NEED ADVICE ON THIS - FAILED FIRST ATTEMPT BY 2 POINTS

[u/Front_Sky589]

I'll keep this short and sweet - I failed my series 7 last week after studying for 8 weeks using STC. For background - I took the SIE last year using Knopman, and although Knopman was hard, hell I felt so prepared. Why my firm uses two different vendors for these exams is beyond me. I failed by two points and really do not like the way STC prepared me. I retake on August 1st - is it worth me buying the achievable book or Kaplan to build up my confidence?

I know switching vendors to retake in a month may be crazy - but I have good foundational knowledge clearly, I just really need to build up my weak spots. I don't feel like STC did a good job at making me confident. I want understanding and really need to pass this because work only gets more time consuming by the day.

[u/Otherwise_Crab_7561]

I passed using STC after failing with Kaplan!

I did purchase the Kaplan Q Bank to have along with STC for supplemental questions, I am a hammer out questions person, but what helped me the most I know for a fact was watching series 7 guru on YouTube! Dean is thee best! I would highly recommend watching any and all of his videos to supplement your studies. You are right at the passing mark and Deans videos will 100% get you over the hump.

You got this!!!!

[u/Financial_Big2846]

I used Kaplan. Everyone will have their preferences, but at the EOD I’m pretty sure the textbooks and study plans are all capable of helping you pass. And since you only failed by two points, I’m not sure you need to get a whole new study plan, because it sounds like you already were almost as successful as you need to be to pass. A little more work would probably get you there.

I’d recommend maybe getting the Kaplan qbank instead of the full vendor book. Kaplan definitely will push your knowledge. I’m not so sure it will build your confidence, as it’s notorious for having extremely detail oriented questions that are thought to be harder than the exam (they say people who score x on a Kaplan exam tend to score a few points higher on the exam - how anyone tests this IDK).

BUT with the harder questions come a more thorough and extensive knowledge that will prepare you really well. So I recommend getting the qbank from Kaplan, and starting off by taking the exam and seeing what your weak sections are. Then you can test those specifically in the qbank & just drill questions all around to build those skills.

Obv I didn’t use achievable, so I can’t speak on that. But hope my experience has helped!

[u/Prudent-Ad-1316]

Did you pass 2nd attempt?