What is the best way to study for the Foreign Service Officer exam? Can you find recommended books?
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M$3 Answers
The guide contains information regarding registration for the test, sample test and essay questions, testing for individuals with disabilities, and how to prepare for the test. http://careers.state.gov/docs/3.0_FSO_RegGuide.pdf
Purchase the State Department-sanctioned Study Guide $23.00
https://services.act.org/OA_HTML/ibeCZzpHome.jsp?minisite=10062&respid=50834&grp=FSOT
Recommended reading:
Nation of Nations: A Narrative History of the American Republic by James West Davidson http://www.amazon.com/Nation-Nations-Narrative-American-Republic/dp/0072996315/ref=cm_lmf_tit_1
Racial and Ethnic Relations (8th Edition) by Joe R. Feagin
http://www.amazon.com/Racial-Ethnic-Relations-8th-Feagin/dp/0132244047/ref=cm_lmf_tit_2
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know by E. D. Hirsch http://www.amazon.com/New-Dictionary-Cultural-Literacy-American/dp/0618226478/ref=cm_lmf_tit_3
A People and a Nation: A History of the United States by Mary Beth Norton http://www.amazon.com/People-Nation-History-United-States/dp/0618375899/ref=cm_lmf_tit_4
The Politics of United States Foreign Policy by Jerel A. Rosati http://www.amazon.com/Politics-United-States-Foreign-Policy/dp/0495008621/ref=cm_lmf_tit_5
Women and The American Experience, A Concise History by Nancy Woloch http://www.amazon.com/Women-American-Experience-Concise-History/dp/0072418214/ref=cm_lmf_tit_6
Oxford Atlas of the World, 14th Edition by Oxford University Press http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Atlas-World-University-Press/dp/0195334000/ref=cm_lmf_tit_7
The Heritage of World Civilizations: Volume Two since 1500 (7th Edition) by Albert M. Craig http://www.amazon.com/Heritage-World-Civilizations-since-1500/dp/0131926225/ref=cm_lmf_tit_8
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Fates-Societies/dp/0393061310/ref=cm_lmf_tit_9
THE HISTORY OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: 1900-33 V. 1 by MARTIN GILBERT http://www.amazon.com/HISTORY-TWENTIETH-CENTURY-1900-33-V/dp/0002158671/ref=cm_lmf_tit_10
Modern South Asia: History, Culture and Political Economy by Sugata Bose http://www.amazon.com/Modern-South-Asia-History-Political/dp/0415307872/ref=cm_lmf_tit_11
Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 by Steve Coll http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669/ref=cm_lmf_tit_12
A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East by David Fromkin http://www.amazon.com/Peace-End-All-Ottoman-Creation/dp/0805068848/ref=cm_lmf_tit_13
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt http://www.amazon.com/Postwar-History-Europe-Since-1945/dp/0143037757/ref=cm_lmf_tit_15
The War for Muslim Minds: Islam and the West by Gilles Kepel http://www.amazon.com/War-Muslim-Minds-Islam-West/dp/067401992X/ref=cm_lmf_tit_16
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M$
http://www.flickr.com/photos/menik/
Thanks
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M$
Anyway, what probably helped me most for the written test was reading The Economist, cover to cover, for pretty much two years. I also read Democracy in America, but don't remember that it was that relevant.
Personal experience.
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M$
Democracy in America is a good read regardless. Probably my favorite book in my entire college career. I know nothing of the foreign service exam but Democracy in America is always a great book to quote. One of my favorites and if the interviewer is from the Harvard Government Department even more so. They have a thing for Toqueville over there.
The History of the Peloponnesian War is a great quotable book too as it is considered one of the first written works that speaks of international relations.
Just out of curiosity what kind of questions do they ask on the test?
