The incoming investment banking class of 2025 will face a familiar foe: The Series 79 Exam. In today’s post we will give some quick advice on how to, and how not to, approach this exam.
Investment Banking Class of 2025: Avoid This Mistake
At Professional Exam Tutoring, we see many students that fail the first time around. In many cases, there is not enough time to study and these students only miss by a few points – which is always heartbreaking.
In other instances, however, some students try the exam without studying much. Often this student rolls the dice just to get a feel for the exam.
For anyone considering this last approach, we highly discourage it!
One reason is that you start to paint yourself into a corner. You only typically get three shots at this exam before you have to wait six months to retake the exam. Many employers start to lose patience after one or two fails. They are unlikely to view spending 3 to 4 hours at an exam center with a very low chance of passing as a good use of time.
As such, we highly recommend that you put a solid effort into studying beforehand to give yourself a serious shot.
How to Take a Serious Shot
The most effective method for studying for this exam with limited study hours – typically characteristic of an investment bankers’ schedule – is to focus on your weak areas, fill in those gaps, and let your strong areas maintain a foundation.
To do this, we recommend you rotate between full practice exams, every three or four days with more granular focus on drilling subsections in between. Start by locating your weaknesses from your full exams. As you clean up your weak areas, then take another full practice exam to see what areas still need more work. Rinse and repeat.
You should also prioritize sections likely to be tested on the exam. A few examples where students are often weak, and testing is likely to be heavy, include: Regulation, M, tender offers, fairness opinions, valuation, income statement, and balance sheet.
In a nutshell, this exam is definitely doable with enough time and focus. Put in a solid effort and you may only have to take it once! If you need some help, consider a Series 79 Tutor or reach out. Good luck!