Should you come to class if you have not studied very much? You’re not going to get us to say that
it’s OK to show up not knowing what an option is, or how bonds respond to changing
interest rates, but we don’t think that pre-class study is as important as
after-class study.
What you have to realize is that a lot of what Series 7 expects you
to know is really not hard, just dumb memory work. Something
like, “A stock with a beta factor of 2 will move twice as fast as the market”
does not need to be discussed in great detail, but you do need to know it. Well, most people find wading through a 1,000 page
textbook searching out the “gems” to be tedious at best. We offer an alternative; come sit in a discussion
group and have somebody tell you what is critical—while also saying, “But
don’t bother with remembering or even studying……..”
So, should you enroll if you have not studied? Sure you should.
Let us start you out on the right foot, so that you don’t waste time reading
chapters in those huge books that are virtually irrelevant, while not realizing the
importance of a simple fact mentioned in the middle of a sentence on a page filled with
boring material. Just be aware of the fact
that when the discussion turns to options or bonds you will get lost in the terminology if
you have not read those chapters. Below, we
discuss the steps to take to pass on your first try.
It’s good advice, please read it and heed it regardless of whose class you may
attend.
Over the years we have talked to thousands of people about how they
did on the exam, how prepared they felt, and so forth.
We have NEVER talked to one who failed the exam AFTER diligently completing all of
the study questions available to them in their textbooks.
We have talked to lots of people who passed without doing them all,
they’re the MBA types, the investment bankers, the operations managers with ten years
of experience who are just now taking the test.
The other
“types” who generally do fine are rookie brokers with the major NYSE firms. They
are normally given three months to prepare—time when all that is expected of them is
to show up at the office and study. Given
that it is a wonder they ever fail.
For everybody else what is necessary is time to do the exams,
because another statistic is remarkable. We
have NEVER talked to somebody who said, “I actually did do all of those exams, in an
intelligent manner, and I still failed.” It
has never happened.
Now,
what is “an intelligent manner?” Well,
first it is to take the time to read the explanation to the question. Just because you got it correct does not mean that
you got it for the right reasons, so you want to take time to read what is said about the
question.
Secondly you want to allow time, lots of it. Most sample final exams are 125 questions long. The “real test” allows you three hours
for that many questions, so you should allow that much time too—especially when you
figure that you’ll be reading explanations.
Now, think about your life. When
do you have three hours that you can sit down and do a test? If you’re normal, it is not very
often—so how in the world do you expect to complete a dozen or so tests in less than
two weeks?
If we could pull your strings here’s what we’d have you
do:
1.
Get a good set of study materials. As with almost everything there are “Good,
Better, Best” textbooks. We do not
publish, so we don’t care what you buy—but we will be pleased to recommend what
we feel are best. Phone 770-254-8128 and we will be pleased to discuss what is available. If you get our voice mail leave your name and number, we'll call you back as soon as we can.
The books you use do NOT have to be new. The reality is that the publishers don’t
change the books that often—instead what they do is change the “This book was
printed on…” date to suggest that there were changes made. The reason they don’t is because when you go
tinkering with a book you cause things like the page numbers to change, so indexes are
meaningless, as would be a phrase such as, “See exhibit B on page 456” because
that exhibit is now on page 459 due to adding some pages at the first of the book. Our point is, borrow a set of books from somebody
else—and use your money to buy a set of newer sample questions on CD ROM. CDs
can be kept current very easily, and there are two versions out there that are wonderful.
You would read about options and bonds and whatever else you have
time for before coming to the class. You
would NOT fixate on formulas and other math things, instead you would attempt to grasp the
“big picture,” how it all fits together.
2.
You would come to one of our discussion
groups, even if you have to take a plane to get to us.
The fact that we do things in four days, or less, will save you hotel expense,
which can be an offset for a plane ticket.
At the class we will discuss the key material, focus you on what is
critical, and explain what you can afford to ignore.
What we do has been called “confidence building” by dozens of people who
say things like, “It was as if I could hear you telling me what I needed to
know.”
3.
You would then take enough time to
complete 15 sets of 125 sample questions. These
will take you roughly three hours each, so you’ll need 45 hours. Please remember that the human brain “shuts
down” after a few hours, so you will want to plan on doing no more than one set per
day, so you’re going to need about fifteen days.
We understand, and agree, that you ought to be able to do two sets
of questions per day, one in the morning and another in the afternoon or evening. BUT, does your life work that way? Think about the last week—how many days did
you have nothing to do all morning, much less again all afternoon? Most of us are so busy
that we can’t find three hours in an entire day, much less three consecutive hours.
Oh sure, there are rookie brokers who are being paid to sit in a
quiet area and study—but lots of the people taking this exam are sales assistants and
cage personnel. Their lives are not their
own, and they are lucky to have thirty minutes a day for themselves.
What about the insurance professionals who are studying? When does a person who is busy writing business
have three “dead hours” to sit and take a test?
How often do fifteen such opportunities arise?
Please realize that this is the most important step, and the only
way to do it right is to set aside three hours per day when you tell everybody else,
“OK, I’m going to go into the spare bedroom and do questions for three hours. Don’t bother me unless the house is on fire,
and you can’t put it out yourself.”
How much time will have to go by for you to get fifteen such
opportunities? Two weeks? Three weeks?
A month?
The fact is that if you keep working on the stuff every day or two
you won’t forget it, so a month is really not too long. The reality is that if you don’t know
it well enough to remember it for a month, or even two months, you don’t know it well
enough to pass. If you went to Europe for a
month, would you forget where you live because you had not driven home for a month? When you know something you remember it for a very
long time.
4.
That brings up the idea of the
“window.” When you file the U-4
form (listing everywhere you lived, etc.) a period of time begins for you to take the
exam. This period varies from 90 to 120 days.
We suggest you submit the U-4 a
week or two before the class, so that it can be processed by the time the class begins. Then once the class is over you’ll have a
sense of how long it will take you to make the “final push” and you can call the
testing center and set an appointment. Normally
you can get an appointment about a week or ten days after you call, and you’re going
to need that much time to do the sample questions.
5.
You would NOT set your test for a Monday
or Tuesday. The reason we ask that is because
it is our experience that a great many people intend to make their final “push”
over the weekend immediately before the test. Well,
what if your life intervenes, and you don’t get to study?
If the test was on Monday or Tuesday it is too late to reschedule it
without penalties, but tests for Wednesday or later can be rescheduled the first thing
Monday morning.
6.
Finally, as you drive away from the
testing center we hope we’ll be on your list of people to call and scream,
“I passed, thanks for your help!”