View Is 200 hours enough to prepare for the exam

Category:FAQ

There is no specific answer for this question as every person is different.  But I believe the first determinant in regards to time required is comfort/capabiltiy with quantitative methods. A good test of this is to simply browse a few chapters from the assigned Gujarati, Jorion or Kevin Dowd (for more advanced; if you are comfortable with Dowd, you will generally not struggle with any of the readings) and see if you can read without undue struggle.

Here is what GARP says: “Approximately 150 to 200 hours for each level of the exam.  Since the last FRM Exam Full covers both levels, approximately 300 to 400 hours of preparation would be required.” http://www.garp.com/frmexam/faq.aspx

I’d add two qualifiers: (1) there is a wide dispersion (variance) based on individual experience & aptitude. At one end, candidates without quant likely need more time than the upper round, at the other end, some have strong experience and need less time. You can’t understate this, we’ve seen a really wide difference. We’ve had customers with no math background and they will need a massive amount of time; then some who work in the field and/or fresh off relevant academic training, and they can ramp up surprisingly quickly (2) The full exam is a significant expansion from the previous exam and does not have a real precedent/benchmark. There are not any benchmarks for Full, it’s a one-time experiment.