Down is up, Up is down
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I've been studying relentlessly for my S7 for the last month and a half. The last week and a half has been just pretest after pretest. On some of the questions I start to question what I've learned and begin to think down is up - if you know what I mean.
I'm working on my "cheat sheet" to memorize and write down as soon as the test actually begins. I'm wondering if those who have successfully passed the test used a similar sheet and could share some of their insights.
Anything besides the basic:
CALL IN | PUT OUT
__________________
CALL OUT | PUT IN
and
LC SC
___________
LP SP (For determining if an option is a straddle or a spread).
Right now I'm missing questions on settlement dates and number of days of accured interest on bonds
I like word phrases to remember things, like "Call Up, Put Down" for remembering break even points on options or "Call lower, Put Higher" for determining the dominate leg. Stuff like that
Anything you have to share that worked for you, would be greatly appreciated!!
Here is a tip on the 7, as well as all the other tests. Once you're done reading ALL the material, go back and find 3-4 areas you are struggling with. Carefully re study those areas. Then, you get 40-50, not more than that, 3x5 cards, and put the stuff down that is a struggle. Flip through that stuff, until it is burned into memory. Then, you should pass no problem. I've given that advice to lots of newbies, and it's never failed.
I've had maybe 1 question on the entire test on the settlement date and it was no where near as complicated as anything I've seen on my study guides.
7 is a fairly easy test, it's the series 66 that trips people up. Keep taking sample tests and you'll do fine!
[quote=JustActAsIf]
I'm working on my "cheat sheet" to memorize and write down as soon as the test actually begins. I'm wondering if those who have successfully passed the test used a similar sheet and could share some of their insights.
[/quote]
Be careful here. I was once told by a proctor that "Brain Dumping" can get you ejected from a FINRA exam. The way it was explained to me is that if you write notes down before you actually click "Begin Exam" that you can be dismissed, however you can write down whatever you want after you actually begin the exam.
You will have enough on your mind for exam day but it might be worth asking about.
Now, all that said. I actually wrote down my notes before clicking "Begin Exam" for the 7. The proctor warned me about writing notes when I sat for the 66 which I took after the 7. I didn't need notes for the 66 though.
Thank you for the tips.
Re the brain dumping - yes, what others in my office have done is as soon they click begin they start writing their cheat sheet down. The idea is have a reference for the rules and to get it on paper before fatique sets in. With test fatique (and I see this on my practice test - I'm doing two 125 question test per day. The test get progressively more difficult - it's from STC. After a couple of hours I start to think "up is down" and its good to have the cheat sheet to reference.
The trick is to commit it to memory and to practice writing it out on a blank peice of paper. I'm looking for meat and potato items such as what I listed on my first post to remember rules.
Thanks,
-J
I took the 7 today and I didn't have a single question that dealt with settlement dates on bonds. I know the questions are random but I got 0. On the options front I used Fire Solutions and I didn't miss any options questions on the test and my chart looked more like your 2nd one except we were taught:
Debit
(bull)^ LC| LP v(bear)
(bear)v SC|SP ^ (bull)
Credit
There is more to it than just the chart above but it was greatly simplified and I highly recommend it.