David,
To begin with, thanking you even a million times ...perhaps wouldn't suffice!
It has been a wonderful journey I must say ...to take an exam like FRM...
Though I had begun my preparation quite early in the year, completing nearly 70% of the core readings....I had an awfully long break in my preparation. But then, Bionic turtle was there as the saving grace!
In my view, after being armed with the knowledge (especially the way David helps you prepare...literally hitting on the nail of the various Learning Outcomes), it is all about your aptitude and presence of mind. I would say, I have given the exam to the best of my ability...I don't think one can do better...as it is a race against time. Morning Session was tough and interesting...The questions were well crafted...all one had to do is catch the key concept. The questions were like puzzles, you just had to find the key! There were many questions that required application of two or more concepts and equations. In the morning session, I just kept taking one question at a time....in my opinion, I got 40 questions right of the remaining 30, around 20 i applied "elimination", of these many I had completely solved but was stuck for the answer, so had to eliminate the absolutely false ones...and choose in order to improve the "probability of success", and about 10 questions, I just didn’t have enough time to even read, leave alone picking the answer....so applied probability again. Anyway no regrets!
The simplest striking contrast between the two sessions...the first session had approx 2 questions per page and the second session had 3 questions per page. In the second session, I got nearly 60 sure shot answers and for the remaining …hope elimination works. Overall, I am glad I could attempt to this extent and solve many complicated questions. Every time I solved a tricky problem, it sort of gave me an extra pulse to solve more. GARP really has put in efforts to prepare such an exhaustive paper.
The exam was flooded with questions on Basel, for which your cheat sheet played wonders for me. It helped tremendously in picking out subtle differences in the choices. The other major questions were on derivatives, for which I think my background knowledge and interest of Derivatives also played a key role; VaR was everywhere coupled with quant; probability of default; there was a question on-balance sheet hedging, which David you have done a fabulous job of explaining.
David and Bionic Turtle made it possible for me to sit confidently for such a tough exam, by providing the best material in the form of movie tutorials, questions and cram sessions. Hats off to you David! At this juncture I only have one thought: I have gained so much through this process; and gave the exam to the best of my ability, and that is a perhaps a bigger achievement! Certifications and a tag behind my name somehow are dwarfed by this thought!!
Regards
Dakshina
To begin with, thanking you even a million times ...perhaps wouldn't suffice!
It has been a wonderful journey I must say ...to take an exam like FRM...
Though I had begun my preparation quite early in the year, completing nearly 70% of the core readings....I had an awfully long break in my preparation. But then, Bionic turtle was there as the saving grace!
In my view, after being armed with the knowledge (especially the way David helps you prepare...literally hitting on the nail of the various Learning Outcomes), it is all about your aptitude and presence of mind. I would say, I have given the exam to the best of my ability...I don't think one can do better...as it is a race against time. Morning Session was tough and interesting...The questions were well crafted...all one had to do is catch the key concept. The questions were like puzzles, you just had to find the key! There were many questions that required application of two or more concepts and equations. In the morning session, I just kept taking one question at a time....in my opinion, I got 40 questions right of the remaining 30, around 20 i applied "elimination", of these many I had completely solved but was stuck for the answer, so had to eliminate the absolutely false ones...and choose in order to improve the "probability of success", and about 10 questions, I just didn’t have enough time to even read, leave alone picking the answer....so applied probability again. Anyway no regrets!
The simplest striking contrast between the two sessions...the first session had approx 2 questions per page and the second session had 3 questions per page. In the second session, I got nearly 60 sure shot answers and for the remaining …hope elimination works. Overall, I am glad I could attempt to this extent and solve many complicated questions. Every time I solved a tricky problem, it sort of gave me an extra pulse to solve more. GARP really has put in efforts to prepare such an exhaustive paper.
The exam was flooded with questions on Basel, for which your cheat sheet played wonders for me. It helped tremendously in picking out subtle differences in the choices. The other major questions were on derivatives, for which I think my background knowledge and interest of Derivatives also played a key role; VaR was everywhere coupled with quant; probability of default; there was a question on-balance sheet hedging, which David you have done a fabulous job of explaining.
David and Bionic Turtle made it possible for me to sit confidently for such a tough exam, by providing the best material in the form of movie tutorials, questions and cram sessions. Hats off to you David! At this juncture I only have one thought: I have gained so much through this process; and gave the exam to the best of my ability, and that is a perhaps a bigger achievement! Certifications and a tag behind my name somehow are dwarfed by this thought!!
Regards
Dakshina
