Why FRM forum is so dead compared to CFA forum? I plan to write level 1 in May 2017. I cleared CFA level 2 in 2016. Have heard that FRM Questions are more difficult than CFA questions. What is the best resource to practice questions?
I’m sitting for the May exam as well. I’ll check in regularly starting in Jan and maybe we can share study tips and review materials. As of now, I’m planning on getting the official books and the cheapest BT package.
sure 
Just wanted to check in. I purchased Bionic Turtle’s study notes and videos package. My honest recommendation is to only get the study notes. There aren’t video lessons for every topic which to me is just a scam and defeats the purpose of me paying up for the video lectures.
Other than that complaint, the study notes are very good.
I would love to get everyone’s feedback after they have reviewed their study packages after purchase. Please share which company you went with and how you are feeling about the decision once you gained access to the content.
I think they all have their pro’s and con’s to be honest with you. The thing that’s unique about the FRM as opposed to other certifications is that GARP chooses curriculum from a series of popular, “industry-standard” texts, so it’s kind of a toss-up on what they can ask you or how they can ask it. I saw a lot of curve balls on the Part I exam for example.
GARP Books -> These are just exerpts from the Chapters. You’re expected to read these and discern how much content applies to the learning objectives. Probably the hardest to use.
Schweser -> Schweser throws the kitchen sink at you. Their books are almost as long as the GARP books. Some people are fans of this as they feel like they can cover all of their bases. I’m not so sure, the more content I read the less I’m able to recall it…They have quizzes for each learning objective, but the questions are pretty basic. The sample exams aren’t bad though.
BT - > Everyone loves Bionic Turtle for the most part. They have the most active FRM forum online where much of it is available for free. It’s a good resource if you are stumped on questions. David, the owner, is also very active on there as well. It’s a reasonable price for the study material and you can upgrade as you see fit starting with just the notes and questions, then adding videos, and then quizzes and learning spreadsheets. Personally, the spreadsheets wouldn’t help me that much since you won’t see them in the exam, but they can help other people understand the concepts through application.
Wiley -> So this is the study material I purchased, because I wanted something that was a bit more straight to the point. I will say that I had to leverage a friend’s Schweser material to understand topics that I had trouble grasping conceptually, given my lack of a strong quantitative background. The material is condensed and to the point, and tries to teach you things that Wiley believes only to be relevant to the exam. This was the first year they put this material out so there were some errors here and there, but they were cleared up with an errata document. I will say that the consolidated learning package is really good, and there is a forum where you can ask questions. Additionally, Christian’s videos are really good and his questions are legit. Out of the GARP, Schweser, and Wiley practice exams, I found the questions on the Wiley exam to be closest to the actual exam.
Again, all of the solutions have a unique way of approaching the exam and you’ll just have to find what fits your learning style. I’m only speaking from experience. I could have bombed the exam for all I know.
Thanks for such a detailed response. Very good insight. I have the GARP books and am finding, as you described, it is hard to tease out which content is applicable.
The one thing I will highlight from the GARP readings is they are the chapters in their entirety. I created my product to focus only on the learning objectives and if you are going with the GARP readings alone, make sure you are always focused on what GARP asks, not what that author decided to include in that chapter.