Hi team - SIE scheduled for 3/29. I just took Final Exams A and B and hit an 88 and a 92. Readiness is at a 90%.
On a friend’s recommendation, I purchased and had a look at some Kaplan QBank questions. I was a bit thrown off by the totally different wording, as well as some unfamiliar concepts (proxy battles, for instance) that those questions covered.
Is this anything to be concerned about? I’m an anxious test-taker and would hate to encounter anything unfamilar on the day of. Any last minute tips for my final week of prep here? Thanks!
There is a lot of trivia on these exams that you could see but probably won’t.
We achieve our 95%+ first-time pass rates by focusing on the most important and heavily tested material, and making the most effective use of your study time. The target is a passing score, not a perfect score.
Other vendors, like Kaplan, often take the approach of covering everything. We feel this is more likely to waste your time and burn you out rather than give you mastery over untested trivia. Every minute you’re studying something that doesn’t show up is a minute of misplaced study time; you could have spent it to boost your knowledge of a core topic.
If you have access to additional practice exams, we encourage you to use them. Our courses are comprehensive, with realistic questions, but after studying for 50+ hours with any vendor you’re going to unconsciously get a bit familiar with the language and start skipping to a choice that seems right without actually thinking it through. Try to actively mitigate this! Slow down on your exams and answer the question without looking at any of the choices. Once you’ve solved it, then you can look at the choices and find the one that matches what you came up with independently.
Helpful, thanks Justin! Appreciate the context on Achievable’s approach. FWIW, I’ve actually enjoyed preparing for the SIE because the content is presented in such an engaging way. Have used Kaplan in the past, and their materials are drier than the Sahara…lol
I’m going to hammer out some more practice exams thru Achievable in the coming week, and spend a ton of time on reviewing any missed questions.
Love your idea on slowing down and trying to answer without looking at any of the choices.