I took the series 3 in March of 2003. The test cost me $75.00. Plus $200.00 for this one day course at the University of Phoenix Extension in California http://www.trainingconsultants.net I had to retake it as I failed the test the first time. They guaranteed their course so it was free the second time. I had to pay the $75.00 for the testing fee again. I had to open up my own business as a sole proprietor. I had to pay the NFA $1,000.00 plus they handled my CFTC registration for I think $250.00 can't remember. I made my own disclosure documents from collecting several different CTA docs from the Net and made my own combination. That was hard and the NFA sent them back several times for correction. I then decided I did not want to be a glorified telemarketer, so this March I just paid the $100.00 for the CFTC registration and let everything else go. I do not want to take that hard series 3 test again, if I ever decided to trade OPM. This is why I stay registered for $100.00/year. I did all this myself in 4 months time, without any help from anybody and no sponser or compliance dept. Michael B.
You don't need sponsorship to TAKE the exam. But when you wantto registered with the NFA after having passed the exam, THEN you need sponsorship UNLESS you start your own firm. That is my experience. Took the exam. Passed. Created my own company. Applied to NFA. Waited 3 months. Got approved.
Thanks for the comments - hope they helped others as much as they've helped me. Does anyone know if 3 months is the normal time for NFA approval if you set up your own company?
You do not have to become a "member" of the NFA in order to register your Series 3 and keep it alive. You can simply register yourself as a "sole-proprietorship" with the NFA, thereby keeping your Series 3 intact for $100.00 per year.
I was told one month, but was then told it takes longer because I was not American. The FBI check took longer. But I think post 9-11, everyone can expect to wait longer.
Go with Dearborn, I studied the book 2 weeks, took their practice exams on computer and wrote the test. I got a combined 90% score. Just be aware the actual exam is harder than the practice exams, because it is much more time consuming due to many more math questions than on the practice exams. You should be able to do a Dearborn practice exam in 90 minutes, if you can do that then you should be able to complete the actual exam in the 2.5 hours they give you. If it takes you 2.5 hours to do a practice exam, you are NOT READY to write the real thing, you will run out of time long before you have finished all the questions. One more piece of advice - use time management. Complete the non-math questions first and skip all the math questions, because they are all worth one point no matter how long the question takes to complete. Then go back and do the math questions with the time you have left. A non-math question can be answered in 30 seconds, but a math question mike take 5 minutes to complete. TIME MANAGEMENT is the key to good test scores in my opinion.
the longest wait for your nfa/cftc approval has been the fbi fingerprint cards. but now if you want to go into the nfa office in chicago you can scan your fingerprints electronically and it is really a short time to be approved.
that is only if you are a US citizen, the FBI referred my card to Interpol and it took 3 months to process.