I passed the SIE the other day. Glad that’s over with… now it’s on to the 57 and 63 for me.
Here’s my take on what helped and what didn’t:
Read the book. It has a lot of info, so make sure you chunk it out. If you try to read all of it in one week, you won’t retain all the info necessary. Try to section things out so you can full comprehend.
Do the chapter quizzes right after each section and then review your answers.
Use an e-reader. I used Microsoft Edge that would read the book to me while I followed along while reading. It helped me keep pace. Sometimes reading for long periods can make my mind wander.
Study in the morning. If you wait to study at night, you’ll be tired and unmotivated. I work a 9-5 so I would wake up in the morning and get 2 hours in before work. Trying to study after work was very difficult.
Use supplemental sources. There are great videos on YouTube you can use on days you dont feel like reading. Some of them like CapitalAdvantage and Series7Guru are great. I would watch each section as a primer and then read the sections in the book and take the practice quizzes.
Practice exams are important but quizzes and repeated drilling of sections will get you further.
Also: The test is WAY harder than any of the practice tests and quizzes in Achievable. The way they word the questions on the actual exam forces you to really know the material. Out of the 75 questions, I feel I confidently answered maybe half of them? And the rest I had to narrow down to 50/50. Most questions you can eliminate two answers right off the bat, so make it a coin flip to better your odds.
I studied for about a month straight, with a few days off where I lost momentum. Try and hit mid 80s on Achievable Practice Exams before tackling the actual test.
