FRM Exam November 2017 - Candidate Feedback

I just sat the FRM Part I exam in Sydney yesterday and was wondering how you all went?

Given that I’ve already passed both the CFA and CAIA in previous years, I only studied for this exam for around 5 weeks thinking that it would be enough to get me through. Wow…this exam was way more challenging than any CFA or CAIA exam. I wouldn’t so much say that it was extremely difficult but to finish this exam on time was a near impossibility. No CFA/CAIA exam ever had this many calculations - i think it was like 65/35% skewed towards calcs. Usually I found that CFA official mocks were way harder than the real thing, but here I reckon that it was the opposite. GARP really aggressively test topics, I picked up on some things that would’ve fooled a lot of people if they weren’t concentrating. GARP really make sure that you know your content!

I answered around 92 questions and had to blind guess the rest as I ran out of time. Out of the 92 questions I did answer I had to blind guess maybe 5-7 questions and was 50/50 on at least 15 questions.

Honestly i couldn’t see the minimum passing score being any higher than 55% or so for this exam.

How did you go?

I found the exam to be EXTREMELY difficult.

Time constraint aside, the questions given in the exam is so much harder than the practice exams GARP provided us with (almost uncomparable, tbh), likewise with the Schweser mocks.

I scored around 80-85% in my Schweser mocks and GARP previous exams, but felt completely owned in the exam. Feeling terribly down after yesterday.

Flat out guessed on around 20 questions, and was expecting much more quantitative questions. Started wondering what’s the point of learning all these mathematical formulas?

Oh well, all we can do now is hope, and pray that luck’s on our side.

Don’t worry the pass rate is not that high

If it is any comforting, I felt totally defeated stepping out of May’17 Part 1. To my surprise, result came out to be 1211. However will not say the same for Part 2, praying for the best.

Well here’s hoping for the same! And best of luck to you.

How did you feel about the questions you actually answered at the time? Because I even felt a lot of the questions I answered was 50/50… Demoralizing haha

@mm21 We must’ve done a slightly different exam. The large portion of my exam was quantitative, so much that I didn’t have time to finish the exam!

Lucky@SSMe,

Did you finish the exam itself back in May, did you blind guess on many?

How more difficult is Part II than Part I?

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I sat for part II this weekend. Compared to part I time was no constraint. I finished with answering all the questions with almost 40 minutes left which gave me the opportunity to go through difficult questions again. I talked to a few guys afterwards and they also could finish the exam well before the time. A few candidates even left the exam approx. 40-50 minutes before the end.

But that doesn’t mean that the exam wasn’t challenging. I am not sure what to make about it - as always it’s difficult to say whether I passed or not. Of course I hope the best, but I really don’t know.

To make the picture a bit more complete for you: I passed part I in May with 1211 and had about 10 minutes left to re-check questions, but to hurry quite a lot to answer the last 10 - 15 questions.

Part 1 is supposed to be difficult

I considered a sure shot fail after exam got 1121 in the end

Pass mark should not be more than lower 50s

I took Part 1 November 16. Having already passed CFA 2 and got my CAIA charter, I did not find it to be too challenging. That said, I was pushed for time in the test and there were about 5-10 questions that I just couldn’t solve. I passed 1,2,1,1.

This weekend just gone, I sat Part 2. I was not pushed for time but there were many more questions that I struggled to answer and I have to say of all seven of the “big exams” (CFA, CAIA and FRM), this is the one I might fail.

For info, between Part 1 and Part 2, I passed CFA 3 and got my charter. I should add that I was definitely suffering from exam fatigue by the time I got to FRM Part 2. With hindsight, I should have taken a year off study after I finished the CFA. Anyway, we will see what results days holds in January.

Totally agreed, I also sat for Part 2 this weekend. There seems to be 70% theory questions - most I can only drill down and eliminate 2 of the possible answers and make a tough 50/50 choice. Not sure if you felt the same.

Exactly the same situation. I was so sure I will fail and decided not to resit. Surprised I came out with 1211

I did finish right on time. No time for checking at all. I will say i did blind guess on around ten 'questions. Part II is big on theory questions - around 70% of the exam I would say. So for 50% of the exam, I am forced to pick the “better” answer out of the options. I am mostly confidently eliminate 2 out of the 4 possible options.

I sat for the FRM Level I exam past weekend in Washington DC. Found the exam tough, guessed at least 20 questions and struggled to finish the exam on time. I think this requires as much study time as the CFA Level II. I was unable to put in a lot of study time due to a full-time job and family commitments so I won’t be surprised if I don’t make it.

Ok the paper was extremely difficult

But I have a question regarding the omr sheet if anyone can answer. I don’t remember if I signed my omr sheet. Was there a sign to be done on omr sheet? Please share if you remember

Nope your OMR does not need to be signed

I did the exam in Melbourne, Australia! I’m surprise there hasn’t been an exam feedback survey as well.

pre exam:

I had high expectations after going through the CFA process. The proctors from the FRM exam were uni students who looked at their phones and talked to one another (not all but some) during the 4hr process. Some even sat down in spare seats around us. The exam was in a lecture theater which is fine for a 1.5hr uni class, but for a 4hr exam it is not comfortable with the tiny table i had for my exam. lecture halls are made to be viewing a presentation and not looking down at an a4 piece of paper for four hours. The exam was held in a remote suburb with little public transport, so had to take a taxi. I don’t know why they couldn’t do it at the city campus. Every hour a bell went off for one min which was pretty distracting. My friend did the exam and she waits till the end to bubble her answers. Some proctor came up to her and said half hour remaining, it would be a shame if you didn’t bubble in the answers in time…a conversation that distracted her and it should be of no concern to the proctor.

during exam:

I managed to finish with 10-15mins to spare. I skipped three questions that would take a long time to read or calculate. I went back to solve one and couldn’t work the other two. overall, I had 5 blind guess and a few 50/50 questions (maybe 10). I do think the exam is more difficult than the garp exams. The exam questions are harder than CFA level 1 and I would say it is a mixture between level 1 and 2 with some questions harder than level 2. I personally feel the certification should get more awareness for the difficulty.

Prep:

I used Schweser and i believe it is best suited for people who have gone through a level or two of CFA. If not, use Bionic Turtle. I started first day of august and studied everyday up until the exam.

I feel you man. I am doing chartered accounting, CFA and FRM. I have CA exam in four weeks to prepare for :/. Enjoy the holidays and I usually find I get bored after 6-7weeks and feel like studying/reading something again.

You guys did well. I think I screwed it.

I had about 30 questions that I can solve, blind guessed roughly 20 questions, and have 50 questions that I gave an educated guess. Expected mark will be somewhere around 60. For those of you have expected marks higher than 70, you are almost certainly safe.

I wish there were more quantitative questions.