If you’re studying for the Series 86 exam, having a clear Series 86 study timeline is essential. In today’s post we try to spell that out in the most general way possible. Specifically, we outline what we see work most consistently for the average student. Although the average student for this exam is quite intelligent, the Series 86 exam has a way of frustrating many that try it.
Series 86 Timeline – The Early Bird
First, study as early as possible for this exam. Like many things in life, the sooner you get started, the better you’ll do. Most cavalier students that believe they can pass this without much studying often receive a rude awakening.
As an analytically heavy exam, you need to have a solid foundation. The basics, like understanding the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow, are essential. Start there if they are not already rock solid. The latter is the most confusing for everyone – and the test writers know it – so spend a little more time there.
Next are the ratios and formulas. Here a little more patience and thought is required. Memorizing them is unavoidable, but there are tricks and associations that can help you out. For instance, “turnover” formulas generally have to do with revenue/sales, which one can remember if they know that “turnover” is another way of saying sales in the UK. Silly memory tricks like this come in handy all the time.
We recommend that you space memorizing the formulas out, but try to get them all. A few per day at the outset of your studying is best, and don’t let up. You’ll want to know every formula inside and out by the time the exam rolls around.
…And The Practice Exams
Simultaneously, and something that will help reinforce memory work, is starting on practice questions.
For this we recommend you start by taking practice exams. STC is the main resource for these but we have some at Professional Exam Tutoring too. Check out our Series 86 video course for access to our exams.
Using STC material, we highly recommend that you work through their practice exams first. Then go to their greenlight exams next. Greenlight exams are definitely a little more difficult so you should expect your score to drop by about 10 points. Beyond that there are some additional resources that tend to be floating around that sometimes you can get your hands on. One for instance, is what is known as the “addendum” which STC released last spring. This no longer seems to circulate though so ask your peers if they have a copy.
In the end, this exam does not have as much content as some of the other exams. But, you have to know the content so much more thoroughly than most other FINRA exams. The goal is to ultimately know the content inside and out and target scores north of 90%. Whether you try to schedule your studying different than the above, the target for practice course is still the same! Feel free to reach out if you need any help. Good luck!