How to Pass the NYS Licensed Real Estate Salesperson's Exam
Here's my tip for passing the Real Estate Exam:
1) Don't play "beat the clock" while taking the course.
First, the biggest mistake you're likely to make is focusing too much on running out the mandatory classroom hours clock. There's are loads of ways of doing that. For example you just rush through the activities then guess your way through the end of chapter quizes. Depending on the course you're taking, you can certainly do that. The problem is that you still have to take the exam at the end of the course, and if you rushed through the modules without actually studying them, you're going to have to go back and frantically study everything a second, third or even fourth time. According to my estimate, it pretty much meant I got busted... I had to go back and take all the time I save to restudy all the stuff I glossed over. So, my advice there is don't do it. Focus on quality over quantity. I can say that the content of the course I took was definitely relevant to the test. (I used the CE Shop.)
2) Focus on the vocabulary and related concepts to the terminology.
Think of the exam as a vocabulary test. The vocabulary ties in to concepts, and concepts to vocabulary, but if you stop every time a new word or concept is introduced and make sure you know it you should be OK.
As an example, one of the first concepts you'll learn is that of "fiduciary duties" (your responsibilities to the client.)
Right away you need to associate them with OLDCAR, and you need to know that OLDCAR stands for obedience, loyalty, disclosure, confidentiality, accountability, reasonable care. With that you'll need to be able to retrieve any one of those given words when a scenario or example is put before you.
So basically, as you study for the exam, you should be jotting down words, and making sure you can come back to them, describe them and give examples. In general, if you can talk about the words, it means you likely know and understand them.
As an example, one of the first concepts you'll learn is that of "fiduciary duties" (your responsibilities to the client.)
Right away you need to associate them with OLDCAR, and you need to know that OLDCAR stands for obedience, loyalty, disclosure, confidentiality, accountability, reasonable care. With that you'll need to be able to retrieve any one of those given words when a scenario or example is put before you.
So basically, as you study for the exam, you should be jotting down words, and making sure you can come back to them, describe them and give examples. In general, if you can talk about the words, it means you likely know and understand them.
3) Get your hands on the State's curriculum overview. Keep going over it and check off what you know and don't know.
Actually, they NYS DOS have a full curriculum outline that you can download. It also gives you a good ida of how much of the test is dedicated to what. As an example, some people make assumptions then disproportionately focus on one thing at the expense of mastering plenty of other things on the test. (Math is a good example. In New York State it only makes up an hour out of the curriculum.) So, be careful about disproportionately focusing on one thing at the expense of skipping over everyone else.
NYS State Exam Curriculum Overview
NYS State Exam Curriculum Overview
4) Get your hand on a good course summary.
Prep Agent has a great document that comes with their course called "Key Concepts To Pass Your Real Estate Exam" Use it to focus you in on what you need to know and review. You can actually find other course reviews floating around online. Try searching something like "NYS Real Estate Exam Test Review PDF" or something like that. I found one from a school, but I'll bet they're going to eventually realize that they accidentally posted it online one day and take it down, so mum's the word.
5) Mock test your butt off.
I really like Prep Agent. They're not the the only ones offer free mock tests online. In fact, your online school might as well. Whatever the case, I advise taking the exam over and over, noting what you do and don't know, and spending extra time going over the stuff that's getting you in trouble, because its a sign that's what you accidentally skipped.
In regard to Prep Agent, I like them enough that I've signed up for their affiliate program. Just go to their site, enjoy their free practice test, and if you decide to sign up enter PROMO CODE ELANDSBERG for a 20% discount. (Disclosure: Yeah, I get a commish.) Basically, I was taking a full mock exam at least once a night for the 15 days leading up to my proctored final via the CE Shop, then the State exam. (I passed both exams on the first try!) Take 10-25 question mini-exams when you only have a little spare time (for example, when you're riding the train, or busy making potty) and a full 70-100 question exam when you can finally sit down and do it for real at night.
In regard to Prep Agent, I like them enough that I've signed up for their affiliate program. Just go to their site, enjoy their free practice test, and if you decide to sign up enter PROMO CODE ELANDSBERG for a 20% discount. (Disclosure: Yeah, I get a commish.) Basically, I was taking a full mock exam at least once a night for the 15 days leading up to my proctored final via the CE Shop, then the State exam. (I passed both exams on the first try!) Take 10-25 question mini-exams when you only have a little spare time (for example, when you're riding the train, or busy making potty) and a full 70-100 question exam when you can finally sit down and do it for real at night.
6) Strategize your test taking.
Here's a useful test taking strategy: Look at the answers before reading the question and make sure you understand the basic vocabulary in the answers. Typically, there will be 4 answers. One will be correct and another will be almost correct, then two others will be totally off mark. Once you've narrowed most of the questions down to best of two, you have a pretty good chance of passing. This means that you probably need to understand the terminology in the wrong answers as well, other it may be more difficult to rule them out. Related to this I like the "Dummies" series mock tests, because they do a good job in explaining the right and wrong answers. You might want to save that resource for last to see if you're really ready to take the test.
in conclusion...
And there you go. If you follow these 6 basic strategies, I'm pretty sure you'll have a good chance of passing the test, hopefully on the first try. The only other advice I can give you is to be resourceful. There are plenty of free YOUTUBE videos floating out there. Use them to reinforce your learning, but remember, in the end only one thing matters, that you got at least the minimum score required to pass on the day of your exam. That's it... so work on averaging well above that 70% minimum so you'll have a good chance of passing even if you happen to be having a lower score day.
Further Reading: How To Pass the New York State Exam on the First Try
Further Reading: How To Pass the New York State Exam on the First Try