Many people on this forum have asked those who passed the FRM exams to share their tips and strategies. I had many strategies, as can be seen from this long post, but I did not feel comfortable giving advice when I myself had not passed the exam (was awaiting results).
I passed FRM Part 2 November 2014 exam and would like to share some tips and strategies so that future candidates find them useful. Others can also add their own strategies in this thread.
These are my "FRM Part 2 exam preparation and studying" tips. A lot of them are applicable to FRM Part 1 as well. Please note that these are my own tips and strategies, and they may not be applicable or helpful to you. Some people may not agree with my opinions and reasoning, and I accept that: no two people are the same and there is bound to be difference of opinion on such strategies. A lot of this you might know already, but I am still listing what I feel might be helpful.
FRM Part 2 is a lot different from FRM Part 1.
I studied from the original books and used BT notes, practice questions and videos. My friend had lent me his older Schweser books, but I never got to them (except for perusing through their quick sheet).
1. Start early
Everyone says this. Everyone knows this. But not many people actually follow it.
The earlier you start, the better you feel. FRM Part 2 exam is typically very qualitative. FRM Part 1 generally tends to be heavily quantitative. (However, some people posted that the FRM Part 1 November 2014 exam was not very quantitative. Maybe GARP is incorporating feedback from previous test-takers or trying new question types.) Regardless, there are so many topics in FRM Part 2 where it is almost impossible to ask quantitative questions. So it would be safe to assume that there will be a qualitative component in the exam.
Having said that, a lot of questions, in my opinion, had content directly from the FRM books (the core readings). Knowing this, I felt that reading the actual books will make me feel confident. The material is a lot to handle, if you go the hard route: the original books. Starting early gives you enough time to study for the exam.
2. Read the books and use notes/practice questions for review and practice
As mentioned earlier, I read the core readings from the FRM books. Overkill? Maybe. But not reading them was a risk I did not want to take. Notes do their best to "explain" the concepts. BT does this job very well. However, for a qualitative exam, there are bound to be some questions, the answers to which are "direct quotations" from the original books. Notes provide a good summary. Of course, if notes tried to include all the material in detail, they would be longer than the original books and their whole point would be lost.
I read the books and then the notes. Practicing questions is also important. GARP questions tend to be complex and "thought-provoking". Although the likelihood of the same practice question appearing on the actual exam is low, practicing these questions encourages you to "think" and "apply" all the material you read in the books and notes. Additionally, if you struggle with the practice questions, you know that you need to read the material on that topic again.
I did not use Schweser practice questions, but have heard that they aren't really "challenging" or "thought-provoking". BT does a good job with their practice questions, I felt.
Also, we all know that there will be some quantitative problems on the exam. Will you feel confident to read just the theory and solve the problems directly in the exam? I would guess "no". So you need to practice them somewhere! That's where third-party provider practice questions are useful.
Speaking about books, don't be scared of the original books. The readings selected by GARP are (generally) good quality readings; they explain the concepts well, have tables, graphs, diagrams and examples, which help in understanding the material.
Does this mean that it is necessary to read the original books? Are BT notes sufficient? Is just Schweser sufficient?
The answer is: it really depends. I know that doesn't say a lot, but it depends on what sort of questions are asked in the exam, how much of the material do you understand well etc. There are people who passed using only the original readings while others who failed with it. There are people who passed using only BT/Schweser notes and people who failed with just that. There are people who studied books and notes but still failed. And there are very very few (geniuses) who hardly studied anything but still passed.
3. Prepare your own notes
This is a habit I had since I was a kid and I found it helpful for the FRM exam as well.
When studying, I would highlight important points, number points (for example, when the material lists advantages of one VaR method over another, you could bullet/number each point, thereby structuring the material and aiding memorization), and write examples I knew or would add my own reasoning/explanation for understanding the concept on the book itself. My books were filled with all my markings. I also would jot down key points in my notepad.
When reviewing the material, it helped tremendously to have my own notes, in terms of saving time.
When commuting to work (public transportation), I found it helpful to review my notes. I would study till late night and next morning, while going to work, I would review my own notes. It was easier to review from a notepad, rather than carrying the heavy books on my commute and flipping through pages while standing in a moving train.
After watching the entire BT videos, sometimes, I would download BT videos on my phone and watch it at 2x speed (to save time) during review, when commuting to work. Any faster than 2x speed and you cannot properly hear what @David Harper CFA FRM CIPM is trying to say
4. Plan to finish the material at least a month before the exam
Plan, at least. You may realize that there are less than four weeks remaining and you still haven't completed the material. That happened with me. But at least planning to finish the material helped me conserve more time at the end.
I had prepared a schedule for myself to study the material. I worked backwards.
For example, if the test is on November 15, I need to finish all material by October 15. I will take 20 days for the Current Issues section. So, by September 25, I should finish the section before that... You get the point. Working backwards helped me realize that I do not have much leeway in my schedule and that helped me to not take too much time-off from studying. It made me realize that I need to study regularly or else I am in trouble.
5. Study regularly
Of course, we all have social obligations and need to relax and enjoy ourselves. But don't forget to study regularly. If you work full-time and have a demanding job (like I do), it might seem difficult to study after work on weekdays; but try to find time to incorporate some studying in your daily routine. This may not be possible if you have family obligations (kids, cooking for family, etc.) but try your best. Studying only on weekends may not give you enough time to complete all the material.
I would take Fridays off from studying, just to enjoy with friends. Oh, and Sunday nights too (thanks to good Sunday night television and had to recharge myself for the coming week). Other than that, I would try to study everyday, with extra studying on weekends.
To make something a "habit", it is said that you need to perform that activity regularly. Studying everyday made it easier for me to not think of it as a huge pain. Yes, it is hard to study when your friends are out enjoying. So, "no", I did not enjoy studying, but I knew it would help me in passing the exam.
6. Study all the material
As David has mentioned in other posts, there is definitely a disproportionate ratio of AIMs to questions. There are a lot more topics that can be tested.
Even with that, sometimes, you will find that some readings are heavily tested, whereas some others are not tested at all. This is bound to happen. The exam may have a snippet of information and then ask 2-3 questions on that information. They could all be from the same reading. What if you had skipped that reading, which now has multiple questions asked?
With just 80 questions on the exam and more than 80 readings, some readings might never get tested. If you skip certain readings and those end up being heavily tested, you may actually end up not knowing the answers to those questions due to lack of knowledge of those topics. Not a wise strategy, in my opinion.
So, study all the material.
7. Prepare your own "quicksheet"/"formula sheet"
Although you may have read the entire material well, in the last few days leading to the exam, you most likely will not have time to read the entire material again. You will need a quick-read guide.
BT publishes its own formula sheet, while Schweser has its Quick Sheet, but I feel preparing your own quicksheet in your own handwriting is useful.
I preferred going into enough detail (not just listing of formulas and main categories, but also brief explanation of each). I tried to keep them to maximum 8 pages for each section. I did not want to have a thick set of 100+ pages to read in the last few days, nor did I want just 6 pages for the entire material, since that seemed very superficial. I wrote in small font to make it feel like a "cheat sheet" and not too much detail. This strategy had helped me a lot in college and I found it helpful for both FRM exams. It was extremely helpful for review.
Many people may feel this is a waste of time and overkill, and that may be true in their case; for me, it was helpful.
8. Try to get time-off from work before the exam
I understand that this may be difficult for a lot of working candidates.
For me, I did not want to stress about working on some presentation/spreadsheets/client-related projects/system failures etc. the couple days before the exam and potentially staying till late working on those issues and not getting enough time to review the material in the last few days before the exam. A week off before the exam is helpful, if you can get it. More than that is extra helpful.
You won't be able to study 16-18 hours every day in those last few weeks, but try as much as you can.
Some people feel you should not study the last few days before the exam, or else you will get more confused and stressed. I feel, if you have studied properly, there will be no confusion; just useful last week review. Sure, you may not want to venture into totally new material, but reviewing what you know already is useful.
9. Feel free to mix it up
Many people study the material book-by-book. I had friends who did this.
But that was boring for me. Reading everything about just Market Risk for weeks can indeed takes its toll.
Mix it up, if you feel like. Go in whichever order you feel like. Obviously, some readings are related and you would want to study them in sequence, but most of the material does not demand this.
Even GARP's official recommended Reading Plan in their "FRM Examination Preparation Handbook" does not go book-by-book.
I must admit, this made it difficult to easily answer "how much material have you covered and how much is left?" For those who study book-wise, they can easily say, for example, "Finished with 2.5 books and xx remaining."
I would like to repeat that these are my exam preparation strategies and others who passed the exam probably used completely different techniques and potentially performed better than me. But this is what helped me and I wanted to share these, in case future candidates find them useful.
Please add your own tips, if you would like to share them. Thank you.
I passed FRM Part 2 November 2014 exam and would like to share some tips and strategies so that future candidates find them useful. Others can also add their own strategies in this thread.
These are my "FRM Part 2 exam preparation and studying" tips. A lot of them are applicable to FRM Part 1 as well. Please note that these are my own tips and strategies, and they may not be applicable or helpful to you. Some people may not agree with my opinions and reasoning, and I accept that: no two people are the same and there is bound to be difference of opinion on such strategies. A lot of this you might know already, but I am still listing what I feel might be helpful.
FRM Part 2 is a lot different from FRM Part 1.
I studied from the original books and used BT notes, practice questions and videos. My friend had lent me his older Schweser books, but I never got to them (except for perusing through their quick sheet).
1. Start early
Everyone says this. Everyone knows this. But not many people actually follow it.
The earlier you start, the better you feel. FRM Part 2 exam is typically very qualitative. FRM Part 1 generally tends to be heavily quantitative. (However, some people posted that the FRM Part 1 November 2014 exam was not very quantitative. Maybe GARP is incorporating feedback from previous test-takers or trying new question types.) Regardless, there are so many topics in FRM Part 2 where it is almost impossible to ask quantitative questions. So it would be safe to assume that there will be a qualitative component in the exam.
Having said that, a lot of questions, in my opinion, had content directly from the FRM books (the core readings). Knowing this, I felt that reading the actual books will make me feel confident. The material is a lot to handle, if you go the hard route: the original books. Starting early gives you enough time to study for the exam.
2. Read the books and use notes/practice questions for review and practice
As mentioned earlier, I read the core readings from the FRM books. Overkill? Maybe. But not reading them was a risk I did not want to take. Notes do their best to "explain" the concepts. BT does this job very well. However, for a qualitative exam, there are bound to be some questions, the answers to which are "direct quotations" from the original books. Notes provide a good summary. Of course, if notes tried to include all the material in detail, they would be longer than the original books and their whole point would be lost.
I read the books and then the notes. Practicing questions is also important. GARP questions tend to be complex and "thought-provoking". Although the likelihood of the same practice question appearing on the actual exam is low, practicing these questions encourages you to "think" and "apply" all the material you read in the books and notes. Additionally, if you struggle with the practice questions, you know that you need to read the material on that topic again.
I did not use Schweser practice questions, but have heard that they aren't really "challenging" or "thought-provoking". BT does a good job with their practice questions, I felt.
Also, we all know that there will be some quantitative problems on the exam. Will you feel confident to read just the theory and solve the problems directly in the exam? I would guess "no". So you need to practice them somewhere! That's where third-party provider practice questions are useful.
Speaking about books, don't be scared of the original books. The readings selected by GARP are (generally) good quality readings; they explain the concepts well, have tables, graphs, diagrams and examples, which help in understanding the material.
Does this mean that it is necessary to read the original books? Are BT notes sufficient? Is just Schweser sufficient?
The answer is: it really depends. I know that doesn't say a lot, but it depends on what sort of questions are asked in the exam, how much of the material do you understand well etc. There are people who passed using only the original readings while others who failed with it. There are people who passed using only BT/Schweser notes and people who failed with just that. There are people who studied books and notes but still failed. And there are very very few (geniuses) who hardly studied anything but still passed.
3. Prepare your own notes
This is a habit I had since I was a kid and I found it helpful for the FRM exam as well.
When studying, I would highlight important points, number points (for example, when the material lists advantages of one VaR method over another, you could bullet/number each point, thereby structuring the material and aiding memorization), and write examples I knew or would add my own reasoning/explanation for understanding the concept on the book itself. My books were filled with all my markings. I also would jot down key points in my notepad.
When reviewing the material, it helped tremendously to have my own notes, in terms of saving time.
When commuting to work (public transportation), I found it helpful to review my notes. I would study till late night and next morning, while going to work, I would review my own notes. It was easier to review from a notepad, rather than carrying the heavy books on my commute and flipping through pages while standing in a moving train.
After watching the entire BT videos, sometimes, I would download BT videos on my phone and watch it at 2x speed (to save time) during review, when commuting to work. Any faster than 2x speed and you cannot properly hear what @David Harper CFA FRM CIPM is trying to say
4. Plan to finish the material at least a month before the exam
Plan, at least. You may realize that there are less than four weeks remaining and you still haven't completed the material. That happened with me. But at least planning to finish the material helped me conserve more time at the end.
I had prepared a schedule for myself to study the material. I worked backwards.
For example, if the test is on November 15, I need to finish all material by October 15. I will take 20 days for the Current Issues section. So, by September 25, I should finish the section before that... You get the point. Working backwards helped me realize that I do not have much leeway in my schedule and that helped me to not take too much time-off from studying. It made me realize that I need to study regularly or else I am in trouble.
5. Study regularly
Of course, we all have social obligations and need to relax and enjoy ourselves. But don't forget to study regularly. If you work full-time and have a demanding job (like I do), it might seem difficult to study after work on weekdays; but try to find time to incorporate some studying in your daily routine. This may not be possible if you have family obligations (kids, cooking for family, etc.) but try your best. Studying only on weekends may not give you enough time to complete all the material.
I would take Fridays off from studying, just to enjoy with friends. Oh, and Sunday nights too (thanks to good Sunday night television and had to recharge myself for the coming week). Other than that, I would try to study everyday, with extra studying on weekends.
To make something a "habit", it is said that you need to perform that activity regularly. Studying everyday made it easier for me to not think of it as a huge pain. Yes, it is hard to study when your friends are out enjoying. So, "no", I did not enjoy studying, but I knew it would help me in passing the exam.
6. Study all the material
As David has mentioned in other posts, there is definitely a disproportionate ratio of AIMs to questions. There are a lot more topics that can be tested.
Even with that, sometimes, you will find that some readings are heavily tested, whereas some others are not tested at all. This is bound to happen. The exam may have a snippet of information and then ask 2-3 questions on that information. They could all be from the same reading. What if you had skipped that reading, which now has multiple questions asked?
With just 80 questions on the exam and more than 80 readings, some readings might never get tested. If you skip certain readings and those end up being heavily tested, you may actually end up not knowing the answers to those questions due to lack of knowledge of those topics. Not a wise strategy, in my opinion.
So, study all the material.
7. Prepare your own "quicksheet"/"formula sheet"
Although you may have read the entire material well, in the last few days leading to the exam, you most likely will not have time to read the entire material again. You will need a quick-read guide.
BT publishes its own formula sheet, while Schweser has its Quick Sheet, but I feel preparing your own quicksheet in your own handwriting is useful.
I preferred going into enough detail (not just listing of formulas and main categories, but also brief explanation of each). I tried to keep them to maximum 8 pages for each section. I did not want to have a thick set of 100+ pages to read in the last few days, nor did I want just 6 pages for the entire material, since that seemed very superficial. I wrote in small font to make it feel like a "cheat sheet" and not too much detail. This strategy had helped me a lot in college and I found it helpful for both FRM exams. It was extremely helpful for review.
Many people may feel this is a waste of time and overkill, and that may be true in their case; for me, it was helpful.
8. Try to get time-off from work before the exam
I understand that this may be difficult for a lot of working candidates.
For me, I did not want to stress about working on some presentation/spreadsheets/client-related projects/system failures etc. the couple days before the exam and potentially staying till late working on those issues and not getting enough time to review the material in the last few days before the exam. A week off before the exam is helpful, if you can get it. More than that is extra helpful.
You won't be able to study 16-18 hours every day in those last few weeks, but try as much as you can.
Some people feel you should not study the last few days before the exam, or else you will get more confused and stressed. I feel, if you have studied properly, there will be no confusion; just useful last week review. Sure, you may not want to venture into totally new material, but reviewing what you know already is useful.
9. Feel free to mix it up
Many people study the material book-by-book. I had friends who did this.
But that was boring for me. Reading everything about just Market Risk for weeks can indeed takes its toll.
Mix it up, if you feel like. Go in whichever order you feel like. Obviously, some readings are related and you would want to study them in sequence, but most of the material does not demand this.
Even GARP's official recommended Reading Plan in their "FRM Examination Preparation Handbook" does not go book-by-book.
I must admit, this made it difficult to easily answer "how much material have you covered and how much is left?" For those who study book-wise, they can easily say, for example, "Finished with 2.5 books and xx remaining."
I would like to repeat that these are my exam preparation strategies and others who passed the exam probably used completely different techniques and potentially performed better than me. But this is what helped me and I wanted to share these, in case future candidates find them useful.
Please add your own tips, if you would like to share them. Thank you.
Although very recent, as a result there are areas of Part 1 that I don't feel comfortable with. Wondering if it would be worthwhile to recap any parts of that first, before focusing on Part 2? Any particular areas of overlap? I guess maybe a plan would be to just refer back as and when I feel I need to? I'm sticking with what I used the first time, BT and FRM books. As awesome as the BT material is, I don't feel comfortable not having the whole curriculum.
