r/Sieexam

I passed the SIE monday on my third try, and honestly I wanted to post this for anyone feeling discouraged.

My first attempt was back in 2017 when the exam was still combined and much longer. I failed, got discouraged, and put it down for years. Coming back to it after all this time felt intimidating, especially balancing work, commuting, family life, and a baby. I've been working in wealth management for 10 years as an non-registered associate, which unfortunately doesn't help as much as you think it does. I memorized the rules of my company and get them confused with less strict FINRA rules.

This time, the biggest difference was how I studied.

I used Kaplan for the core material, but I also used ChatGPT as a study buddy in a really specific way. I uploaded sections of the Kaplan PDF and used it to help me actually understand concepts instead of just memorizing answers.

A few things that helped me a lot:

• Asking for analogies and real-world examples for difficult topics
• Giving it practice questions and asking: “Explain what the question is really testing, but don’t give me the answer”
• Having it compare similar concepts that are easy to confuse
• Asking it to explain things like I was talking to a client instead of reading a textbook

That last part was huge. Once I understood the “why” behind concepts, I stopped panicking when the wording changed on practice exams.

The SIE is broad. You can memorize hundreds of facts and still get thrown off if you don’t understand suitability, regulations, options basics, customer accounts, market structure, etc. conceptually.

Also, random but maybe useful: before the exam I chewed a piece of caffeine gum. Nothing crazy — equivalent to maybe half a cup of coffee — but it was honestly just enough to keep me alert without getting jittery.

If you failed before, don’t let it convince you that you’re not capable of working in this industry. Sometimes it just means your study method wasn’t matching how your brain learns.

Anyway, if you’re studying right now: keep going. You probably know more than you think you do.

I have a job offer - about 100k more than my current job in banking.

The new roles requires me to be duel hat, thus I need to pass SIE, 63 and 79 within 120 days.

I want the role, but is it worth leaving for the job and risk not passing?

I'm in my 30s.

So, I failed My second attempt at the SIE my score was 68%, which, from what I gathered, just means that I was 1-2 questions off. Downside to this is that my job was contingent on passing, which, hey, sucks, but I got the opportunity to come back in about 2-6 weeks. So, from what I know, I can take a 3rd attempt in 30 days unsponsored, so I'm going to take that time and just review material and maybe study for the 63 too, since that does not need sponsorship. So, since I want to keep this going, does anyone have any tips or tricks to help out? The material I was using was pass perfect from my company(not too sure how long I'll have access to it), but I think my thing now is to reinforce information and scenarios. I also have access to Kaplan's physical material as well. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I noticed a few questions that did not seem to relate to any of the material I remember studying. Has anyone had something like that happen to them, too, or is it just me?

Also, this was my section Analysis

- Knowledge of Capital Markets = Low Performance

- Understanding of Products and Their Risk = Low Performance

- Understanding Trading, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities = Adequate Performance

- Overview of Regulatory Framework =Adequate Performance

Just a quick note I mean to study for the 63 after the SIE was kinda laying out a bit of a game plan of what I want to do.

Comfortably passed the SIE and sharing my own STC practice results so someone can benchmark against it for their own preparation.

I come from an Econ/Finance background from another country so a lot of concepts were familiar to me but the regulations were not. I used only the FINRA practice exam and STC readings followed by chapter quizzes, progress quizzes, then final exams.

First FINRA practice exam with 0 prep was ~60%, then did all the chapters and chapter quizzes ranging from 60-100% (first avg 83%) Progress Exams were 65-90% (avg 83%). Once done, went over again quickly, focusing on the weaker ones and retook most quizzes. Retook FINRA practice and got ~75%. Then grinded through all the practice exams the day before whose scores ranged 76-91% (avg 84%)

I felt like the STC alone did a pretty good job. 2-3 concepts that STC didn’t quiz at all that showed up on the real exam but no big deal. The questions were overall very familiar and if you’re scoring similar to me on STC you’ll have no problem on the real thing and probably don’t need additional material.

Good luck!

I'm over the moon. Drove back and immediately kissed my wife. I'm not sure if I got lucky with question selection, but I didn't struggle with a single question. It was a lot of mutual funds, really simple B/E questions regarding options, only 3-4 variable annuity questions thank god, and a lot of suitability / regulations questions. ADR questions popped up quite a few times.

Thank you guys! This Reddit motivated me and the advice given did have an impact!

Hey all!

I'm feeling pretty anxious for my test tomorrow. Using STC I initially started with 60s on my final exams a week ago and now with review 80-90s on all of them (retook 2-3 times in a week span). Also, I managed a high 60 last week then an 84 two days ago on the official FINRA website.

I was feeling confident until my firm gave me supplemental exams today where I scored a 64 and 68 on my first go. I feel I was not in the proper headspace (took them before my morning coffee... opps), so later I retook then and scored over 90% on both. I have two more supplementals to take and also got a low 60 on the Acheivable free SIE test today.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Test is at 2:45 TOMORROW

Thank you all!

Passed my SIE today first try. I found myself marking around 20 questions for review after going through the test the first time. Went back over the exam a second time and maybe changed about half of the ones I marked. Maybe exam was easier than I thought it was gonna be? I also think achievable set me up to think the exam was going to be a little more difficult than it actually was (which I would prefer). I certainly thought the questions on the exam were less wordy than ones I went through on Achievable chapter quizzes and practice exams. Anybody else think the same?

I plan on taking the FINRA practice exam, however I expect most of my simulated practice to come from Kaplan.

From those who have used Kaplan for preparation:

1. How do the Kaplan practice exams/Qbank questions compare to the real thing?
2. Did you feel prepared when answering the actual test questions?

Would love to get a consensus on this, I've seen conflicting answers.

Additional info:
Qbank Average: 91.77%
Exam Average 92.12%

~300 questions answered thus far for Units 1-8
Sitting on May 25th

Thanks y'all! This community is really cool, wish I found it sooner!

So I'm a sophomore in college and I just passed my SIE. Pretty excited about it but now I'm trying to figure out where to go from here. I know I want to do the Series 7 + Series 66 combo. I don't really want to just do the 65 I want the broker dealer side too so the 7/66 route makes more sense for what I'm trying to do long term.

I do have some internships lined up this year but none of them have the capacity to sponsor me for the 7. And honestly the internship search has been rough — I applied to a ton of places all of last year and barely got any interviews back. So I'm not exactly swimming in options.

My question is how do I actually get sponsored as a college student? Do I need to wait until I graduate or is there a way to make it happen while I'm still in school? Is cold emailing firms realistic or is that a waste of time?

Any advice from people who've been through this would mean a lot. Still trying to figure out how to navigate all of this early on.

Scores on PassPerfect and Kaplan range from 60-70. What should I do? If I fail my offer will be rescinded.

Alright honestly if I’m averaging a 75% across 4 complete Achievabke practice exams, how are my chances of passing the SIE. Are Achievable questions more difficult / less difficult than the actual questions given

I’m a 21 year old college student about to start my summer internships. Would passing this test get me ahead in the finance world if I have aspirations of being in wealth management

Failed the SIE with a 69, really upset and felt confident that I had a passing score on my hands. Second time taking it so im getting let go. The first go around I only had 7 days of study time and got a 64. It was not enough time since I dont have a financial background.

Knowledge of Capital Markets-
Adequate Performance

Understanding Products and Their Risks-
Very Low Performance

Understanding Trading, Customer Accounts and Prohibited Activities-
Adequate Performance

Overview of Regulatory Framework-

Adequate Performance

Hi everyone,

Over the last weekend I took 5 practice exams using both achievable and the Kaplan Q bank. My last 2 exams using achievable (which I felt were much easier) were 80 and 84. The other three exams were taken through the kaplan Q bank and I score 72, 73, and a 84. I feel like i know the content well but I'm not certain if I'm ready for the real deal. Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you!

I take the SIE on May 26. I have somewhat studied but haven’t even studied half the total topics covered. I come from a financial background. What advice could be shared on what to prioritize right now in order to pass? Many thanks in advance.

Those that did it with this vendor did you guys read the whole book? I am a bit confused about how they do things.

Hi everyone,
I have 2 weeks left before my SIE exam and I’m using Cerifi through my firm, I’m averaging in 70s and low 80s, my scores are inconsistent.
I’m struggling more with understanding concepts than memorizing questions.

For those who passed recently:
What should I focus on during the last 2 weeks?
Practice exams vs content review?
Any heavily tested topics?
I work full-time, so I’m trying to study as efficiently as possible.
Any advice would really help. Thank you!

I just failed the SIE with a 67%. I’m devastated, as my job offer has been rescinded bc of this 😔 Not sure if I should try again at my own expense or just throw in the towel. This job market is a fuc***g mess (excuse my language) and this felt like such a blessing. What a blow. Allow me 24-48 hours to sulk, I’ll check in tomorrow lol.

Hi all I’m retaking my sis for my job tomorrow and I was doing extremely well on everything in the beginning now I’m getting 50-60% on my finals I have read the book twice and I think I’m mixing everything up now. Any recommendations on videos would be extremely helpful because I feel like I’m gonna have an anxiety freak out due to my job being dependent on this. TIA using pass perfect

I’m looking to break into finance and figured passing the SIE is the best first step to show I’m serious. I’ve done a ton of research, but I’m honestly overwhelmed by all the different providers (STC, Knopman, Pass Perfect, Achievable, etc.).

I’m looking for the best value-for-money approach. I don't want to overspend, but I also can't afford to waste time on low-quality materials since I have no prior finance background.

A few specific questions:

• Which prep provider offers the best "bang for your buck" for someone starting from zero?
• Are there any "hidden gem" free resources besides the official FINRA practice exam?
• How much should I rely on practice questions vs. reading the actual textbook?