Exam Difficulty

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Hi David,

I'll be taking the upcoming Level 1 and 2 exams. Quick question: How is the difficulty of the actual exams compared with GARP's sample exams and your question sets? What has been the typical feedback from students / test-takers?

I understand that you designed your sample Q's to be harder, yet I've really been taken aback by the difficulty level of the the sample exam as well. As you mentioned in your previous L2 Webinar, the sample exams questions were notably difficult. They seem to go into much greater detail than what was covered in your video lectures and notes. I felt good after going through and understanding your lectures and notes, but after struggling to work through your sample Q / GARP sample exams it appears i had only scratched the surface in terms of my exam prep.

Would appreciate your insight, thanks!

 

[David Harper CFA FRM]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for consuming our product. We are grateful you would choose to spend your (precious) prep time with our product.

Although you will see (here in the About forum), of course, a diversity of feedback, my first reaction is: we get a lot of concerns before the exam very similar to yours. Then immediately after the exam, if history is a guide: a majority will feel a bit "defeated," expressing little confidence that they passed; only a handful will express confidence. Then, when the results arrive, an approximately similar majority will have passed (last Nov, our sampled pass rate was 72%; actually that is was *lower* bound of a statistical confidence interval for legal reasons, so the population average was likely a notch higher). But, at the same time, 72% can't be too far away from the % who were NOT confident they passed before the exam (a different sample, to be sure)??!! So, i always find that interesting: most were not confident in perception, yet most did pass. This perception mis-calibration, for the FRM, seems to be different than, say, CFA

The key factor, I think, is that the exam grades on a curve. Further, the grading curve lacks any meaningful prospective clarity (everybody wants an ex ante "target" or "hurdle." There is none). In summary, the perception of difficulty is higher, maybe significantly higher, than the pass rate; I don't have stats on the top 5% pass rate (which anchors the curve), but I am highly confident that the curve allows for meaningful mistakes on the exam, and yet a pass result.

Exam difficulty vis-a-vis the actual exam: my opinion is that the 2010 is pretty near the actual exam difficulty (i.e., I think GARP is closing that gap). Further, my opinion, that the difficulty is, for some of us, more the breadth than the depth: the particularly vexing aspect of the GARP is their pool of potential questions, concept-wise, is breathtakingly wide. (conversely, unfortunately, you will have prepared for topics that are not quizzed. I can prove this point: there are ~600+ AIMs [many with compound concepts] and, L1+L2, only 180 questions! Can we not conclude: MOST aims, by definition, will not be quizzed?)

My questions remain, in my opinion, generally more difficult than the exam questions (intentionally). Struggle with my questions should be no cause per se for alarm.

I hope that helps. On the bright side, we've helped a lot of customer pass who felt they "barely scratched the surface." On the other side, there is an inherent unpredictability to the exam that, on balance in my opinion, favors fundamental preparation (like you seem to have done). Good luck! Thank you again!

… please report back, we really savor the post mortems (oops bad word choice?)...David

 

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Thanks David, for your detailed and helpful response. Let's all hope for the best on Saturday.