For background, I have no history in finance. Recently, I began a job that required immediate licensing and have been studying full time ever since. I was provided STC by my employer, but found it to be far too dense and quickly knew that if I was going to pass my exams, I would need to switch providers. Enter Achievable.
I started with the SIE, and if there is one thing I MUST recommend, it is to read the full textbook. It can be tempting to skim, but to make myself read, I would take notes on each chapter. They were pretty minimal notes, but it was enough to force me to ensure that I was not just glossing over things. By the time I got to the end of the book, I had regularly been going back and doing random chapter quizzes, so almost all the content still felt pretty fresh.
After that, it was practice test time. At first, I always took them with scoring on because, at that point, I was still somewhat learning, and taking the tests like that was more helpful. Later, toward the end, I turned off the answers. My readiness score was 100%, I was scoring in the high 80s, and I felt very confident. I also took the free FINRA test to see how I would do.
I had some concerns that I had memorized the questions, and I think because I took 20+ practice tests, I probably did toward the end. But it also meant that I had so many facts glued in my brain. The test itself was slightly different from the Achievable questions, but I think that is the same with every provider, and I breezed through the real exam.
Unlike some of the other providers, where you memorize a lot of small facts, Achievable makes you understand the larger topics and how they connect. Because of that, you can really use logic and work your way through almost every question. There were a few questions with some small facts that I just did not know, but the passing score for the SIE is 70%, so that is okay! I was done and out of the testing center in 45 minutes with a passing score.
Next came the Series 7. I knew that this test was going to be harder, but it was really helpful to have just taken the SIE. I think people underestimate how much overlap there is. I felt like there were only a handful of truly new topics, and because I took the time to really understand everything on the SIE, I had a strong foundation to build on.
Unlike the SIE, where the nature of the exam makes it possible to sort of memorize enough random facts to pass, the Series 7 is much more about application. For that reason, you need to really understand the content. Once again, I abandoned STC and went straight to Achievable.
I did a few things slightly differently this time. I had a week and a half of orientation for work that stopped me from studying full time, so I decided that I would spend roughly two hours every day studying, giving myself time to start with options since that was the largest new part and the hardest to conceptually understand.
I was also just bad at the T chart method, so I bought Ken’s Series 7 Whisperer option course. That method was the easiest one for me, and I used the Achievable questions to practice.
After the week and a half was over, I felt pretty good about options and started the normal process. There was a lot in the Series 7 textbook that was literally the exact same as the SIE, so for those pages in the textbook, I started with the quiz, and if I scored very high, I just kept going. For all the new content, I made sure to take notes so I would be forced to read.
Once I finished the book, I started taking full exams with the scoring on to help me keep learning. Eventually, as I got closer to the exam, I took the answers off. I know that some people say to take 5 to 8 exams, but for me, I wanted to take as many as possible. I wanted to walk into the test feeling overly confident and prepared.
At this point, I was really worried that I had memorized a lot of the questions, as I think some were also the same as the SIE ones. I tried taking an STC exam, and it went pretty poorly, and I panicked a bit. However, I reached out to the Achievable team, they gave me some great advice, and I trusted the process.
I do think I memorized a lot of the questions again, but that also meant I memorized a lot of information. There were some topics I was never able to get, but I knew that they were not going to make or break me. I abandoned margin, which was fine because there were almost no questions on it for me.
On the real test day, I came in confident, and once again, while the real test was slightly different from Achievable’s questions, I had faith in my overall knowledge and could almost always narrow things down. Unlike the SIE, I did find that some questions were really designed to trick you, so I always read each question twice before I looked at the answers.
There were a few questions where I had to just make a logical guess, but you can get 35 questions wrong and pass the Series 7, so I was not worried. I finished the test in roughly an hour and 45 minutes and submitted at the two hour mark. I went back to check my answers and only let myself really change things in the first 10 questions, and that was it.
I hope that someone scouring the internet finds this helpful. These exams are hard, and there is no way around that, but they are also doable. If you put in the hours, you can make it happen!
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Also, a special shoutout to the team behind Achievable. Both before my SIE and Series 7, I reached out and received such tailored and helpful advice. This platform goes WAY beyond what you would expect, especially for the price. The fact that you can ask for help with a question and someone will get back to you, often in less than an hour, with a really comprehensive answer is a HUGE resource. I do not think I would have been nearly as comfortable with these exams had I not gone with Achievable.