Chapter 4
Surviving Test Day
IN THIS CHAPTER
Getting ready the day before
Arriving at the test center and checking in
Experiencing the exam
Viewing your exam results
You’ve done your homework, taken practice exams, and completed your prep course, and now the day of reckoning is upon you. You’re ready to exchange the gazillion hours of study and hard work for your Series 7 license. The last hurdle awaits you at the test center.
In this chapter, I give you a snapshot of the Series 7 exam experience so you know the procedure before, during, and after you take the exam and can hit the ground running.
Composing Yourself the Day Before
On the day before the exam, review the information that you’re still having problems with until noon; then call it a day. Get away from the books, go out to dinner (maybe skip the spicy foods and alcohol), go to a movie. Rest your mind. If you’ve put the required time and effort into studying up to now, you’ll benefit more from a good night’s rest than anything you can learn in the final hours the night before your exam. Taking the evening off can help prevent brain fatigue and make zoning into exam mode easier tomorrow, when it counts most.
Before you go to sleep, gather the items you need to take with you to the exam. If you prepare yourself the night before, you’ll be more relaxed on exam day. Here are some activities to complete the night before the exam to finalize your preparations for the big day:
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Make sure you have the proper government-issued ID bearing your name, signature, and a recent photo. The name on your ID must identically match the name on the Web CRD registration form. An expired ID won’t be accepted. Official (primary) identification can be in the form of a valid passport, a driver’s license, or a military ID card. A current (unexpired) State ID is acceptable in lieu of a driver’s license, as long as it includes the person’s full name as it appears on the Web CRD registration form, an expiration date, the student’s signature, and a current photograph.
If you use a military ID that doesn’t have a signature, you need to bring a secondary form of ID with a signature. Secondary ID can be a valid credit card, a bank automatic-teller machine (ATM) card, a library card, a U.S. Social Security card, an employee ID/work badge, or a school ID.
- Pack earplugs (if allowed — ask when you schedule your exam).
- Put your lunch and/or a snack with the rest of your stuff.
- Bring study materials — including the topics and/or math formulas you’re having trouble with — for a final review before you enter the test center.
- Have your watch ready to make sure you’re on time, that you don’t take too long between the first and second halves of the exam, and that you complete both sessions before your time is up.
- Lay out your clothes (dress in layers in case the test center feels like either your refrigerator or your oven).
- Review the directions to the exam site. Make sure you have a charged cellphone and the test center number in case you get lost.
Additionally, you have to bring at least one finger with you, preferably yours, so that the exam administrators can take a fingerprint (though you probably have that packed already).
You can’t bring study material, textbooks, briefcases, purses, electronic devices, cellphones, notes of any kind, or your really smart friend with you into the testing room. Calculators, pencils, and scrap paper or a dry erase board will be provided for you at the exam center, and the exam administrators will collect the calculators, pencils, and all scrap paper (used and unused) or dry erase board at the end of each session.
Making the Most of the Morning
Now the big day is here. Certainly, you don’t have to dress up for the pictures the Series 7 administrator takes, but you should at least do what you need to do to feel awake and alive and good about yourself (do some push-ups, take a shower, shave, whatever).
Be sure to eat at least a light breakfast. You may feel like you’re too nervous to eat, but if you’re hungry when you take the exam, you won’t be able to concentrate. And if you overeat, you’ll be wasting valuable energy (and blood flow!) digesting the meal — energy your brain needs to sustain you. To avoid an energy crash, I suggest a protein bar, fruit, and/or veggies rather than sugar or carbs.
Grab everything you packed up the night before (see the preceding section) and head out the door.
Leave your home in time to arrive at the test center at least 30 minutes before your scheduled exam so you have time to check in. I recommend that you arrive at the test center 1½ hours before the exam so you have 1 hour to review the topics and/or math formulas that give you the most trouble and a half-hour to check in.
Arriving on the Scene
The Series 7 exams are administered by Prometric, and you can contact the center for additional information. In this section, I cover the steps to take upon your arrival at the exam center.
In Chapter 1, I discuss the availability of special accommodations if you’re disabled or learning impaired or if English is your second language. If you require special accommodations, contact the FINRA Special Conditions Team at (800) 999-6647 for information about registration and for instructions about arriving at the exam center.
Taking advantage of one last chance to cram
The information you review just before the exam will be on the surface of your mind. When you arrive at the exam center (or even during your commute if you take public transportation), do some last-minute cramming. Review the topics and/or math formulas you’re having trouble with.
Each Series 7 exam center is set up differently; you may find areas in the building where you can study, or you may have to study outside in your car, on a bench, or at a nearby coffee shop. When you’re ready to enter the exam center (30 minutes before the exam) you can leave your books in your vehicle if the exam center doesn’t have lockers (see the section “Getting seated”).
Signing in
To enter the Series 7 exam center, you have to provide the administrators with valid ID. (See “Composing Yourself the Day Before” for what constitutes “valid.”) After you’re inside the test center, you have to sign in and get photographed and fingerprinted. In addition, before you begin the exam, you have to read a form called the Rules of Conduct and agree to the terms. A preview of the Rules of Conduct is available on the FINRA website (www.finra.org/industry/test-center-rules-conduct).
Getting seated
Basically, the only things you may bring into the testing room are your own sweet self and possibly a set of earplugs. You can store all other personal property in a locker at the exam center. (All new testing sites are supposed to have lockers, but some older sites may have been grandfathered without them. You can ask when you make your appointment.) For a list of the (mostly) medical items you can bring into the exam room, including which ones need inspection or preauthorization, please call your testing center.
Some exam centers have cafeterias and/or vending machines with snacks and drinks, but you can’t even bring chewing gum into the exam room. I don’t know why — maybe because of the noise, or maybe so the exam staff doesn’t have to scrape gum wads off computer screens.
The exam administrators escort you to the exam room. In the testing room, you receive scrap paper (or a dry erase board), a pencil, and a basic calculator. You’ll have to return the paper, pencil, and calculator to the exam center administrators at the end of the session (yes, even the unused scrap paper). You can’t bring anything else into the cubicle where you take the exam.
Taking the Exam
Take a deep breath, crack your knuckles, and get ready to make things count — this Series 7 exam is the genuine article. The exam is three hours and 45 minutes long, and you’re graded on a total of 125 questions. The test designers have even prepared a bonus for you: To ensure that new questions to be introduced in future exams meet acceptable standards, you also answer 10 additional, unidentified questions that don’t count toward your score. Lucky you! This means that you answer 135 questions, but only 125 really count toward your score.
Most test centers offer the inspirational creature comforts of the office: You take your Series 7 in a cubicle (approximately 4 feet wide) with a computer and a small desk area. You may leave your cubicle for restroom breaks at any time, if necessary. The clock continues to run, however, so try to limit your intake of fluids before each session.
Tackling the test
Just before you begin your exam, a member of the test center staff will walk you through the steps of how to use the computerized system. Don’t worry — you don’t need any previous computer experience to understand the way the computer operates (it’s that easy). If you do have any tech problems during the test, you can use the help button or summon the exam administrators. A picture of how a question appears on the computer screen is in Chapter 1.
As the test begins, you’re ready to put all those test-taking skills to use (check out Chapter 2 for a rundown of what those skills are). Right off the bat, write down everything you think you’re likely to forget. Keep track of time. Mark questions for review. Concentrate on the facts in question, and look for key words that can give you clues. Use your amazing powers of elimination to identify wrong answer choices. Work your magic with specific question types (see Chapter 3). You’ve done your homework, so be confident.
Before your session ends, double-check the questions you marked for review. Don't change any answers unless you’re certain your initial answer is wrong.
If you’re one of those speed demons (and I hope you’re not) who finishes the test in an hour and are tempted to review all your answers, don’t do it. Go over only the questions you marked for review. If you try to review all the questions, not only will you drive yourself bonkers, but you’ll also do more harm than good by second-guessing your right answers.
Getting the Results: Drum Roll Please …
You’ve completed many hours of studying. You’ve deprived yourself of weekend parties and long afternoons of leisure. Your social life has been almost nonexistent, and if you’re the type who becomes unpleasant when in a stressful state of being, you may have alienated the people who used to hang out with you.
After surviving three hours and 45 minutes of mental abuse from taking the Series 7 exam, you’re ready to push the button that reveals your score and can change your life.
The time may seem much longer, but in reality, you have to wait only a little while before your score is revealed. Your grade and the word passed or failed appear on the computer screen. If your grade is 72 or better, you pass the exam. (Please remember that you’re now a professional and refrain from doing a victory dance in the middle of the test center.) If your score is less than 72, you don’t pass the exam. Don’t call your friends and tell them you’ve decided to become an astronaut or firefighter instead. You can retake the test, so you may still have a future on Wall Street. See Chapter 1 for what to do next.
After you receive your exam score, you can leave your cubicle. Bring your scrap paper or dry erase board, pencil, and calculator with you, and turn them over to the exam center staff.
Regardless of whether you pass or fail the exam, you receive a printout of your grade and the breakdown of your performance on the Series 7 exam topics, which is unfortunately pretty vague. Employers receive a copy of the results in the mail, or, if tied into the FINRA computer system, they can get results online.