I’ve been debating whether or not to prep for the FRM or GMAT first. I was sold on GMAT but didn’t realize the FRM is offered twice a year. The next exam is in November, would 3 months be a sufficient amount of time to prep for this?
It will depend on your background. Level I is all about quantitative analysis, valuation, and hedging with derivatives (most of John Hull Book). It is doable if you can start this week and put in 15 hours per week thereafter. Some people use the Schweser materials others use the Bionic Turtle. I would recommend Bionic Turtle for their many great videos, active and helpful forum, and hands on questions. I used the core readings and Bionic Turtle to prepare. I spent 4 months for each level and about 300 hours per level. I felt very prepared before the exams and scored well. Good luck!
Go for it. I started studying for the full exam in July, for the November 2009 sitting, and I am a slow reader. I used Schweser but didn’t feel fully confident going in. Passed but didn’t expect to. Qbank questions for the FRM are not of the same standard as the FRM questions - or at least that was what I thought. My girlfriend used Bionic Turtle on my recommendation after I highlighted Schweser’s deficiencies (she tends not to do many practice questions and I thought, from what I had seen, that Bionic Turtle’s product was good.) However, she says they make more assumptions about the student’s mathematical knowledge than Schweser. She has a maths degree and masters in applied stats so it’s not an issue for her. Good luck
Thanks for the advice! I wimped out and signed up for a GMAT course. I’m aiming to do Part I in May and Part 2 next November, that should put me in a position where I’m more comfortable prep wise.
Fair enough. Given you’ve just done the CFA level III a bit of a pause is no bad thing 