I had my second attempt at the SIE yesterday and I unfortunately did not pass with a score of 68%.
I increased my score from the first time and I am even more confident and motivated to pass next time.
I scored low performance on Knowledge of Capital markets and very low on understanding products and their risks.
My question is what units should I focus on to bring these areas up before testing again?
Hi @Christian_Reichel. I am sorry to hear this - you are so close! After viewing your account, I have a couple of suggestions. My first suggestion would be to read the entire online textbook. The SIE covers a lot of material, and reading the full textbook will ensure you grasp each concept well. My second recommendation would be to take more exams. You only took one full exam and a few others. My third recommendation would be to spend significant time reviewing exams after taking them. Take your time on your exams, and then go through each question to see what you did well and what you are struggling with. This will indicate areas for you to review more or re-read. Please let me know if you have any other questions as you continue to study. Thank you, -Brenden
Thank you Brenden!
For clarification, I should have mentioned the first go around I used Kaplan and I had already read that entire book so I thought I would be ok skipping a few units here but obviously I do need to re read those as well. Also I had a big focus on exam practice my first time and I felt like I spent more time trying to memorize questions than actually learn the material so I did not take as many exams this time around.
I appreciate your feedback and I do agree I need to re read sections and combine that with exams. Do you have any suggestions on specific areas that cover Knowledge of Capital markets and understanding products and their risks? I would like to focus on those areas as I am finishing my reading before re testing.
-Colton not “Christian” (it will now allow me to change my user name)
Hi Colton, thank you for the additional information. I would not recommend memorizing questions on exams. Luckily, we have 35+ full-length practice exams you can take. I suggest taking your time on them and spending a good amount of time reviewing them; that has proven to be the best strategy.
For specfics on chapters that cover Knowledge of Capital markets, I’d refer you to these sections:
Please let me know if you have any other questions as you continue to study.
Thank you,
-Brenden
Thank you Brenden!
Just one more question, you gave me the sections for Knowledge of Capital markets but what would you suggest focusing on for “understanding products and their risks” that is the section I scored the lowest on.
Is that unit 1 and 2?
Hi Colton,
For the Understanding Products and Their Risks, I’d refer you to these sections:
The chapters linked above and in my other response don’t address every concept in “Knowledge of Capital Markets” and “Understanding Products and Their Risks”, but they focus on the key test topics. Along with staying on top of your reviews and practice exams, it’s beneficial to reread these chapters and complete quizzes after each one.
Hi!
I also have failed my second exam - first and second scoring both 68%. I read the Kaplan book to start and then switched to achievable when I wasn’t following Kaplan well before my first exam. I took so many practice exams and reviewed for the answers I missed. I am having a hard time grasping the amount of context in the study program. I am a hands on learner with ADHD, what studying methods do you recommend that I haven’t been doing? Also, do you know how to request accommodations for test taking and what those include?
Additionally, I really felt I had this last test in the bag. I was honestly surprised when I saw the fail score 68% at the end. I went into the test thinking Understanding of Products and Their Risks was going to be the most difficult topic for me but I scored Adequate - what does this mean??? I missed mostly in knowledge of Cap Markets so the above list is helpful but also continue to score low in Understanding Trading, customer accounts and prohibited activities. Do you have a list of chapters for this topic?
Lastly, I am afraid I will get some pushback at work for not passing this second exam. My bonus was relying on passing ughhh. How do you recommend I handle this - it’s already a tough hit to the ego so processing disappointment at work may be a bit difficult. I do plan to take the test again, do you recall how long I have to wait to do so? My head is spinning with thoughts that I just may not be cut out for this industry.
And advice is appreciated.
@Brenden Please see my note above, I’m unsure you’ll be notified since I did not address it to you. Thank you!
Hi, @Lynda_D_Amore. You are so close! I have taken a look at your account and have some recommendations. My first one is to read the entire Achievable textbook. While you read it, take the review quizzes at the end of each page and then review the questions and explanations to see what you still need to work on. Taking practice exams is an essential step in preparing for the actual exam. You only took two full exams and sped through them quite quickly. I would highly recommend taking full-length exams and then spending a considerable amount of time reviewing them afterward. Spend time reviewing each question to determine why each answer is correct and why the other choices are wrong. If you do that, your exam scores will slowly improve, and you can revisit areas of weakness. We typically recommend people consistently score in the mid-80s to feel well-prepared for test day.
It’s hard to map the FINRA categories exactly to chapters since they’re broad and cover multiple points. That said, section 3 of the content outline is important - 31% of the test questions (23 of your 75 test questions) come from this unit. Here are the areas we recommend brushing up on for Section 3: Order types (market orders, limit orders, stop orders, stop-limit orders), agency vs. principal, cash dividends, stock dividends, stock splits, capital gains, settlement, cash accounts, margin accounts, options, discretionary accounts, education savings plans, account registrations (individual, joint, corporate, trust, custodial, partnership), retirement accounts (types, RMDs, IRA contribution limits), recognizing illegal activities (money laundering, suspicious activity reports, FinCEN), books and records (account statements, trade confirmations, business continuity plans, regulation S-P), market manipulation, insider trading, general rules and ethics (review the entire chapter)
Quite a lot of areas 
You can search for keywords using the box on your dashboard to see where they appear in the text. The best way to figure out the specific areas you should focus on is still to take a full practice exam and check our score summary, which maps to more specific textbook chapters.
The waiting period after the first and second failed attempts is 30 days. If a third failed attempt occurred for someone, they would have a 180-day waiting period. Same for any after that. I know you are discouraged and that the SIE has a lot of material to cover and prepare for. We like to say that the SIE “is a mile wide and an inch deep.” If you stick to the plan and approach it thoughtfully, you’ll be in good shape.
Please let us know if we can do anything else to help. Thank you,
-Brenden