The Series 63 sticking points that get most people can be the difference between a pass and a fail. In today’s post, we highlight what makes the exam so tough.
Series 63 Sticking Points: Exemptions to the Exemptions
One thing that most people know about the Series 63 exam is that it’s said to be generally pretty doable. That said, it is also an easy one to fail. The reason for this is that the word play can get pretty difficult.
One of the most common complaints is behind the number of double negatives, and sometimes even triple negatives in a question. When it comes to topics such as exempt securities and exempt transactions there are some situations that can be confusing.
For example, many students assume all insurance companies have exempt securities. However, if a state insurance company from New York sells their shares in Connecticut, the shares must be registered with the state of Connecticut, but not the state of New York.
This is an example of a situation where the securities of the insurance company for the state of New York would be exempt, however, once those are sold across state lines, they are not exempt outside of the state of New York.
Getting It Done
One other major reason we see students fail this exam is lack of study time.
Spending two or three weeks on the practice questions and material is usually enough. Anything less than that and we see the failure rate go up a little bit. Unless you have all day to study, this is an exam that needs at least a little bit of attention.
Overall, most people can get through this exam without too much studying. However, doing enough practice questions – and we recommend Kaplan for practice questions – will help you get you enough experience with a wide variety of ways they can present the rules and their exceptions to you. Feel free to reach out if you need any help. Good luck!