hiii all,
first of all.. i must say a really great thread.. cleared loads of queries without even needing to ask for them.. snowflake n tumtum how did ur exam go??
i am an engineer working in crisil.... my work basically gave me a lotta exposure to the basics of finance.. as a part of analyst program i go thru a 4 semester finance program at nitie..
i am aimin at a profile with hedge, pe firms a few years down the line.. am giving frm in nov-08.. am gonna start the prep now.. wat i gather from the thread is that.. even though i am from a non-fin background, if i can maintain a steady pace.. i should able to do it since i am startin a year ahead... i also understand that the schwesner material is available at laxmi xerox.. wat i wanna know is does garp keep alterin the curriculum yearly?? is the 2008 stuff gonna change?? and if i read the thread properly, u guys advise to newbies like me is start off wih hull rite??
P.S. any advise on structurin the preparation effort is higly welcome
Hi Apache and all FRM buddies,
The holiday mood had set into me...especially as this is the time for mega shopping. Well that aside, regarding my experience of taking FRM 2007...it was pretty entralling! Though the exam was pretty tough, I did enjoy taking up such an exam. Yes, as many quote, it is an exam on the lines of CAT...perhaps CAT can't catch up. One definitely needs to be geared up to sit for FRM, alas! it is all about your presence of mind: which concept/concepts and equations fit the highly twisted question. One has to differentiate between subtle differences in the choices given; so if you know it, you hit at the right spot.
The first session was way lengthier and tougher as compared to the second session. One could make out this glaring difference with the number of questions on a page. The first session had 2 questions per page and the afternoon session had 3 per page. Though that necessarily doesn't generalize on the difficulty of the problems.
In the morning session, I was able to attempt 40 questions with surity, about 15 plus applied elimination and the rest had to apply probabilty...(just had no time to read)...anyways. For the afternoon session, I comfortably could attempt 60 questions the remaining 10 applied elimination. I was satisfied after coming out of the examination hall as I was able to attempt to my best ability. I don't think if I would have had, more time to study, I could have performed better....as it is a race against time!! Only thing I got abit late to figure out there were easier questions at the end of morning session...It is actually a very interesting exam to give, as most of the questions are handpicked and well crafted...so as an exam taker one does get lost in solving the problems...though it takes time...but once you get it right, it gives you a gush of energy to do even more! But time my friend holds you back. This is perhaps the most important thing in writing such exams, you need to keep track of the amount of time you devote to a particular question and at the same time you got to pay the highest level of concentration to each question. And yes sometimes, you feel so exhausted during the exam, your back begins to ache....It's all about keeping once pace!
All that said, I've put my best foot forward, now have got to wait and see :)
For all those aspiring to take FRM in 2008, I would suggest to start studying as early as possible, the more you get exposed to various concepts the better they get reinforced into your minds. Read the core reading to form a base...it sure is gonna be an exhaustive read and could take quite a while...once done with that choose among the various coaching available...I had gone through Schweser, I personally found it appalling, though many have cleared the exam by just reading schweser. "Perhaps I had a nobler goal of understanding what I read." still a read ain't that bad as it would reinforce some concepts at least...as I had mentioned in my previous post I had to take an extremely long break from studying for FRM...so in the nick of time I subscribed for bionic turtle...perhaps the best option available for working professionals. Well those, who would want to go ahead preparing for the exam by themselves, my advice is to really slog...atleast in the last month before the exam...you need to put everything into your brain....all the formulae...the concepts...and practice problems thoroughly....the more you practice, the more acquainted you get to a topic...Oh! I have perhaps written too long a reply.
Best of luck for all who sat for FRM 2007 and all the best to aspiring FRM 2008 candidates!
Regards
Snowflake