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So you're ready for a practice exam?
If you've completed all the reading and taken all the chapter quizzes, you're ready to start on practice exams. For many learners, taking and reviewing enough practice exams is a crucial key to success. If this is your first practice exam, it will likely feel challenging trying to recall all the information you've learned from the start. While it may feel overwhelming at first, practice makes perfect. Follow these tips to prepare yourself for the real test efficiently and effectively:
Set aside several hours
You will likely need 2-3 hours at minimum to take and thoroughly review each practice exam. While our system allows you to start and stop the exam at will, the real test is timed and will mark any unanswered questions as incorrect once the testing period ends. You should plan to simulate the exam by timing yourself at least 2-3 times prior to testing. If you're not finishing on time, continue to time yourself and push your test-taking speed.
Put away your notes
While it's tempting to look up answers to difficult questions in your Achievable reading materials or on a search engine, it's important you avoid this trap. FINRA does not allow any resources to be utilized on the exam except for an empty notepad and a calculator (both provided by the test center). Looking up answers will create a bad habit that you can't rely on when it counts. And don't even think about sneaking in notes - this could result in a total ban from the industry if you're caught.
Read the full question (RTFQ)
It's easy to miss important parts of questions if you're not paying attention. Think about it - have you ever missed an "EXCEPT" or didn't read an important word in the question? If this seems to occur frequently, you've identified a problem. Some test takers write the acronym RTFQ on their scratch paper to remind themselves to read every question from beginning to end.
Review, review, review!
Reviewing after you hit submit and obtain your score is the most important part of taking a practice exam. Only taking the exam provides a gauge for your test-taking abilities, but did you learn anything? At a bare minimum, you should review all the missed questions. If you want to go the extra mile, review them all. You will likely guess correctly on a decent number of questions, and only reviewing the incorrect ones will not solve the knowledge gap issues on these topics. And remember that missing a question means you need to review two things: the correct answer, and why you choose the incorrect answer!
Think beyond the question
The test writers notoriously guard and continually update their test bank. While we are confident about the topics you're likely to encounter on the exam, we do not know how the questions will be worded. While our test questions are written to feel and sound like actual test questions, you should expect to encounter some tricky-worded questions you have not seen on Achievable. The best way to prepare is to 'think beyond the question' when reviewing practice exams. Ask yourself - “do I understand the underlying concept enough to confidently answer a different question on the same topic?”
Begin a review notebook
Whether you utilize a physical or digital notebook, it's important to take notes during your reviews. Not only will you remember more when you take the time to create notes, but you'll build a resource full of test topics you once were challenged by. Prior to the next practice exam, spend 10-15 minutes reviewing this notebook to stay sharp. This will also serve as a great resource on the day of the actual exam. Spend 30-45 minutes on test day reviewing these notes just prior to the exam.
Low scores are opportunities
While it's easy to beat yourself up after scoring low on a practice exam, don't give up! Remember, this exam can test you on thousands of topics, and it's not easy to master this material. Most test-takers start scoring in the high 50s or low 60s on their first practice exam. Those that succeed stay motivated, review their practice exams, take solid notes, review those notes, and repeat until they are consistently scoring in the passing range.
Take enough practice exams
How many is 'enough?' The number is different for everyone. Your chance of passing the actual test is on a spectrum granted you do not know the exact topics you'll be tested on. We'll let you in on an obvious secret here: if you're not consistently passing practice exams, you're probably not going to pass the real exam either. Fortunately, the opposite is also true: almost everyone who is consistently scoring in the 80s or higher on practice exams passes the exam! There are no guarantees, but hard work tends to pay off.
Use your 'Exam Readiness'
This is your ultimate measure to determine if you're adequately prepared for the exam. It looks at a combination of your study data to build an accurate gauge for you, and the more you study and the better you retain the information, the higher it'll get. Your goal should be to get this to 100%, as the higher it is, the more likely you'll see success on test day.
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