I just took my first full-length practice exam for the Series 7, and I was surprised to see how few suitability questions there were. The scoresheet at the end showed that there were only 5 questions. I was under the impression that the actual exam is extremely suitability-focused. Is the practice exam an accurate representation of the weighting of the question categories, in particular, the suitability questions? I scored an 89% and am hoping to take the exam in about two weeks.
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Hi @Mikebattag. The 5-ish questions you mentioned came specifically from the Suitability chapter. While we only allocate a handful of questions from that chapter on each practice final, keep in mind we discussed suitability throughout the program. There’s a subchapter dedicated to suitability in 9 of our chapters, so you’ll likely receive several suitability questions from chapters other than the Suitability chapter. For example, a few of your questions from the Common stock chapter could be suitability-based.
Just like the real exam, there’s an element of randomness to the exam formulation. Some will feel heavier on suitability, while others may not. All depends on your draw (on practice exams and the real test).
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Also - scoring in the high 80s is great! While your scores indicate you’re ready, use the ‘Exam readiness’ gauge to determine your preparedness. The closer you can get your readiness gauge to 100%, the more likely you’ll pass.
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Thank you for your reply @brandonrith ! That makes sense, I was just expecting more suitability questions involving more asset allocations. Since creating this post, I have scored a 95% and a 98% on my last two practice exams. I feel extremely confidents when answering questions on the practice exam, but I’m worried that I just haven’t ran into any questions on topics that I’m not so comfortable with. For example, I am not very comfortable with CMOs. I know what they are and generally how they work, however, I get confused with the tranche systems. Is it okay to have a general understanding of some of these topics going into the exam, or should I aim to master everything? Are my current exam scores (89%, 95%, and 98%) enough to gauge my readiness for the exam or should I keep cramming as much study time as possible into my day like I have been doing?
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Your scores indicate you’re ready to test, so you don’t need to go crazy with your studies. On the other hand, don’t completely walk away from your studies. I would try to take and review a practice exam every day or so.
You won’t encounter many CMO questions on our practice exams because most test takers don’t encounter more than a few on any given exam. However, you can drill topics you want to work on further by following these steps:
- Get to the homepage
- Click the ‘Reviews’ button
- Click the settings icon (looks like 3 levers) at the top right
- Choose what specific sections you want to be quizzed on
- Click ‘Apply’ at the bottom right
- Choose 10, 25, or 50, or 100 questions
- Click ‘Start’ at the bottom right
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