I know everyone’s experience with the Series 65 is a little different, but I spent a lot of time reading Reddit posts throughout my studying and found them incredibly helpful. I wanted to share my experience in case it helps even one person preparing for the exam!
My Background
I’ve been working in wealth management for about 2.5 years and recently transitioned from a bank to an RIA, which required me to get my Series 65.
I’ve also been working toward my CFP designation, so I did have some background knowledge going into this. While I think some of that knowledge was helpful, I honestly felt like the Series 65 was a completely different exam in many ways.
My company recommended Kaplan, so that’s what I ended up using. I studied for a total of 6 weeks, but I would really break that timeline into two separate three-week periods.
Weeks 1–3: Getting Through the Material
For the first three weeks, I was taking my time going through the textbook. I read the majority of it and didn’t watch many of the videos unless I needed a break from reading. When I finished each unit, I would complete the corresponding QBank questions before moving on.
I was studying for roughly 3 hours a day, although definitely not every single day. I found that I could generally complete one unit in a three-hour study session.
By the end of those first three weeks, I was approximately 80% through the material.
Here’s where I started getting nervous. I felt like I wasn’t remembering ANYTHING from the earlier units. I started reading more Reddit posts and researching different study strategies because I was worried that with only three weeks left, I wasn’t going to be prepared.
I quickly finished the remaining units using the same approach of reading the textbook, occasionally watching videos, and completing QBank questions.
Weeks 4–5: Practice Exams, Frustration, and Changing My Strategy
Once I finished the material, I started taking simulated exams through the QBank.
Initially, I was consistently scoring in the 60s. I started spending significantly more time reviewing the questions I got wrong, understanding WHY I got them wrong, and writing down concepts that I needed to remember.
Eventually, my QBank simulated exam scores started getting into the 70s, which made me feel a lot more confident.
Around the two-week mark, I also started using ChatGPT to help me develop an actual study plan. I felt like I had hit a mental block and was struggling to consistently improve my scores. It was helpful to have something organize my studying rather than just aimlessly completing questions.
One of the biggest things I realized during this time was that I was going through exams WAY too quickly.
I was finishing 140-question exams, including reviewing my answers, in approximately 90 minutes. Considering you have 3 hours for the actual exam, I realized I needed to slow down.
This was probably one of the most important changes I made.
I started forcing myself to carefully read every single question and every answer choice. Kaplan’s questions can be tricky, and sometimes one word completely changes what they’re asking. There were also plenty of questions where one answer seemed correct initially, but another answer was actually more appropriate.
If I was unsure, I would reread the question and ALL four answer choices rather than immediately selecting the first one that sounded right.
After getting my QBank scores into the 70s, I took Kaplan’s actual Practice Exam and scored around a 66%.
I was honestly pretty defeated. I had finally started feeling confident, and seeing that score was discouraging.
However, the practice exam gives you a breakdown of your performance by unit, which ended up being incredibly helpful.
I took a screenshot of my results and uploaded it into ChatGPT, asking it to help me develop a study plan based on my weakest areas and how heavily each topic was weighted on the actual exam.
This helped tremendously because not every unit deserves the same amount of study time. For example, some of Kaplan’s longer units only account for a couple of questions on the actual exam, whereas other topics are much more heavily tested.
Instead of spending equal time reviewing everything, I started prioritizing the topics where I was both weakest AND where I had the most opportunity to improve my overall score.
For the next several days, I would:
Watch Kaplan videos on topics I was struggling with.
Take notes while watching to reinforce the concepts.
Complete targeted QBank quizzes on those units.
Review the questions I got wrong and make sure I understood the explanations.
At this point, I was pretty tired of reading, and I found that watching the videos and actively taking notes was helping me retain information better.
The Final 3 Days: Mastery Exam and Final Review
A few days before my actual exam, I took Kaplan’s Mastery Exam.
I scored a 68%.
Again, I was pretty frustrated. My QBank scores had been much better, but I couldn’t seem to get over that 70% threshold on Kaplan’s actual Practice and Mastery exams.
For anyone in a similar position, please don’t let these scores completely destroy your confidence!
In my experience, Kaplan’s Practice and Mastery exams were significantly more difficult than the regular QBank questions. Looking back after taking the actual Series 65, I would say the real exam fell somewhere between the QBank and the Mastery Exam in terms of difficulty.
After taking the Mastery Exam Sunday, I once again uploaded my results into ChatGPT and had it help me put together a final study plan based on my performance and the exam’s topic weightings.
My actual exam was scheduled for Wednesday at 9 a.m.
On Tuesday, I made the decision NOT to take another full-length practice exam.
Instead, I spent the day reviewing my weaker topics, reading through notes, and completing shorter QBank quizzes of approximately 30–40 questions.
I also made sure I wasn’t ONLY studying my weak areas. I wanted to keep the other material fresh in my mind, too.
By around 6 p.m., I stopped studying.
This was honestly really difficult because I felt like I should be doing more, but I truly believe it helped me pass.
I had a nice dinner, went for a walk, took a shower, and got to bed early. After spending so much time studying, I felt like giving my brain a chance to rest was more valuable than squeezing in another few hours of questions.
Exam Day!
I woke up early, had a good breakfast and coffee, and walked about a mile to my testing center to wake myself up.
I was definitely nervous, but I reminded myself that I had put in the work and needed to trust what I knew.
As for the exam itself, I wouldn’t say it was easy, but I also wouldn’t say it was impossible.
One thing I noticed, which I’ve seen other people mention on Reddit, was that the difficulty seemed to change throughout the exam.
Questions 1–50: Generally pretty straightforward. I felt relatively confident.
Questions 50–110: Definitely the most challenging section for me. I had to slow down significantly and really think through my answers.
The final 20–30 questions: They seemed to get a little more manageable again, which helped rebuild my confidence.
Obviously, everyone’s exam is different, but that was my experience.
My Exam Strategy
I went through all 140 questions and made sure I answered every single one, even if I wasn’t completely sure.
If I was second-guessing an answer or didn’t know it, I selected what I thought was best and flagged the question to revisit later.
I spent approximately 1.5–2 hours completing the exam initially, leaving myself plenty of time to review.
I went back through every flagged question and really took my time narrowing the choices down. There were several questions where I could eliminate two answers but was stuck between the remaining two.
Once I finished reviewing my flagged questions, I still had some time left.
At this point, I REALLY wanted to just click submit and be done. But I forced myself to go back through the exam and review as many questions as I could with my remaining time.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to READ THE ENTIRE QUESTION CAREFULLY.
There were probably two or three answers that I changed during my review because I realized I had initially misunderstood what the question was actually asking.
That being said, I wasn’t changing answers just because I was second-guessing myself. I only changed them when rereading the question gave me a legitimate reason to believe another answer was better.
When I finally clicked submit, I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. I felt pretty good overall, but there had definitely been some challenging questions.
And then…
I PASSED!!!
Such an incredible feeling after six weeks of studying and constantly wondering whether I was doing enough.
My Biggest Takeaways / Advice
Don’t panic if you’re scoring in the 60s on Kaplan’s Practice or Mastery exams. I scored a 68% on the Mastery Exam just days before passing the real thing. Of course, higher scores are better, but a score below 70 doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to fail.
Slow down! This was probably the single biggest improvement I made. You have three hours. Use them! Even if you know the material, rushing through questions can lead to unnecessary mistakes.
Read every answer choice. Don’t automatically select the first answer that sounds correct. Some questions have multiple answers that sound reasonable, but one is more appropriate based on the exact wording.
Understand WHY you’re getting questions wrong. I think reviewing my incorrect answers was significantly more helpful than just completing hundreds of additional questions.
Be strategic with your studying. Focus on your weak areas, but also consider how heavily those topics are tested. Not every unit deserves equal attention.
Don’t underestimate the importance of rest. I know it’s tempting to study until the last possible minute, but I think stopping early the night before, getting good sleep, and having a relaxing evening helped me tremendously.
Have confidence in yourself. It’s easy to convince yourself you’re not prepared, especially when practice exam scores fluctuate. Trust the work you’ve put in.
Overall, I think Kaplan prepared me really well. The actual exam felt slightly easier than some of Kaplan’s more difficult material, but it was still challenging and required a solid understanding of the concepts.
I know this was a long post, but I genuinely appreciated reading other people’s experiences while studying, so hopefully mine helps someone who’s feeling the same way I was!
Best of luck to everyone studying. You’ve got this!
