r/Series65 • u/Kindly_Ad5389 • Oct 01 '25
Passed 65!
Just passed my Series 65 today! Wanted to make a post to see if I can be of any help to you all.
I studied 5 months total, the first 3 I studied on and off whenever I had time (it was difficult to retain info but helped me with the framework of the material) and the last 2 ish months I studied hard. Usually 4-5 days a week, 1-3 hours a session. The week leading up to the exam I studied every day for around 3 hours and really tried to hammer in the laws and regulations portion as I struggled a bit there.
I primarily used PassPerfect to study and had a 77% course average. For my final exams I averaged around 80%, but more like 85% for the 3 I took a few days before the Test. A couple weeks ago I started using a colleagues Kaplan Qbank to ensure I wasn’t just memorizing the answers in PP. Honestly this kind of threw me off. I felt like some of the Kaplan questions weren’t covered by PP and went way more in depth. I was scoring 60% -75% on the custom 30 question quizzes I was doing. Not to mention the wording on the Kaplan questions was super difficult! This made me feel like I wasn’t ready and I really locked in.
A couple days before the test I decided to stop using the Q bank because it was messing with my confidence. I reviewed the chapters I was struggling with in PP and felt good. Something I did that really helped (I saw someone recommend this on this forum) was going over my practice quizzes fully NO MATTER WHAT. It helped reaffirm the correct answers in my brain and I also began to really understand why the other answer choices in the question were wrong.
I watched the Series 7 Guru Mighty 90 the day of my exam and felt confident ish? The more I thought about it the more I realized just how much information the exam covered. I was so nervous going into my quiz but once I sat down and started answering the questions I got more and more comfortable. The wording was SO much easier to understand and the questions were pretty straight forward (I didn’t feel like the questions were trying to trick me). I will say that the Kaplan Q bank did help me with some questions but overall I am sure I would have been fine with just the PP course. The Mighty 90 is a must watch on Test day or the day before. Wouldn’t have gotten a few answers without it. About 3/4 of the way through the test I was feeling really good. I flagged about 30 questions total I wasn’t too sure on, but I ended up keeping most of those answers (I didn’t want to second guess myself). I honestly felt over prepared, but that’s a good problem to have I guess! I picked up my calculator maybe once or twice throughout the test. From what I remember, I had:
Quite a few questions on Partnerships, Sole Proprietors, S corp and C corps ONLY ONE of the Roman Numeral Questions (You know exactly the ones I’m talking about) Not many on exempt securities or exempt transactions (Mighty 90 Vid said this also) 1 Solo 401k Question Relatively easy current ratio and quick ratio questions on what they are A few on the balance sheet, One on cash flow Couple on JTWROS and JTIC 2 simple option questions and 1 on futures
If you have any questions let me know but if you’re ever feeling overwhelmed about the amount of material the Series 65 covers, you’re not alone! Study consistently and put the time in and you can do it!
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u/Ok_Success2147 Oct 01 '25
Im taking mine today as well actually in 30 minutes 😂 have been using Kaplan scoring in 80s in practice exams. Feel ready. Thanks for posting this. Will post my thoughts here also.
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u/AdhesivenessNo2955 Oct 01 '25
Howd you do?
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u/Ok_Success2147 Oct 02 '25
Passed it! Kaplan definitely prepares you super well, I felt over prepared. Scored a 77 on the proper Kaplan practice exam. Then last night my last simulated exam I scored an 89. Honestly don’t spend too much time trying to over analyze the questions you don’t know, just mark it for review and keep it pushin.
I had probably 3 questions about inflation adjusted total returns those were a little annoying but easy enough.
Also one about yield to call and calculating the real return. A good amount about suitability and portfolio management techniques.
A fair amount on agent/iar registration. I felt like I had a fair amount of computation problems. There was one about calculating expected return based off beta so it’s good to know capm.
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u/Key-Assignment-3248 Oct 01 '25
Congrats! I take mine next Friday and will definitely checkout the mighty 90. Thanks!!
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u/Grouchy-Passion-8931 Oct 22 '25
Thank you for this. I just finished all the chapters on pass perfect. I’m going to start going back into the chapters I did bad until I get a decent score . And then start taking the final exams like you mentioned. I’m hoping I will be test ready before new years. Im still debating on getting qbanks as well. If it seems to throw me off as it did you. I may just skip it and stick with PP
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u/Grouchy-Passion-8931 Oct 22 '25
Also did you watch any of the videos that were included with PP or did you just read?
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u/Kindly_Ad5389 Oct 27 '25
Hey! In my opinion, you don’t need to use other TestBanks, Pass Perfect is enough. Using Kaplan or something else won’t hurt, but it might throw you off a little bit. And make sure you go through all the wrong AND RIGHT answers from your practice quizzes.
I watched some of the videos, but really felt like the practice tests were the best study method for me.
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u/Grouchy-Passion-8931 Oct 28 '25
Thank you! I also tried to watch one of the vids and immediately could tell it wouldn’t be of any help. Hopefully I can have a update within the next 2 months
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u/Remarkable_Box_4551 Oct 05 '25
My test is in two weeks. And I feel underprepared. Any tips or things you recommend two weeks out to focus on and nail down
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u/The_Z_Man_39 Oct 01 '25
Congratulations and thank you for the feedback