GARP practice exam

[PL]

Hello David,

I have just complete the two sets of 2011 GAPR practice exams (level 1) and I have the following questions (as usual )

a. At least 90% of the questions are quite easy to solve them if there is no time constraint. Ignoring the time constraint is this level of difficulty representative of the exam?

b. GARP recommends to use 90 min in order to complete each exam. Since the actual exam holds 4h(=4x60=240 minutes) and the sample exam contains 25 questions (=1/4 of the actual) shouldnt be the appropriate time for the completion of the mock exams 60 minutes?

c. In both exams I have answered correctly in 20/25 or 80% (after of course your corrections and after time constaint of 60 minutes). I had some issues with the time (I was forced to skip in both exams some question due to time limitation and of course). I am concerning with this limitation...Do you have an extra tip regarding this. Initially i had in my mind that i must not spend more than 2.3 minutes per q, but there are some qs that can be answered in no more than 0.5 min....and other that need more than 2.4 min. My main concern is that in actual exams this difficulty will be greater (x4) and I may dont reach to read some easy qs!

Thanks

 

[David Harper CFA FRM]

Hi PL,

a. You mean GARPs, not mine right? They look about exam difficulty to me (as mine look a bit more difficult). What they say is "The 2012 FRM Practice Exams I and II have been devel-
oped to aid candidates in their preparation for the FRM Examination in May and November 2012. These Practice Exams are based on a sample of questions from the 2010 FRM Examination and are suggestive of the questions that will be in the 2012 FRM Examination"

b. You are not the only one confused by this. I don't understand either, see http://forum.bionicturtle.com/threads/2012-frm-calendar.5313/page-3#post-17003. I think i will ask our GARP contact on Monday why they calibrated 90 minutes, I'll post on this linked thread if i get information back (it could just be their mistake!)

c. I don't have any special edge w.r.t. exams. My own personal tactic was always to skip difficult questions, such that I preferred to leave several hard questions to the end, because I never want to miss an easy question (since all questions have equal weight, I want to avoid the error where a difficult question consumes time and "crowds out" an easy/quick question). So, as i've taken many exams, i sort of evolved into a method where i really take two passes: a superficial (quick) pass to answer the low hanging fruit, then a sort at the end. But i think styles vary. Good luck!!

Thanks,

 

[Aleksander Hansen]

I have just complete the two sets of 2011 GAPR practice exams (level 1) and I have the following questions (as usual )

a. At least 90% of the questions are quite easy to solve them if there is no time constraint.

c. In both exams I have answered correctly in 20/25 or 80% (after of course your corrections and after time constaint of 60 minutes). I had some issues with the time (I was forced to skip in both exams some question due to time limitation and of course). I am concerning with this limitation...Do you have an extra tip regarding this. Initially i had in my mind that i must not spend more than 2.3 minutes per q, but there are some qs that can be answered in no more than 0.5 min....and other that need more than 2.4 min. My main concern is that in actual exams this difficulty will be greater (x4) and I may dont reach to read some easy qs!

PL,

I just finished the 2011 practice exam... The first of the two.
While I scored 100%, I did not do so within 60 minutes. Indeed I was way past that mark. Maybe it's just a question of working through more exams and 'recognizing' the problem immediately. I will certainly do a few more mock exams to see if I can pace myself better.

My main issue with the recognizing the problem approach that seems to be crucuial is that:

1. The exam encourages solving problems that fall neatly into a standard pattern (which is different from real life); and
2. It discourages one to excogitate your solutions: it discourages "thinking" and problem solving;

My strategy is also to quickly flip through the exam and pick the low-hanging fruit. I solve all word questions first since they are usually silly, and often the answers are mutually exclusive so one can answer without spending much time; then a quick flip through to see if I can spot particularly easy/quick quantitative questions, before I move on to the more time-consuming ones.

 

[PL]

Dear both, thanks a lot.
I will follow your strategy (picking the low hanging fruits first) in the 2012 GARP mock exam.
PS
This strategy reminds me a professor's strat "hit - and - run"