Pass rate of series 24
110 RepliesJump to last post
Just thought of something else to add on - this is not a test that you can “logic” your way through all the way, like you can with the 7. Know the concepts but also you MUST KNOW THE DETAILS. It’s really hard to logically decide when the answers are:
A) 3 days
B) 4 days
C) 5 days
D) 6 days
memorize the tiny details! I imagine flash cards would be helpful.
In my opinion, this test is not difficult, but it’ll mess with your head because often, all of the answers will look correct. Memorize timeframes, net capital requirements, order reporting time requirements (10 seconds, 15 minutes, etc), and you’re halfway there!
Reg 144/A, Reg A, and Reg S were also big topics. Just know who can buy them, when they can sell them, and volume limits and you’re good to go.
Also, brush up on Arbitration, Code of Procedure, U4 requirements - when the offense has to be filed with FINRA, how many arbitrators sit on the panel, etc.
sorry, it all came back in waves - I’m done now! You got this!
Just passed the Series 24 this morning, and I want to pay it forward since there's so little information on this exam out there.
I was hired by a small firm as a compliance analyst with the condition that I pass the 24 within 60 days of hire. I was given the STC standard package (reading materials, quiz bank and final exams) and I probably put in 80-90 hours of study in the 30 days before my first attempt. I felt pretty decent about my chances of passing since I was pulling upper 70's on the STC finals. On exam day, my confidence quickly vanished as many of the questions featured concepts I'd never heard of, and I ended up scoring a paltry 60%. This hit me pretty hard, as I've never done nearly that poorly on a FINRA or NASAA exam. Admittedly, I didn't take all 7 of the STC finals. I probably did 4.
I scheduled a retake for 30 days after my first attempt, and I decided to abandon STC. STC might be good for some people or for some exams, but their textbook is just ridiculously bloated and I feel like they miss out on some important concepts. I decided to buy the PassPerfect Q bank and use only that for my second attempt, as PP is what I'd used to pass the 7 and 63 a few years ago. Buying their Q bank gives you question banks on 6 topics which cover all the exam content, as well as 12 final exams.
In the 30 days leading up to attempt #2, I took around 10 or 12 days to master the PP quiz questions, which were noticeably harder than the STC ones. PassPerfect just gives you these absolute brainbuster questions, and they ensure that you know the material front and back. There is no faking it with PassPerfect. After I was able to easily pass all the quizzes, I switched to taking one final exam each day for my final 12 days leading up to the exam. The PP finals are insane, and they tell you right off the bat to not expect to score higher than 65 on any of them. Of the 12 finals, I probably averaged a 62 or so.
I walked into the testing center on exam day to find that a Covid outbreak had happened there, and all exams were cancelled until further notice. This was incredibly frustrating, but I just had to accept that there are bigger and more important things than me or this test. I was able to reschedule for 7 days out. In that 7 days, I called PassPerfect and had them wipe my program clean so I could try the finals again. I ended up taking 4 more finals, with scores of 70, 67, 75, and 74. I felt reasonably confident for my next attempt, but still anxious given that my failure would result in my losing my job during the holidays, during a global pandemic, during a recession. Not fun to think about. I ended up taking a small edible the night before to help me sleep. Obviously, only do something like that if you know what effects it'll have on your body and mind.
I passed today and am now a Registered Principal! And you can do it too! The 24 is the single most difficult exam I've ever taken, but it is beatable, and you can pass it. Just like some have already said on this thread, you CANNOT logic your way through these questions. You have to know the net capital requirements, filing deadlines, procedures, etc. like the back of your hand.
Tips:
-Use PassPerfect if you can, their material is harder than the real test and I swear I saw some of their questions verbatim on the real exam.
-No Zero Days: Even if there's a holiday or long weekend or whatever, you need to at least do 30 minutes of review to keep concepts fresh in your mind. On normal study days, you should be putting in at least 3 or 4 hours of study.
-Final exams: With most software, you have the option of taking finals in two ways. You can do them exactly as they are formatted in the real exam where you answer all the questions and get feedback at the end, or in a format where you're notified right away if each answer was right or wrong. I'd strongly advise against the latter, because the whole time I'd just be worried and thinking "I've missed 3 in a row, I'd better step it up!" and stuff like that.
-Final exams: After each exam, review each question and read the explanation, no matter if you got it right or wrong. There will probably be plenty of questions where you answered correctly, but still don't understand why you were right. Reading the explanation will also often teach you background information that makes the answer make more sense and helps you learn the "narrative" aspect of it.
-Preparation: You need to be working your tail off and putting in the time to succeed. This shit is hard, and it takes a lot of repetition and practice to understand, but you can do it.
Best of luck!
I stumbled upon this forum when I first googled “pass rate of the Series 24” and I told myself if I ever passed I’d share my story because I think this site was VERY helpful for me personally.
My journey is a little odd but it will make sense by the end. I first started studying back in late April, early May of 2020 when I was sent to work from home due to the Pandemic. I ordered Kaplan’s total plan, read their book and took practice tests and sat for the exam in July of 2020 and got a 65%, I was scoring mid-90’s on their tests.
Turned out I had some health issues I needed to get taken care of, fast forward to 2021 and I began my study path to the 24 all over again due to my time away from the material.
After finding this forum, I ordered STC’s total package and T.C.'s practice exams. I began the second time around on Feb 1 of 2021. I re-read Kaplan’s book as I agreed from this forum it was probably the best book for the information. I then went into practice tests. The order of this part is not important in my opinion but I built and took 5 custom exams in Training Consulstants and I built 4 custom exams in STC. The STC cheat sheet that everyone raves about on this forum didn’t do much for me so I built my own. I built my cheat sheet by watching all of the video lectures/slides from STC. This was very valuable as the 10-12 pages of notes I got from those videos were my study guide for the rest of my tests.
After the videos, I took all 8 STC finals and 3 of the finals in TC. Earlier on I also took all of the progress exams in STC (8). I was scoring mid-60’s to 73% of the finals. The night before the exam I took a greenlight from STC and scored a 75%.
So my breakdown of all of this: 1. Kaplan probably does have the best book for reading the material. 2. Kaplan’s practice exams/finals are not hard enough. STC has the toughest and best tests in my opinion and they were much more like the actual exam questions. 3. I’m glad I took the TC tests to get different writing of exam questions but honestly I don’t know how much it really helped. 4. A 24 at my Broker Dealer told me to try and get this done in a month and I managed it in 6 weeks so close but I agree, it can be done in 4-6 weeks, don’t study for 3 months like I did the first time. 5. I think STC’s materials are the best in comparison to Kaplan and Training Consultants.
Hope this helps someone and best of luck.
Congrats Bill - I agree with a lot of what you said.
Like everyone else here, I wanted to pay it forward as I found this thread to be valuable! I took the 24 yesterday (for the second time) and passed.
The first time was in September last year and I had only used Kaplan’s study materials. While these worked great for the 7 and 66, they were not really helpful at all on the 24. I was making A’s and B’s on their practice tests and went through every question in their bank and scored 62 the first time I took the test. I felt like the questions just weren’t detailed enough.
This time I ordered STC and did every part of their program. I thought their on demand videos were well done and very helpful. I took all of the practice tests…all of the finals and the greenlights. I had an average on all exams of 69 and made a 74 and 76 on the two greenlights. Also, about a month ago I started panicking and bought the quiz bank for Pass Perfect (about $200). They had 12 finals and I took every one of them over the last month. I was scoring 65-75 on all of those. The explanations on the Pass Perfect questions are really really good!
Pass perfect was tough and if I had it to do over again I would definitely use both STC (full version) and Pass Perfect quiz bank. The test was still hard this time but it was so much more familiar than the first time I took it just using Kaplan.
I also used TC’s quiz bank somewhere in between the two tests and really I think I could take it or leave it. I’m not sure it helped a lot but as someone else mentioned, sometimes it’s good to see different questions written in different ways.
Good luck to anyone reading this and thanks to all of you that have posted prior that helped me to find the right materials and study habits.
hello
i am new to this thread. 69 points is great. congratulations. Pass perfect is the hardest part for me. how did you simplify the material to better understand it? maybe give a couple of tips.
Thank you.
Best, Andrey
This forum was a great source of advice in my exam review so I decided to register just to post here and pay my dues. I passed Series 24 on my first attempt today. Took SIE in Nov20, Series 7 in Mar21 and Series 63 in Apr21 knocking every exam out on the first attempt so many concepts were still fresh in my head, however I approached Series 24 with extra diligence.
Used STC materials provided by my firm, first reading the Study Guide and highlighting key concepts and details. Then proceeded to final exams with explanations off, never breaking the 70% barrier on any of them, as remained stuck in mid-60s, 62-68% range. When reading the study guide for the second time after the exams, I took notes of all the timeframes. Then it magically clicked. During the second run of finals scored 80% on final exam 01 and 02 - that’s when I felt ready for the real thing. Visiting SEC and FINRA sources for actual rules and regs I got wrong during mock testing helped a lot on the actual exam.
Actual exam felt very close to STC finals. Memorising timeframes saved me - more than 10 questions required to memorise exact number of days in rules/regs, another 10+ allowed for elimination of wrong answers with “fact clutter” based on memorised timeframes. It was a great confidence boost when I could quickly pick answers being absolutely sure I got them right. My advice - do your own notes for this exam. I didn’t for my previous exams, while for this one they literally saved me. And take your time - I finished the exam with a full hour left, therefore there was no point for a hurry - just concentrate, read carefully, use the method of elimination when you don’t see an obviously correct answer, don’t leave questions “unanswered” as there is no point in coming back and second guessing yourself if you are careful.
It is a difficult exam so don’t be discouraged by failing scores on STC finals and lack of score progress - you can nail it during the second run of finals. Try to review your wrong answers before the exam and check FINRA/SEC sources for rules®s - some questions on the actual exam delve deeper into them than the STC study guide, so be prepared to go that extra mile. It will actually made you remember these concepts and provide a huge confidence boost. Use STC crunch-time facts, however focus your revision on timeframes you did yourself.
In total, I dedicated 4 weeks to preparation, 3-4 hours per study day. Took some extra long study guide time to do the timeframes diligently - focus on it as a core part of your revision. This test is mostly memorisation, down to minute details, so no point in spreading your studies over more than one month. Just take it when you still have concepts fresh in your mind and schedule the exam as soon as you feel ready - I scheduled mine for the following day and the “next-day shot” worked for all my FINRA exams passed at first attempt (SIE, Series 7, Series 63, Series 24).
As for the “must-know” topics that tend to reappear: who are the restricted persons, Regulation M, Regulation FD, Regulation SHO, Fail-to-deliver and closeouts, Net capital requirements (got 3 questions so memorise the minimums!), Retail/institutional communications, supervision of research, Form U4&U5 filing and amendments, general supervision (OSJ, principal supervision, Form BR), Code of Arbitration, recordkeeping time, passive market making, order display and order protection, who reports to TRACE, TRF, Consolidated Tape, etc.
Always beware the “information clutter” as it is designed to trick you - eliminate the answers that contain irrelevant facts forcefully pasted into the context (even if otherwise they might seem correct). Remain positive throughout the exam, capitalise on answers you know you got right - attitude during this monster exam is very important.
Last but not least, I was allowed to test remotely through the FINRA special temporary accommodation request, which is a huge boon out if this pandemic. It felt like doing another STC final exam, although slightly easier. Just don’t forget to download the latest ProProctor client app as it was updated in late April:)
This thread saved my ass. I passed this morning on the first attempt. I graduated high school with a 2.0 GPA. Graduated college with a 2 year degree with a 2.0 GPA. I’ve been in the industry since 2006 when I passed the Series 7 with exactly 70%. My point being studying has never been my strong suit. I’m 37 with a family, so I could not dedicate every moment to preparing for the test. Sufficed to say, I was unsure about my chances.
I used Kaplan for the 7, 63, and 66 - so I figured I would use their program again. I’ll just come right out and say Kaplan materials are awful regarding the Series 24. My advice is to fun from Kaplan. FLEE. The Dec 2020 edition of the book is outdated and the Q Bank quiz questions were simultaniously erroneous and far too easy. The online PDF version of the book is even worse. Kaplan haphazardly updates their content on a bad corner of their site via a list of disoconnected articles. Their piss-poor excuse for not maintaining accurate primary content. I became suspicious of Kaplan when scores seemed too easy to achieve and discovered this beautiful thread 14 days before my exam date. I immediatly switched to Pass Perfect and took a final test every night until the day before the exam for 12 nights in a row. Each morning I would then review every question thoroughly for hours on end. I achieved the following scores on Pass Perfect:
58%, 56%, 65%, 65%, 60%, 67%,58%, 57%, 69%, 64%, 64%, 70%, 68%
I’m typically a relatively stable man in no way prone to emotional meltdowns. With two weeks before the exam, I went from from scoring in the 70s and 80s with Kaplan to that first 58% with Pass Perfect. It brought my mental health cratering into a pit of dispair. I could not sleep. I named that dispair Kaplan. I utilized that terror of potentially failing to study more, so I bought STC’s cheat sheet. Which was stellar. But that dispair named Kaplan never left me. I lay awake having panic attacks. I assumed my children’s fatherless weekends and the horrible stress I was placing on my wife would be in vain. That I would lose my job. My career. It was an albotross hung on my neck for all to see until I received the exam results. Frankly, I thought I was going to fail today. I probably got 70% exactly.
If you are two weeks out and use Kaplan, heed my story.
Hi all, thanks all for your great insights. I am less than 3 weeks out and panic is hitting me. Went through the book and started the final exams on STC. I’m going through it while looking up answers and even though I end up only in mid 70’s. What am I doing wrong. Passed the 7 a few years back with close to 90%. You think I’m still ok track or should I try to push out the testing date. Thanks all for your insights.
alexg wrote:
This forum time tracking software was a great source of advice in my exam review so I decided to register just to post here and pay my dues. I passed Series 24 on my first attempt today. Took SIE in Nov20, Series 7 in Mar21 and Series 63 in Apr21 knocking every exam out on the first attempt so many concepts were still fresh in my head, however I approached Series 24 with extra diligence.
Used STC materials provided by my firm, first reading the Study Guide and highlighting key concepts and details. Then proceeded to final exams with explanations off, never breaking the 70% barrier on any of them, as remained stuck in mid-60s, 62-68% range. When reading the study guide for the second time after the exams, I took notes of all the timeframes. Then it magically clicked. During the second run of finals scored 80% on final exam 01 and 02 - that’s when I felt ready for the real thing. Visiting SEC and FINRA sources for actual rules and regs I got wrong during mock testing helped a lot on the actual exam.
Actual exam felt very close to STC finals. Memorising timeframes saved me - more than 10 questions required to memorise exact number of days in rules/regs, another 10+ allowed for elimination of wrong answers with “fact clutter” based on memorised timeframes. It was a great confidence boost when I could quickly pick answers being absolutely sure I got them right. My advice - do your own notes for this exam. I didn’t for my previous exams, while for this one they literally saved me. And take your time - I finished the exam with a full hour left, therefore there was no point for a hurry - just concentrate, read carefully, use the method of elimination when you don’t see an obviously correct answer, don’t leave questions “unanswered” as there is no point in coming back and second guessing yourself if you are careful.
It is a difficult exam so don’t be discouraged by failing scores on STC finals and lack of score progress - you can nail it during the second run of finals. Try to review your wrong answers before the exam and check FINRA/SEC sources for rules®s - some questions on the actual exam delve deeper into them than the STC study guide, so be prepared to go that extra mile. It will actually made you remember these concepts and provide a huge confidence boost. Use STC crunch-time facts, however focus your revision on timeframes you did yourself.
In total, I dedicated 4 weeks to preparation, 3-4 hours per study day. Took some extra long study guide time to do the timeframes diligently - focus on it as a core part of your revision. This test is mostly memorisation, down to minute details, so no point in spreading your studies over more than one month. Just take it when you still have concepts fresh in your mind and schedule the exam as soon as you feel ready - I scheduled mine for the following day and the “next-day shot” worked for all my FINRA exams passed at first attempt (SIE, Series 7, Series 63, Series 24).
As for the “must-know” topics that tend to reappear: who are the restricted persons, Regulation M, Regulation FD, Regulation SHO, Fail-to-deliver and closeouts, Net capital requirements (got 3 questions so memorise the minimums!), Retail/institutional communications, supervision of research, Form U4&U5 filing and amendments, general supervision (OSJ, principal supervision, Form BR), Code of Arbitration, recordkeeping time, passive market making, order display and order protection, who reports to TRACE, TRF, Consolidated Tape, etc.
Always beware the “information clutter” as it is designed to trick you - eliminate the answers that contain irrelevant facts forcefully pasted into the context (even if otherwise they might seem correct). Remain positive throughout the exam, capitalise on answers you know you got right - attitude during this monster exam is very important.
Last but not least, I was allowed to test remotely through the FINRA special temporary accommodation request, which is a huge boon out if this pandemic. It felt like doing another STC final exam, although slightly easier. Just don’t forget to download the latest ProProctor client app as it was updated in late April:)
andrejpesockij920 wrote:alexg wrote:
This forum time tracking software was a great source of advice in my exam review so I decided to register just to post here and pay my dues. I passed Series 24 on my first attempt today. Took SIE in Nov20, Series 7 in Mar21 and Series 63 in Apr21 knocking every exam out on the first attempt so many concepts were still fresh in my head, however I approached Series 24 with extra diligence.
Used STC materials provided by my firm, first reading the Study Guide and highlighting key concepts and details. Then proceeded to final exams with explanations off, never breaking the 70% barrier on any of them, as remained stuck in mid-60s, 62-68% range. When reading the study guide for the second time after the exams, I took notes of all the timeframes. Then it magically clicked. During the second run of finals scored 80% on final exam 01 and 02 - that’s when I felt ready for the real thing. Visiting SEC and FINRA sources for actual rules and regs I got wrong during mock testing helped a lot on the actual exam.
Actual exam felt very close to STC finals. Memorising timeframes saved me - more than 10 questions required to memorise exact number of days in rules/regs, another 10+ allowed for elimination of wrong answers with “fact clutter” based on memorised timeframes. It was a great confidence boost when I could quickly pick answers being absolutely sure I got them right. My advice - do your own notes for this exam. I didn’t for my previous exams, while for this one they literally saved me. And take your time - I finished the exam with a full hour left, therefore there was no point for a hurry - just concentrate, read carefully, use the method of elimination when you don’t see an obviously correct answer, don’t leave questions “unanswered” as there is no point in coming back and second guessing yourself if you are careful.
It is a difficult exam so don’t be discouraged by failing scores on STC finals and lack of score progress - you can nail it during the second run of finals. Try to review your wrong answers before the exam and check FINRA/SEC sources for rules®s - some questions on the actual exam delve deeper into them than the STC study guide, so be prepared to go that extra mile. It will actually made you remember these concepts and provide a huge confidence boost. Use STC crunch-time facts, however focus your revision on timeframes you did yourself.
In total, I dedicated 4 weeks to preparation, 3-4 hours per study day. Took some extra long study guide time to do the timeframes diligently - focus on it as a core part of your revision. This test is mostly memorisation, down to minute details, so no point in spreading your studies over more than one month. Just take it when you still have concepts fresh in your mind and schedule the exam as soon as you feel ready - I scheduled mine for the following day and the “next-day shot” worked for all my FINRA exams passed at first attempt (SIE, Series 7, Series 63, Series 24).
As for the “must-know” topics [url=https://www.worktime.com]worktime[/url] that tend to reappear: who are the restricted persons, Regulation M, Regulation FD, Regulation SHO, Fail-to-deliver and closeouts, Net capital requirements (got 3 questions so memorise the minimums!), Retail/institutional communications, supervision of research, Form U4&U5 filing and amendments, general supervision (OSJ, principal supervision, Form BR), Code of Arbitration, recordkeeping time, passive market making, order display and order protection, who reports to TRACE, TRF, Consolidated Tape, etc.
Always beware the “information clutter” as it is designed to trick you - eliminate the answers that contain irrelevant facts forcefully pasted into the context (even if otherwise they might seem correct). Remain positive throughout the exam, capitalise on answers you know you got right - attitude during this monster exam is very important.
Last but not least, I was allowed to test remotely through the FINRA special temporary accommodation request, which is a huge boon out if this pandemic. It felt like doing another STC final exam, although slightly easier. Just don’t forget to download the latest ProProctor client app as it was updated in late April:)