I am a CFA Charterholder and sat for November FRM Level 1 exam. I felt the exam was much more difficult then implied by study materials, questions and practice exams from Schweser. I likely did not pass the exam and was wondering if people had recommendations. BT? Is that Bionic Turtle?
Negatives of Schweser materials - they crammed the bulk of information over last few weeks , practice questions were very general, PV/FV material was constantly emphasizing continuously compounded versions and real exam was mostly frequency dependent, scored > 70% on practice exams. I had an advantage going into this exam as much of the material overlaps CFA, however presented in a different way. Anyway, I want to dominate this exam next time around.
Wait until you get the exam back before you give up hope. I found FRM1 to be maybe the most difficult exam I’d ever written, and feared that I’d failed. But it turned out that I actually scored top quartile in every section. Do I feel that Shwesser prepared me for absolutely everything in that gruelling exam? No, I do not. However, I was clearly much more prepared than the vast majority of candidates, which is the important thing. I think anyone that uses third-party study materials for FRM preparation has a huge advantage over other candidates, because the official GARP readings are sooo long and academic.
If you are going to rely on third-party study materials, I recommend Bionic Turtle. BT is affordable ($249), has great videos, has a very active and supportive forum, and most importantly has high-quality sample questions. You will have to print their notes because they don’t provide hard copies, though. Good luck!