I am going through the materials, and there seems to be a lack of depth when dealing with this material. They appear to just breeze over some of the stuff. I wish there was a stalla program for this exam. Anyone else feel this way.
I used Schweser for all 3 CFA exams. Agreed that they keep things at a high level, but trust me that you will thank them when it comes time for the exam. With 140 questions tested in 5 hours, there is no way they will be able to drill questions right down to the nitty gritty details of each concept. Keeping things on a high level will help to retain the knowledge and allow you to explain the concepts to someone else. Not sure about the FRM compared to the CFA exams, but just looking at the study guide suggests there is a broad range of topics covered. In my opinon Schweser>Stella
I am not taking the FRM to simply pass, I would like to actually understand and dig a bit deeper, without having to go through the textbooks. I have used schweser for both CFA and CAIA as well, did a mix of Stalla and Schweser for all 3 CFA exams, but still believe stalla to be far superior.
Rydex Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am not taking the FRM to simply pass, I would > like to actually understand and dig a bit deeper, > without having to go through the textbooks. I > have used schweser for both CFA and CAIA as well, > did a mix of Stalla and Schweser for all 3 CFA > exams, but still believe stalla to be far > superior. I don’t mean to impart a “holier than thou” impression on you, but if you’re truly taking the FRM to “learn and understand”, it’s not the responsibility of the author of study manuals to make sure that a thorough discussion of the materials is there. I would assume the primary goal of an study manual author is to summarize and help make the material easier to understand. An ancillary benefit, should the author choose, is to discuss each topic thoroughly. If the Schweser manual went into as much detail as you seem to desire, the manual would have to be at least twice as large, which is not something that the majority of FRM test-takers would be happy with. It just seems that the statement “I would like to actually understand and dig a bit deeper, without having to go through the textbooks.” is an oxymoron - if you’re truly interested in understanding the materials and not just “passing” the exam, I’d suggest reading the source text and absorbing the additional detail at your own leisure.
wat Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Rydex Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I am not taking the FRM to simply pass, I would > > like to actually understand and dig a bit > deeper, > > without having to go through the textbooks. I > > have used schweser for both CFA and CAIA as > well, > > did a mix of Stalla and Schweser for all 3 CFA > > exams, but still believe stalla to be far > > superior. > > > I don’t mean to impart a “holier than thou” > impression on you, but if you’re truly taking the > FRM to “learn and understand”, it’s not the > responsibility of the author of study manuals to > make sure that a thorough discussion of the > materials is there. I would assume the primary > goal of an study manual author is to summarize and > help make the material easier to understand. An > ancillary benefit, should the author choose, is to > discuss each topic thoroughly. If the Schweser > manual went into as much detail as you seem to > desire, the manual would have to be at least twice > as large, which is not something that the majority > of FRM test-takers would be happy with. > > It just seems that the statement “I would like to > actually understand and dig a bit deeper, without > having to go through the textbooks.” is an > oxymoron - if you’re truly interested in > understanding the materials and not just “passing” > the exam, I’d suggest reading the source text and > absorbing the additional detail at your own > leisure. +1
Or, a good medium just like stalla provides for the CFA program.
Rydex Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am not taking the FRM to simply pass, I would > like to actually understand and dig a bit deeper, > without having to go through the textbooks. I think we’d all like to have a deep understanding of the material without reading the textbook–Doesn’t work that way though…
eastcoaster9 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Rydex Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I am not taking the FRM to simply pass, I would > > like to actually understand and dig a bit > deeper, > > without having to go through the textbooks. > > > I think we’d all like to have a deep understanding > of the material without reading the > textbook–Doesn’t work that way though… + 1
I cleared L1 Dec08 and appearing for full FRM in Nov09 The following are my thoughts IMO CFA Schweser is much better written and organized as compared to FRM one Not only FRM one fails to provide a clear cut understanding of the material but also lacks the questions behind the book. I think supplementing it with core reading is required Thanks
Someone in this forum once said, it’s better to take half the time to study 80% of the materials rather than take the entire time to learn it 100%
I passed full FRM last year first shot w/nothing but schweser. They key is to all the old FRM questions in the back. You will find forumlas in those questions that schweser didn’t even mention. Also, check the schweser web site to addional notes that were left out. I downloaded something on BASEL II last year that wasn’t in the books that ended up being on the exam. Know all the Basel II stuff for op/cred/market risk and tier1/2/3 capital requirements.
Try Bionic Turtle. I haven’t bought it, but they have a lot of free material you can look through. In a lot of ways, their isn’t much more detail to get into. Sure, maybe they could deeper into the history or calculus of certain structures…but ultimately, that is not going to help you in the real world. This exam gives you a nice overview so that when you are in the field you can determine your own solutions. The credit crisis was caused by people believing too much in other people’s research and models. I think you can learn enough so that you go fly on your own on a lot of issues.
I am using BT and I would say its 3x better than schweser. I liked schweser for CFA (L1 and 2) but schw FRM materials is nothing closer to that of CFAs. I feel like going over Secret sauce and not the text… I have learnt a great deal supplimenting BT with Curriculum core reading. I also find eg. and some portion of the author’s text is basically cut/paste. BT also uses many of auth’s example but duly quotes the source. Good part is if you still don’t understand with BT, go to authors text and you will find the same numbers so you can correlate the topic area very well and both together is an utlimate combination.
Yeah, I just got BT as well. I like it a lot better than schweser. More pictures and colors. lol