However, with respect to the FRM exam I found the Bionic Turtle Materials to be far more helpful. I haven’t found a study provider better than Schweser for CFA. BT is such a bargain!!! Schweser is fantastic for CFA and I am using it to study for CFA Level 3 this June. It looks like right now one year of access to Bionic Turtle is going for $399 compared to $1,118 for PremiumPlus for levels 1 and 2 of Schweser. IN RETROSPECT If I had to do it all over again I would use Bionic Turtle, and I would consider adding the Schweser materials as a supplement only if my company paid for it and there was no money leaving my pocket.

I felt like the BT videos took their time and really covered the concepts well. BT devoted far more time to videos than Schweser (there are literally dozens of hours of videos that you an download that cover all areas of the curriculum). In contrast, I found the Bionic Turtle videos to be far more substantial. Also, the Schwser live online classes cover so much in so little time that I felt like the concepts were just being glossed over. I felt like a lot of the time in the Schweser live online seminar was spent on “administrative” items. VIDEOS I watched all of the weekly Schweser videos (they were offered live on Wednesday nights for 3 hrs at a time), but I didn’t seem to get much out of them. At least last fall when I was studying for the Full FRM exam Schweser did not offer its customers the ability to obtain its FRM study notes in PDF format. With BT you are provided with PDF files that you can print or read on your computer.

Which was the most helpful to me between Bionic Turtle and Schweser? Hands down it was Bionic Turtle! STUDY NOTES The Bionic Turtle study notes are vibrant and filled with many colorful diagrams. I found the FRM Handbook and the GARP curriculum readings to be more useful as reference materials than as primary resources. I used study materials from Bionic Turtle and Schweser (PremiumPlus) to pass the exam.

Bionic turtle frm study material