how hard is the Series 7 test?

Question

I am probably going to take the test with in the next two quarters... I am afraid its going to be real hard, any comments??

my firm will put me through a week long crash course and will provide me with all the books and materials I need. I am just afraid of learning all the terms and procedures.

Never been too good with studying, but then I've never had a test with such a big reward or turn over.

Answer 1

It depends on: (1) how prepared you are, (2) if tests make you nervous, and (3) how you define hard.

I've known fairly dumb people who passed it and pretty smart people who bombed. Check some of the practice sites below. Relax and confidently do it as an assessment of what you know, not a judgement of who you are. Good luck.

Answer 2

How Hard Is The Series 7

Answer 3

Usually, your company should provide you with a study class and material. The standard fare. Studied for about a week of pure cramming and it was enough to get 90ish. I don't remember the exact score, but it's just pure short-term memorization if you're just trying to pass. Some of it such as the bonds, options, etc., you should already know from your college classes. Brush up on that. Some of it such as the ethics questions is just common sense with the answer almost always being the most "conservative." The random rules and regulations are the only tedious portions. The package I'm familiar with had a few hundred pages of text along with about 13 practice tests, ordered by level of difficulty. I read through most of the text and then tried the practice tests. The first ones were pretty easy. #13 was quite difficult. The actual test ended up probably being around a #4. It's better to be over-prepared rather than under-prepared because it's embarrassing and a waste of time to fail and have to retake it. The test isn't supposed to be difficult. They just want to make sure you were exposed to the ethics things and a few basic finance things in case it comes up later on.

Answer 4

It's hard. I remember I put in many hours of study and test prep. I studied for about 2 months and took a week long class through STC.

This was MY strategy and I was able to pass with an 87:
1. Read the entire book once to familiarize yourself with terms and concepts
2. Read the subjects of General Debt and Equity Securities, Margin, Options, and Municipal Bonds. (between all of this it probably accounts for 60-70% of the test alone)
3. Took the week long class to fill in the gaps that I didn't reread
4. Keep taking practice tests until you average 80-85% consistently.

Again-- This worked for ME. But I passed! =)

If you pass.... do not underestimate the difficulty of the series 66. I thought it was actually harder (but I gave less time to study so it may be just me). I passed with a 75 or something like that.

Hope this helps

Answer 5

As a poster above said, pay close attention to the legal and regulatory topics. But the test isn't really that hard. What is hard is that the questions are deliberately written to confuse. I took one of those week-long courses too, but had been working in operations and trading for my own account for some time before that. If you don't have related work or educational background I'd recommend going to a longer course that meets once a week or so. And by the way, the admonishment that my instructor gave us is totally true: RFQ! [Read the Friggin' Question]

Answer 6

It is hard, and very grueling.....but nothing you can't overcome. I did have experience in the stock market, so questions like on options were easy. My problem was in regulations, which there were a lot of questions, and lots of questions on handling customer accounts and your responsibilities, which is really the point of taking the tests in the first place. You have to be fingerprinted (thumb print) to make sure you are not taking the test for someone else, and then they watch you the whole time to make sure you aren't cheating. But if you take the practice test over and over and pass those, you shouldn't have a problem. I passed my first time around, thankfully, as I absolutely hated the whole process! And then, keep in mind, your managers and compliance officer at the company will definately help keep you out of trouble as it is their butt on the line ;-) I wish you the best of luck!

Answer 7

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
how hard is the Series 7 test?
I am probably going to take the test with in the next two quarters... I am afraid its going to be real hard, any comments??

Answer 8

It's hard enough that you don't want to take it lightly. Unless you know the NASD Rules inside out, you should take a prep course before you take the exam. Your (NASD Member) firm will know about the prep courses.