Here’s some advice (especially for those writing Part I) based on my own FRM exam experience:
You don’t need to arrive at the test center a full hour early; half-an-hour is adequate. *HOWEVER*, they actually WILL lock you out if you’re not there 15 minutes before the start time.
Bring a watch to the exam. You really need to keep an eye on your time, and there may be no clock in the room.
The answer sheet uses a stupid carbon copy system that no-one has told you about. Don’t let this throw you, just follow the instructions, and keep in mind that you can’t erase your answer in the conventional way.
Don’t panic! There will be some questions that almost no candidate can solve: GARP writes a hard exam. You can get 30%+ of the questions wrong and still pass.
Work fast and don’t get bogged down. For FRM1, you need to maintain a pace of 25 questions per hour.
Check your progress either every 25 questions or every hour. If the first 25 questions take more than an hour, you are moving too slow.
Take snacks and drinks. Put the snacks in your pocket for your break. (I recommend fig newtons and Mountain Dew.)
Take a break halfway through the exam; 4 hours is too long to sit. Eat your snack and drink your drink on the way to the bathroom.
DON’T wait until the last few minutes to fill in all your answers on the bubble sheet.
And stop writing when they say stop. Don’t be that guy.
FYI to all…this post by Wendy originally was KEY for me when I took Part 1 in November. Particularly the part about the carbon copy sheets, which I was not aware of before reading her post. Understanding this going in meant that I freaked out about it less when I actually saw the things. Excellent advice for everyone, particularly those accustomed to the more traditional exam answer sheet format of the CFA or the computer-based testing of the CAIA.
Hey Wendy, thanks for our valuable tips… as I can see that you have cleared FRM and CFA as well I hope you can give some guidance about which one is more appropriate to go for. About me I am a research analyst and my interest lies in field of equity research and financial engineering… I feel CFA is a good option for sure but my dilema is will CFA cover enough of risk management???
Also if you can please tell what are the avrage attempts one need to give to clear FRM L1 & L2 (off course there will be those who clears it in very first attempts)???
I notice this post mentions bringing a watch to the exam…FYI I have just checked on the GARP website and apparently watches are NOT allowed in the exam room:
(How on earth are we supposed to keep track of time if there is not clock in the test centre!!??)
What items are not permitted in the testing room?
Writing instruments such as pens, personal pencils, mechanical pencils, erasers, white-out or correction fluid, tape, highlighters, rulers
Personal accessories such as watches, cufflinks
Any wearable technology devices such as google glasses, smart-watches, etc.
Baggage of any kind such as backpacks, handbags, tote bags, briefcases, laptop bags, luggage, carrying cases or pencil cases
Study materials such as textbooks, study guides, scratch paper, present/future value tables or calculator manuals
Technology such as cellular telephones, smartphones, BlackBerrys, cameras, pagers, headsets, computers, electronic organizers, personal data assistants, portable clocks, or any other remote communication or photographic device