CFA CURRICULUM- Optional Segments

[noops]

Hi People
Those who are reading the CFA curriculum:
1) it has certain optional segments which the bok clearly says are not required for the test prep and you wont be tested on them, but i have found few questions from those very topics in the schweser sample tests??? Any clue as to what is the best course of action to follow
2) The CBOK on the CFA website which gives the outlines of topics to be covered has few topics which are no there in the books eg: Corp Fin book doesn’t have any reading on Mergers and Acquisitions whereas CBOK has included it in the syllabi.

 

[hiredguns1]

noops,
the optional segments are exactly that: optional. Your exam will not test this material. Read it only if you’re interested or feel that it strengthens your understanding of the required readings. In my experience, Schweser exams and questions that were created during the current year confine themselves to the required material. If you’re looking at older questions and exams, they may be testing LOS that were mandatory at the time, but have since vanished from the curriculum or have become optional. But hey, Schweser makes mistakes too. In fact, check out their errata on a regular basis and update your study materials accordingly.
http://www.schweser.com/news/news_updates.php?type=schweser
Regarding the CBOK, it outlines everything you’ll learn throughout the program, not necessarily the LI exam itself. For example, I don’t recall having to know anything about M&A for the LI exam, but this year’s LII exam required candidates to know various motivations for these transactions, calculate the gain, and to understand purchase and pooling accounting, among other things.
http://cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/courseofstudy/topic.html
Edit: typos.

 

[noops]

thanks a lot………i would keep a check on the errata.