Wrestle

[countvoncount]

Hi!
At the moment i am still wrestling a bit with how i can benefit most when subscribing to BT's full service. How to use BT when preparing for the FRM exam:
> do all the stuff GARP is telling you to do and then use BT as a complementary service,explaining the topics, helping to understand the issues better [ adding time? ]; or alternatively
> fully concentrate on BT, do everything BT advises you to do that will enable for the right preparation for the exam [saving time?]

Your views and feedback appreciated.

Many thanks.

 

[David Harper CFA FRM]

Hi countvoncount,

I hereby award you a star (which enters you into the weekly drawing for 2 itunes/Amazon gift certificates) for taking the time to upload an (awesome!) profile image (and countvoncount!) , thank you for participating ...

With respect to your question, which is very interesting and may not have a "correct" answer, in my opinion:

• The less knowledge and experience you bring to the FRM, the more the GARP-driven plan makes sense (your first). As you suggest, this will clearly require more time but would be appropriate to a beginner. The weakness is that GARP's plan will cheerfully have you spending time on material that won't be tested. To be really blunt about it, and i don't know quite how to be politic about it, we know more about their exam than they do
• Consequently, conditional on prior knowledge/experience .. or, put another way, the more that you arrive with some base, the more the BT-driven agenda (your latter) makes sense. In particular, a quantitative base. In the extreme, we've had "quant jocks" who do nothing more than just work practice questions and pass. But this is never my advice to anybody else ... I hope that is one frame with which to view the question. Thanks!

 

[troubleshooter]

Based on my personal experience:
1. I used BT for my level I and then used GARP notes to complement it. Got all Q1's.
1. Due to time constraint, I used Schweser Notes for Level II and complemented that with BT forum. Got all Q1's.

As David pointed out, it all depends on your prior knowledge experience of finance/risk management. I came with Finace focussed MBA, CFA and over 10 years of risk management experience at a major North American commercial bank. GARP notes gives you everything you need to know and also ten times more. The "more" part will end up wasting your time. Bionic turtle videos put context to it and tells you where your focus should be - a major time saver. Over 90% of exam questions are based on basic concepts and does not involve complex topics. With prior finance exposure, If you used Bionic Turtle videos as primary source of knowledge, complemented by GARP or any other third party readings where more detail is desired, and a lot of practice questions (GARP sample exam, Schweser Practice Exam, Schweser Qbank and BT practice questions), you would not be disappointed...

PS: I would not bother with "FRM Hanbook" (though the name of the book sounds appealing) unless you have too much extra time...

 

[countvoncount]

Counting two replies and i am already very excited . Thank you both for replying. It is crystal clear to me now and know what to do. Much appreciated!