s brutal exam, but I didn’t stay on it too long. The comment section had too much debate about correct answer choices and I do feel like PassPerfect was more than enough. It gives longer/wordier/trickier questions and answer choices than what’s on the actual exam, so that you will have stamina on the real exam.

I didn’t take tons of practice final exams. I only took two lol. Got an 81 and 75. My strengths were who registers where, who is exempt, securities, suitability, ethics, types of accounts. Basically… the important topics. Instead of taking tons of practice finals and creating more fatigue than what I already had… I decided to keep reviewing my flash cards and take more of the shorter practice quizzes based off of my strengths. I understood some of the Math stuff like CAPM, Alpha, Beta, bond things, fundamental analysis but I had so much mental fatigue by that last chapter of PassPerfect that I made peace with not fully internalizing a lot of the Math stuff. If you are similar to me… I do recommend drilling the heavy topics so that you can give yourself some wiggle room.

Good luck everyone!

Long story short, I cruised through the SIE, 7 and Life and Health exams and was humbled by the 66. I got cocky after passing the 7 and scheduled the 66 for a week later. DO NOT DO THIS!!!!

I failed the first try with a 68 which told me I didn’t fully understand the depth of the concepts I had studied. This is an exam that you need to take your time with, practice with 1500-2k questions. Repetition is key. You want to be in a position to where you know the answer to the question without even looking at the options. Thank you again to Ken for everything you have on your channel. To everyone debating whether or not to pay for his membership, just do it! You’ll be glad you did when you pass.

PM if you have any questions. Excited for the road that lies ahead. Onto the next challenge!

I take the 66 for the first time next Thursday. I’m using PassPerfect and have gotten a 75, 75, 76, 78, 85, and 79 on the final exams respectively. That said, I got a 68 and 66 on two Kaplan exams so far.

I used PassPerfect a few years ago for my initial exams a few years ago, and it’s WAY more streamlined now. But part of me feels like it’s too straightforward and not super aligned with the exam.

Kaplan on the other hand seems like it’s gaslighting me on every question, but seems to overprepare. I generally feel like I have a great grasp on everything except formulas, which I will work on. I know scores aren’t everything, but can anyone provide insight into my current status a week out?

AHHH!!! I can't even express how huge of a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I am DONE!!! It took me three tries to get the 7 (not a math gal), but breezed through this one in a little over an hour.

What they say is true - if you hammer the questions and practice exams, and take the time to understand why you got something wrong, you'll come out successful on the other end!

Things that helped me were this subreddit and reading about other people's experiences, taking all of the full length practice exams through STC (tested anywhere between 68 & 82 on those), realizing that I tested much better in the morning versus the evening so I scheduled a 9am test, I took both of Ken's brutal exams twice (two weeks apart), and created exam style flashcards (about 300) thru Quizlet that I reviewed in any downtime I had. I did the "learn" or "test" function and that really helped hammer home certain concepts. If anyone would like a link to my Quizlet flashcards, please let me know!

As far as the tutor goes, Sebastian E. via Wyzant was amazing in helping to give me confidence and learn how to break down questions and answers in an incredibly helpful way. I was lucky enough that my firm paid for his services, as he isn't the cheapest, but if you are able to use a tutor, I can't recommend him enough. He helped me finally pass the 7 and pass this test first time.

Now, lastly, for my draw...

I was blessed by the test gods to only have to pull out my calculator for one question. As expected, a ton of questions on registration requirements for securities and individuals, who qualifies as an IAR, joint account questions, a couple on insurance products, a bunch on suitability, a couple on employer sponsored plans. Shockingly, I had no questions on irr, holding period return, finding alpha, etc.. I think that my one math questions was just calculating future value....and it was the same question that was on one of ken's brutal exams soooo maybe definitely make sure you watch those!

My biggest advice would be to make sure you understand exactly what the question is asking for as there were a few questions that had answers that were technically correct but didn't apply to the question being asked.

Thank you to Ken, Sebastian, and all of you here on this subreddit!! YOU GOT THIS!

***edited for typo

Not sure what this means but I’ve taken 3 simulated exams 77,77,82 and then took the practice exam today and scored a 61? Is the practice exam significantly harder? Is this a fluke on my part? Or do I really need to reconsider taking the exam next week?

I just took the series 66 on Friday and really expected to pass. I was scoring way better on practice tests than I was with the series 7, and I felt like I really understood the content.

In my opinion, the passperfect material was nothing like the real test.... Maybe I got a weird draw, IDK.

My plan is to get the Kaplan Qbank and practice tests, as well as redo every chapter on passperfect and make sure I'm scoring 90s on all the chapter tests.

I was completely devastated when I failed and let a lot of people at work down... I have to pass this next time around. Please any tips greatly appreciated!!!!

I’m planning on taking my 66 this Friday and was hoping to get some feedback. I’ve used Achievable’s textbook and chapter reviews with Kaplan’s Q bank and practice exams. On my last five I’ve scored 77, 70, 72, 73 and 79, however these are the scores graded out of 110 questions not 100. Graded out of 100 my scores are in the high 70’s and 80’s.

I was hoping to hear if you guys think that’s a good spot to be in or if should get my scores up more before I take the exam.

Hey guys, I'm starting my Series 66 studying soon and trying to decide between Kaplan and STC.

I used Kaplan for both the SIE and Series 7 and passed both first try, so I’m already familiar with their style and QBank. I liked how hard the questions were for the 7 because I felt overprepared going into the exam.

That said, I’ve heard some people say STC is better for the 66 specifically and more similar to the actual exam wording. I plan to supplement with Kens videos as well.

For those who’ve taken the 66 recently:

• Which vendor prepared you better?
• Did you feel Kaplan overcomplicated things?
• Is STC enough by itself?
• Anyone use both together?

Appreciate any feedback.

Just passed all three exams required for my role (SIE, 7, 63), as of last Friday. Went into work today and have a week until I start training, which is 40 hrs of dead time. Said fuck it and registered for the 66 this coming Saturday. I have the book from knopman and bought the Kaplan Q bank. What are the highest value items I should focus on to clear this first try???

A stupid man said “u can’t do that in a week” a wise man once said “why the hell not”

Can anyone else relate? I passed my series 66 exam a week ago and I am officially done studying for my new role( passed the series 7 two months ago). I should be excited to begin my new ‘IAR’ journey and I feel far from it. I don’t know if I miss the intense structure of my studying days or the what it is. Can’t seem to get back into my old groove. Anyone out there feel similar? Or am I just in a funk?