When taking notes for your FINRA Exams or NASAA exams, the question is, what should you write down? In today’s post, we provide some advice on note taking.
Taking Notes for Your FINRA Exam: Bullet Points
First, we highly recommend that you take notes on definitions, rules and regulations, and formulas that you consistently get wrong. Avoid taking notes on anything that looks important.
A lot of students we see do this end up with a massive stack of notes. Such a strategy can create overwhelm. Too many notes and you won’t even want to look at them.
Not to mention, there’s no reason to review something that you already know and can answer correctly. In other words, your notes should only incorporate topics you cannot remember or consistently get wrong.
When writing down your notes, also stick to short and sweet bullet points. Sometimes the best bullet point definitions come from explanations provided by your exam prep provider, or from the multiple choice answers given in a practice question.
Review Frequently
To answer the question of how often you should review your notes, we recommend daily!
At a minimum, we recommend you review your notes every other day. In terms of time needed, typically 20 or 30 minutes a day should be enough.
Note review is a form of low intensity studying. Therefore, it is something that can easily be done right before bed or on your morning commute.
An instance where notes cannot (or shouldn’t) be avoided is for rules and regulations that require knowledge of specific timelines. For example, how long one should maintain records (e.g., customer statements, articles of incorporation, etc). Also, what time of year one must renew registration as an agent or investment advisor representative.
All of the above can be more easily remember with good notes.
Overall, effective note taking and then studying those notes can easily add another 5 to 10 points to your score. If you need any help, reach out to our SIE Exam Tutor. In the meantime, we wish you good luck!