Hi all, Can you please advice on the difficulty of these exams? What is their purpose? Once you are lincensed (7 & 63), do you need the series 79( Limited Representative - Investment Banking )
Kind of depends on WTF you’re doing. Are you in iBanking? Or are you a secretary who also puts in orders?
Dude - Search. Series 7 pwns the CFA. You’ll need at least 6 months of prep and a bottle of viagra.
Just use google or search… Damn it. Also, google advice vs advise as well.
Series 7 : about the same study time as CFA Series 63 : this test is 63/7 = 9x harder than the 7. So if the 7 takes 300 hours of study then the 63 will take 2,700 hours of study time. Any questions?
but you may as well get the 66 since that is only a little harder than the 63 (9.4286x harder than the 7)
They are easy.
For the 7: Get STC materials, read through the chapters and do the problems at the the end of the segments. Then hit up the tests Q&A style until about test 6-8. Leave at least 4 tests that you haven’t seen before. Go back through the Q&A and tests and do closed book. Review where you are weak. Now hit up the last 4 tests you haven’t seen before strictly on a closed book basis. See where you stand from there. Lastly, make sure you do the supplementals. These are generally harder than the real thing, but are still good. Finally, just make sure to revisit the texts to see where you are missing a few things and what not. The tests will be your main study source, but they are not full proof. You still need to put in the work. For the 63: use the same strategy. Leave a couple tests that you didn’t do on a Q&A basis. Also, if stuck, it helps to pick the most conservative answer choice.
Thanks for the advice!!! CFABLACKBELT, recommended STC materials - is this the best??? Thank you for all your advice!!!
Rasec, I am currently studying for the 7 and STC is definitely what I’d recommend. I’d also suggest the 66 over the 63.
im studying for the 7 now. a lot of overlap with level 1, but i took level 1 two years ago. using Passperfect as that is why my firm gives us blocked about 100 hours for the 7 to guarantee the pass
CFAeuphoria, Is builders right about the amount of time needed to pass? 100 hours?
I studied a total of 50 hours for the 7 and crushed it. It’s not hard. Really. The 66 I failed because it’s like taking an econ test with double and triple negatives, and the subject was taught by a bad professor. It’s just a confusing test. I passed it but it’s a biatch. I studied MUCH more for the 66 than I did for the 7.
What’s the difference between the 63 and 66?
66 = 63+65.
Rasec…I have sample series 7 exams…if you ever interested in taking it, I can mail them to you…it doesn’t took bad actually…straightforward and if you are familiar with the CFA curriculum, you should be in a good position already. Cheers
Series 7 is not hard. You need about two months to prepare. If you’ve gotten through L1, the exam is a cakewalk.
I had to get the 7 and 66 right out of undergrad. They gave me a month to study for the 7 and two weeks for the 66. Using STC, I passed both easily. Take the advice from others - use STC. My $.02
Guys - what about the series 79? Are banks requiring this license now?
The amount of hours would depend on your BOK, if you have passed L1 the prep time should not be that much at about 1/3 to 2/3 the prep time for Level I. I passed the 63 with 30 minutes prep time still drunk from the night before, the 65 took me about 10-20 hours. Very scary considering all you need to start a Hedge Fund or Registered Investment Advisor shop is a 66 (combo 63 & 65). The dullest tool in the shed could pass the 66 in less than 100 hours and have the ability to do serious damage to on peoples life savings. Not big on regulation but the reality is this test should be harder than the 7 and the 7 should be about 2X as hard as it is today.