Exam Feedback November 2018 Part 2 Exam Feedback

[btechlc]

This is getting very frustrating. I work on a virtual machine at work that has an IP address in a time zone 6 hours ahead of my physical location, so when I saw people commenting that changing the time on their machine worked, I just went on my work computer and I could see results on Jan 2. I turned in my work experience around 6PM Eastern US time on Jan 2nd. I bet they just started with "Jan 3" and are carrying on from that date.

It is shocking to me that their IT team chose to look at the timestamp provided by the user instead of that provided by an internet service provider when releasing results. I have a CS background, nothing in web development, but for time sensitive things like this even with no experience in web development I know it is common sense to use a timestamp from a service provider and not one provided by the user's machine.

This is a reputation risk for GARP. They confirmed they only have TWO people working on the work review and are running a website filled with VERY VERY easy to fix bugs that people have been commenting on for years. It makes them look incredibly cheap.

What is worst is that I am worried that people using virtual machines or those who changed the clock on their machine may anger GARP in some way, but frankly if your IT team does not have the common sense to use a service provider timestamp instead of one from the user that is susceptible to a long list of issues, this is on them. Many easy ways to make this process more robust that they are not doing.

 

[frmwriter]

I wonder if I change my computer time to 2020, will my profile be finally certified?

 

[Mirza2000]

I wonder if I change my computer time to 2020, will my profile be finally certified?

Hahaha!!! that made me laugh ....

 

[Flashback]

Diamonds are forever. January the 3rd 2019 lasts forever. Groundhog Day movie with Bill Murray.

 

[kevolution]

This is how I approached it. best score you can get is 1,1,1,1,1 = 5. Worst score is 4,4,4,4,4 = 20. I noticed people with 14 or 15 total passing, I am assuming the high score was contributed by a low quartile (4s) in investment risk, current issues etc where the weight is lower.

It shouldn't actually be interpreted that way. The fact of the matter is each is a QUARTILE so there are variable scores within each quartile score. The easiest way to think about it is there are 80 questions in Part 2, so for the 5 sections you have the following number of questions broken down into 20, 20, 20, 12, 8 for each respective section.

Your final score of the test is what determines the cutoff, not your quartiles. You could get 0 questions right on two quartiles and the rest correct and still probably pass with a 40/80 if the cutoff was 50% correct.

I believe what they do is they'll take the final scores of every participant and then find the final cluster near the 45-55% pass rate, and then pick those who are clearly above the cut to pass and those who are clearly below to fail. So for example, if there are 1000s of people scoring 41/80, only 50 scoring 40/80, and 1000s of people scoring 39/80, they may make the cutoff either 40/80 or 41/80, whether they want to include the 50 people or not (my guess is they would because it's not that much more % of people, whereas if they made the cutoff 39 then they would include 1000s more in the pass rate).

I believe they manage the pass rate in the 45-55% range to ensure there's enough people to fail (and subsequently pay them again to take it) and enough to pass to not discourage people to take the exam. If it was too easy to pass it would make the test lose its prestige, and if it was too hard to pass, it would be discouraging (would also not make as much money if everyone passed, and not get enough customers if everyone failed and was discouraged to take it again or even take it as a first attempt).

 

[David Harper CFA FRM]

Hi @kevolution Yes, you are correct about the math: it's the final score that counts. This leads to occasionally counter-intuitive results when trying to associate pass/fail outcomes with quartile outcomes. I previous wrote a tiny spreadsheet to illustrate how, in extremis, it's conceivable for a (P1) candidate who scores (quartile-wise) 2/2/3/3 to fail, but a candidate who scores 3/3/2/2 passes. See https://forum.bionicturtle.com/threads/quartiles-and-weights-exam-results.9883/post-45570

@hellohi

Okay I built this small spreadsheet (because trying to talk about this soon becomes a word soup imo), please see https://www.dropbox.com/s/ikhbkm0571fdchh/1019-garp-frm-scoring-exam.xlsx?dl=0
... and below is a snapshot. This is just for P1 and you only input (change) the yellow cells, the rest is calculated.

Notice how I input an extreme version of the one you referenced in your email; i.e., Student #1 earns 3/3/2/2 and passes while Student #2 earns 2/2/3/3 but fails. I was deliberately provocative: notice how the seemingly subtle difference can lead to a difference between a final score of 62 and 36 (wow!). Caveat: I'm not sure my quantiles are exactly calibrated, but they can't be too far off. I hope that clarifies!

 

[rahulkp28]

Finally , the wait is over for me. Just got certified. Experience submitted on 3rd Jan.

 

[Beckham96]

Finally , the wait is over for me. Just got certified. Experience submitted on 3rd Jan.

congrats!

submitted on the 3rd Jan but still waiting.

 

[rahulkp28]

Thanks @Beckham96, Hopefully by this week you should get certified.

 

[stheazzurri]

Finally, I've been certified as well.
I submitted my work experience on: 03-Jan-2019 @ 0351hrs EST;
Approved: 21-Feb-2019 @ 1413hrs EST.

Many thanks to Bionic Turtle for the lovely, comprehensive and well structured course materials, videos and support - Any praise you get for this will always understate your value.

Many thanks as well to everyone on this thread - knowing I wasn't alone helped preserve an ounce of sanity to function with my anxiety.

 

[jq0714]

Certified today!!

Submitted on 3rd Jan between 9am to 11am EST.

Appreciate Bionic Turtle!!

 

[kevolution]

Certified as well! Submitted on Jan 3rd.

 

[Mirza2000]

Certified yesterday (February 21st); submitted on January 3rd.

 

[anirudhjay]

Submitted Jan 4 EST 0030 hrs. Seems like a generation away.

 

[Acsteyn]

Just got certified... Submitted Jan 3

 

[frmwriter]

Finally , the wait is over for me. Just got certified. Experience submitted on 3rd Jan.

Certified as well! Submitted on Jan 3rd.

Certified yesterday (February 21st); submitted on January 3rd.

Just got certified... Submitted Jan 3

could you guys or gals post the time you submitted with time zone? thanks

 

[frmwriter]

just got certified!!!! FRM Christmas came a day earlier than I expected!!! submitted Jan 3rd 3PM EST. now I can purge all FRM related topics from my bookmarks!

 

[Beckham96]

This is ridiculous. GARP rejected my work experience and said that's unrelated to risk. I had been an auditor for 2 years and they said what I wrote was irrelevant. I thought they had a sort of guideline that specifically stated auditing counts towards the work experience requirement.

 

[Flashback]

And hereby to confirm that January the 3rd has been officially closed. Congratulations to all. Maybe we meet each other on some conferences.

 

[nikic]

Hey everyone,

First off, congrats to those who've been certified FRMs!

I was wondering though, what's like likely passing mark for FRM Part II, going by your individual experiences? For example, when I took FRM Part 1, I was certain I scored no more than 65/100 (or if you stretch it, maybe 70/100, but I already knew which questions I got wrong). I got a 2/2/1/1.

I am seeing people with 3/2/3/4/2 and 2/2/3/4/4 passing FRM Part 2. What would the likely pass mark be? 50/80? Perhaps 45, or even 40?

Hope you folks are able to share your personal experience wrt this.