Series 7 Top-Off Exam Review: What to Do The Week Before

So it’s a week before the big exam and you don’t know what to prioritize. In today’s post I’m going to help you figure out the best Series 7 Top-Off Exam review.

 

Series 7 Top-Off Exam Review: Prioritize

With only a week before your exam, it can be hard to narrow down what exactly needs the most work. The most effective Series 7 Top-Off Exam review in such a short period needs to be strictly prioritized. Specifically, ask yourself two key questions (in this order): 1) What topics still give me the most trouble? 2) Are these topics likely to be a significant portion of the exam?

Your answer to the second question is more important than the first. Chances are that if you answer “no” to the second question, the answer to the first question is less important at this point. For example, DPPs can be a somewhat confusing topic. But, they are a small proportion of the myriad of potential topics from which FINRA might test you. So what might be the best areas of focus?

Well, there is no “one size fits all” solution here. It’s very different from student to student. However, I can tell you that 90% of my students usually have the same issues the week before the exam. Let’s start with the first one.

 

Options: Debit and Credit Spreads

The Series 7 Top-Off exam review that I provide the most for students is for Options. Moreover, Debit and Credit Spread strategies cause the most confusion. Although most people won’t use Options much in their career, it certainly gets attention in the curriculum. As an SIE Exam tutor, helping students with the Options section is common. Just the basics of understanding a call versus a put is hard enough. If you come within a week or two of the exam, and still don’t know the more complex strategies, more attention is required.

The Series 7 Top-Off exam incorporates Options strategies and more math calculations than that off the SIE Exam. This adds difficulty and is somewhere you should focus your attention for your last week of studying. I recommend hitting Options at least 2-3 times per week throughout your normal study schedule. For the last week, you should review them at least three times.

For any head-scratching strategies Investopedia, or an Options tutor, might be your best bet. Straddles, debit/credit spreads, combinations, and max gain/loss scenarios are the more complicated topics within Options. Once you have a good grasp on Options it can significantly boost your score, and be the difference between a pass and a fail.

 

Suitability

The next most popular request I get being among the best Series 7 tutors NYC has to offer is Suitability. Although less challenging than Options, Suitability can be puzzling. Consequently, your final week of Series 7 Top-Off exam review should include at least two separate days of study on Suitability. Keep an eye out in Suitability questions for key words and phrases such as: income, growth, maximize (which means “growth”), inflation, conservative, aggressive, etc. There are many textbooks (such as STC) that breakdown what specific wording/goals are appropriate for specific products. Familiarize yourself with these if you haven’t already.

To really evaluate a Suitability question there are two separate parts: 1) Pay attention to the age of the investor, and; 2) Supplement their ability to handle risk given their age with their risk tolerance, goals, and life situation (E.g., wealthy, struggling to pay the bills, young/old, single parent, child in college, etc.).

After enough review, and enough scenarios, this section will become second nature. This is definitely achievable a week before the exam if you put in some time for at least three separate days (Tip: It’s much more likely to hold in your memory if you spread it out over days, than try to cram it all in one day).

 

Overall, the Series 7 Top-Off exam review should be a combination of things. Review topics with which you’re already familiar, and focus on ones where you show signs of weakness (via low practice test scores). Prioritizing the above two may help a lot!

All of this will help reinforce previously known concepts, solidify formulas, and bulk up subjects where some gaps remain. As always, a tutor can be your best bet to get through a lot of content quickly, but if that’s not an option then take a look at our blogs and see if there is another topic in there that might help. Good luck!