Prep for Foreign Service Officer exam

[John T. Fishel]

the other day and have an answer to what it means to pass the exam. The written exam is still the first critical hurdle. If you don't pass it you don't go on. The next step is new in the past decade - it is a board that looks at the exam, AND the other written materials the candidate submits and decides whether to invite the candidate for the oral assessment. After that it is the same as it used to be, although the anecdotal evidence suggests that more accomodations are made for medical conditions - including being blind.

Finally, an invite to the orals also depends to some extent on the cone selected. Political and Public Diplomacy are over subscribed so are very difficult to get into. There are shortages in the administative,management, economic and consular cones.

Cheers'

JohnT