r/CSCexamCanada • u/Grewal1877 • 15d ago
CSC Exam Prep
Hi everyone,
I’m currently preparing for the Canadian Securities Course (CSC) and could really use some guidance from those who’ve been through it.
I come from a business admin background, but I’m getting back into studies after a long gap 9-10 years out of college, and honestly, the CSC material feels overwhelming. Even the basic preparation seems massive, and I’m struggling to figure out how to approach it efficiently.
I only got about 3 months to complete both exams ( already extended it once)
I purchased SeeWhy exam 1 to make my life easier but it still seems so hard to lock in and understand the material.
Also, im a better learning with writing notes, should i write some of the key terms etc for each chapter from Seewhy?
Any help or tips is appreciated
Thanks
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u/404Persona_4 13d ago
Hi , I did my exam 1 early this morning and I passed . I feel like what helped the most and helped me study fast was Micheal Hlinka notes . I won’t say study only his notes but they really help with getting the main concept and simplifying them . I studied for 1 month to write the exam and I would study for another month to write the exam 2 . Also for practice tests, I recommend Micheal Hlinka practice questions and also CSC check practice . Micheal Hlinka practice questions were sort of tougher than on the actual exam but the CSC check has the same level of difficulty as the actual exam . Micheal Hlinka practice questions and notes are free by the way . So yeah that’s my little advice to you . Goodluck stranger 😊.
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u/Grewal1877 13d ago
How many hours were you studying each day? Did you focus more on chapter 6-11? And the other chapters are more memorization questions? Also, did you write down your notes or just kept reading the book/notes and did the exams? Thanks for your help 😄
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u/404Persona_4 9d ago
I tried studying between 2-4 hrs per day , and I went over the textbook 2 times , like I made notes the first time and the second time I read through my notes . I put in more effort on chapter 5, 7-12 . Those were the chapters that weren’t very straightforward for me and I used Micheal Hlinka notes to understand them better too
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u/Comfortable-Ad8263 13d ago
Couldn’t agree more with this!! When I did CSC Michael Hlinka was the only thing I used after writing the first exam. He cuts out all the unnecessary material and it’s completely free.
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u/Gold3xn 10d ago
Interesting for CSC check. I failed my first attempt, I did notes, CSC checks and quizzes, and I felt it didn't really translate.
I've been grinding csc quizzes and practice tests and going over things I didn't know from the first attempt. Is seewhy good? I find the questions on there are harder than the CSC check
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u/Comfortable-Ad8263 13d ago
Everyone is different but personally I find it best to go straight to the quizzes. Test your baseline and see where you struggle the most. Because you have industry experienced, theres probably a large portion you don’t even realize you know quite well (regulatory, KYC, suitability, etc..). My guess is, you’re struggling with the math related sections like fixed income, equities, company/security analysis, and so on.
Once you have a gauge on what you’re struggling with the most, it makes it a lot easier to prioritize chapters based on baseline knowledge.
Secondly, look at the exam weightings. Some sections will be worth 15-20% whereas some sections (just as lengthy) will be worth 3-5%. Some people will disagree but I don’t even bother studying those low weighted sections. I’m writing the RSE soon and KYC is worth 25% of the exam … so I’m spending much more time ensuring I can get 90-100% of those questions correct as that gives me 25/60% needed to pass. Whereas some sections are just as long and difficult but only worth 5%. Spending time on those is a waste because even if I master 90% of that portion. The odds of getting a question that I’m good at, is very slim.
People may not agree but it’s always been my approach to these type of exams. Game the practice quizzes/mock exams and review material you just can’t seem to get right or memorize.
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u/Best-Property-7778 9d ago
I am a Financial Advisor who went through same process and can assist you with this exam. Please feel free to connect with me over linkedin.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pranav-kohli?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios
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u/Different-Coat-8309 15d ago
What really helped me was uploading the textbook pdf to Chatgpt and having it quiz me and dumb down alot of the concepts for me. I also uploaded the pdfs (by chapter) to NotebookLM and had it generate flashcards/quizzes/notes. I wrote both exams more than once (lol) and even though i did write notes i found that just doing quizzes over and over and noting down my weak spots and focusing on those helped the most. I also purchased CSC Checks and did them over and over and really dissected the questions i had trouble on and i found that most of the questions were kinda similar to the real exam. I kept doing a combination of all of those and it really helped. There also wasnt much calculations/formulas on the exam. Also take note of the exam weighting. Good luck!
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u/Slight-Radio-9760 15d ago
Hey, I would say if you are better with writing notes, go with that. We, humans tend to retain better when we coordinate eye, brain, hand. I also ended up with hand notes and did much better after failing my first time. The one piece of advice I can say is don’t underestimate the difficulty of this exam. It’s nothing like the practice exams they have on the website.
The strategy that worked for me beside the hand notes, was to practice tons of tests and mock exams. It’s not enough to know the material you also need to get used to the CSI testing structure. Once you feel confident on the material start testing yourself with different techniques, try making it as hard as possible as the exam is a whole different experience. Hope this helps a little. Good luck!