I'm about 7 weeks into studying for FRM Part 1 and trying to figure out if I'm on pace or falling behind. I've been logging roughly 15 hours a week, which puts me around 105 hours total so far. Most resources say 200-300 hours for both parts combined, but that range feels so wide it's not very useful. Anyone willing to share actual numbers?
My quantitative background is decent — undergrad econ, a few stats courses — but I haven't touched derivatives pricing in a couple years. Foundations of Risk Management and Financial Markets are moving fast for me, but Quantitative Analysis is where I'm grinding. Spending about 40% of my time there even though it's supposedly one of the smaller sections.
I've been using a mix of Schweser notes and the official GARP readings. Schweser moves faster but I keep finding gaps where something on a practice exam references a concept Schweser glossed over. Trying to decide if I should supplement more heavily with GARP material or just trust the process and do more practice questions.
Exam's in about 5 weeks. Planning to spend the last two weeks almost entirely on practice exams and reviewing wrong answers. Anyone who's passed recently — does that approach hold up, or is there material you wish you'd reviewed more systematically before switching to pure practice?
Schweser has gaps, especially on the valuation models. I'd suggest at least reading the GARP chapter summaries for the quant section — maybe 3-4 extra hours but it fills in things Schweser skips. Passed on my first try with a 76%.
The last two weeks of practice exams is the right move. I made the mistake of trying to cram new material in the final week and it just created noise. Reviewing wrong answers and understanding why is worth more than covering new ground at that stage.
15 hours a week is solid. I was doing 12 and felt like I was always behind. Make sure you can derive the key VaR formulas from memory before exam day — that's the one area where knowing the mechanics, not just the output, actually matters on the questions.
I logged around 180 hours for Part 1 alone and felt prepared but not over-prepared. Working as a financial risk manager helped on the conceptual side, but the exam is rigorous about formulas and I'd underestimated how much pure memorization was involved going in.
Honestly, I almost bailed around week 9. I was at like 130 hours and still felt completely lost on valuation and risk models, and I started convincing myself the exam just wasn't for me. What got me through was realizing that the 200-300 hour range isn't really about time -- it's about what you're doing with it. I'd been re-reading the GARP materials passively and fooling myself into thinking I was studying. Once I switched almost entirely to practice questions and just looked things up when I got them wrong, it clicked way faster.
You're at 105 hours and 7 weeks in, which is honestly fine. Don't stress the total count too much. What matters more is whether you're doing full mock exams yet and actually reviewing your mistakes, not just logging hours. I ended up somewhere around 180 hours total before exam day and passed on my first attempt, but I know people who logged 250+ and didn't make it because they weren't studying the right way. Keep going -- the fact that you're tracking your hours and asking this question means you're more self-aware than most candidates.
Just passed Part 1 in May so I can actually answer this. 105 hours at week 7 sounds solid, but honestly the total hours thing is kind of misleading. I logged somewhere around 180 hours total and passed comfortably, but I know people who did 250+ and failed because they weren't reviewing the right way.
The one thing that actually moved the needle for me was doing question banks topic by topic instead of saving them for the end. I wasn't just reading Schweser and hoping it would stick. Every time I finished a reading I'd immediately drill 20-30 questions on that specific topic, and if I got below 70% I'd go back before moving on. It felt slower at first but my mock scores in the last two weeks were way higher than I expected. You're probably fine on pace, just don't let the practice questions become an afterthought.