How difficult is the Series 7, really? Do you NEED a tutor? We outline how and when to use a Series 7 tutor to get the best bang for your buck.
The question of “how hard is the Series 7 exam?” abounds online and offline. And as such, the question of whether you need a Series 7 tutor or not often comes up. We know the Series 7 pass rate is 71%, but how difficult is it, really? You’ll get varied answers, depending on who you ask. We can say with certainty that the level of difficulty of the Series 7 exams depends on the individual taking the test.
As the test-taker, you will need to devote a lot of time to studying, memorizing definitions and rules, and understanding formulas. Armed with a comprehensive self-study course, will you still need Series 7 tutoring? Let’s take a look at Achievable Series 7 test prep self-study course as an example. You’ll see why it’s one of the best and most effective exam prep courses for those needed to get their general securities representative license, and we’ll discuss some specific situations in which it might make sense to employ a tutor strategically. You can also take a Series 7 practice exam to get a sense for where your score is versus a passing grade.
Achievable Series 7 is a course that includes everything you need to pass the Series 7 exam. The program comes with a comprehensive online textbook, countless review questions, and plenty of full-length practice exams for only $149. And with Achievable’s mobile-friendly platform, you can study anytime, even when you’re on the go.
Brandon Rith, the acclaimed FINRA tutor who previously led licensing at Fidelity Investments, is the author of Achievable Series 7. Brandon has his own thriving tutoring business, so why would he make an online course? Quite simply – to help more folks pass the Series 7 exam. There are only so many hours in the day, which means he himself can only see so many students. By turning his tutoring sessions in easy-to-understand chapters of our online textbook, accessible at any time during the day, he’s able to share his expertise more broadly.
Let us be clear – we’re not here to badmouth traditional tutoring. Students might lack direction or focus or just need a little boost to understand more complex concepts. Tutors can help address all these points and give students individualized attention that they don’t get on their own or in a classroom.
But Series 7 tutors can be costly with hourly rates running up in the hundreds of dollars, and even if you can afford that, you don’t want to just burn cash. If you feel that you need a tutor, we recommend some simple strategies to save some money.
The first is to learn the Series 7 exam’s core content as much as you can on your own first. Pick a self-study course and start with that. Achievable is one of the few Series 7 test prep courses that provide professional content for free, so you can just jump straight in and start learning the detailed mechanics of common stock without taking out your credit card. After you have some initial knowledge under your belt, try and take a practice exam to identify your strengths and weaknesses. If you start learning on your own, you’ll be able to assess where you should spend some extra time and provide your tutor with important information that could lessen the hours (and cost!) spent on topics you already understand well.
You should also come to each tutoring session with a plan. It doesn’t need to be anything formal, but you should have a quick list of what you want to cover during the session. Begin by sharing what you want to accomplish to bring focus and structure. Tutors will be glad to discuss topics and issues that matter most to you – coming with a plan makes their job easier. Do you need help understanding the math behind complex option trading strategies? Are you having difficulties understanding suitability for specific types of accounts? Instead of saying, “I don’t get it,” ask specific, targeted questions. And if you’re not following the explanation, be honest and politely ask a clarifying question.
We suggest starting with an online self-study course, and then if you determine that you need an extra boost on specific concepts, at that time you should look into one-on-one coaching.
If you’re looking for a new way of presenting the instructional materials, use Achievable Series 7. We use flashcard-style quizzes to engage you with active recall, repeating topics according to a personalized schedule created with learning science, and improving memory retention so you remember the information on test day. Our online textbook thoroughly explains concepts with detailed walkthroughs and real-world examples. It’s nothing like those old tomes that are wall-to-wall with text and bore you to sleep.
If you need extra practice on tricky topics, again, Achievable has you covered. We’ve meticulously constructed our practice exam questions to match what you will encounter in the actual Series 7 exam. And practice does make perfect, so we’ve built a massive database of over 5,000 questions so you can drill yourself until you’re confident you know every concept inside and out.
Even more, we’ve templatized our math-based questions so that you see different numbers each time, ensuring that you’re learning the underlying concept and not just the right answer. Those 5,000 practice exam questions really turn into tens of thousands of potential variations that you can practice with and test your knowledge. Our cutting-edge learning engine monitors your strengths and weaknesses. It adapts the course automatically as you study, creating a personalized study schedule that highlights concepts you should review more frequently while keeping the material you’ve mastered out of the way.
And if you’ve done all that and still feel that you want a bit of an extra, person-to-person push, then it’s the perfect time to hire a tutor.
When looking for a tutor, you want someone who knows what they are talking about. Pretty simple right? Not so much, as you need more than a general finance tutor – you need an expert with prior experience in the securities industry. There is a vast amount of trivia and specific regulations that you will only know if you’ve actually been in the industry. A knowledgeable and industry expert Series 7 tutor can have a considerable impact on your mastery of the topics and concepts contained in the test. In contrast, someone only versed in general finance will essentially offer little more than reading the textbook alongside you.
Another factor you might be considering in choosing a tutor is their location. Local or remote, does it make a difference? It doesn’t matter nowadays since technology facilities online learning well. Tutoring is still plenty effective when conducted online. Working with someone online might be a new experience for you, but professional tutors work in this manner every day and have the process streamlined.
If you’re going to find a tutor, who better to hire than the guy who wrote the book? Brandon Rith of Basic Wisdom is the best Series 7 tutor out there, the expert in FINRA who led licensing at Fidelity Investments and wrote the Achievable Series 7 course.
With 15+ years of finance-related experience and 10+ years of licensing expertise, Brandon has helped thousands of learners successfully pass FINRA/NASAA exams. He knows his stuff, having led FINRA licensing at Fidelity Investments, where his programs posted pass rates that always exceeded company goals. Visit his site to learn more.
Achievable helps license employees across the nation at respected financial companies, big and small, to pass their Series 7 exams. We guarantee that when you use Achievable Series 7, you’ll pass the Series 7 exam the first time. You can read our chapter on common stock entirely for free to see if it’s a good fit for you. We know it will be 🙂
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