IR Dude

Got my, "No." e-mail today. "The finalists were announced last week. Unfortunately you weren't one of them." At first I was like... "Ouch... my face..." But then after a while I thought... Yeah... If my job was to tell a few thousand people, "No. Now stop asking me questions." every year... I suppose my responses would look similar, if not, worse than that. So there it is. Loose ends are tied up. Goin' to SAIS and payin' full price.

Did you take the FSOT yet Cornell? I hear it's best to take it and get the application process going at least one year before you finish school. As I'm told, the background check alone can take up to a year depending on how many exceptions you have and how much international experience you have. (Or... does your internship require that you get Top Secret security clearance? Cause that'd be crazy helpful.) Even then, assuming you've made it through all the hoops, depending on your placement on the roster, it can take up to another year before you're offered an actual position or nothing at all. Also, I don't think the Pickering itself guarantees an FSO position. If they fail the FSOT they fulfill their commitment by working for the State Department Civil Service. Look at me, a Pickering know-it-all... and I'm not even gonna get the damn thing...

Sounds like she just wanted to get your number.

Congrats Keondra! Good luck in the interview. I'm told there aren't many finalists (maybe 30-40) so I imagine an e-mail is sent out to all of them at the same time. Which means my e-mail saying, "No" is probably being worded right now in just the right way.

I took the FSOT two weeks ago. There were 15 people there (I'm abroad right now, hence the low number). 13 of them were PCVs.

3.4 "public Ivy" 1250: 5 GRE 5 years working experience [1 management (US), 2 Peace Corps (Africa), 1 county government (US), 1 education (Asia)] languages [African - fluent, critical Asian - intermediate, Spanish - beginner] letter of rec. [PC Country Director, Education Supervisor in Asia] I've heard that competition is fierce for everyone, but particularly difficult for white males, given that the State Department has publicly disclosed that recruiting females and minorities has been a priority in recent years - hence not holding my breath. I know two Pickering grads now and both were completely shocked when they heard they were candidates for interview... so mmclean0260, don't worry too much about your stats or where you got in, I think other factors may play a more important role. Keondra, not to get your hopes up or anything, but you sound like a shoo-in, especially with the 2 critical languages. Good luck to both of you! I'm looking into ROTC to pay for school. That might be kinda fun anyhow.

Gotcha La Voz. I'm gonna look into what Lonestar99 has mentioned. If ROTC will pay for my grad school, I'll do it in a heartbeat, especially if I can fulfill my service obligation via Reserves. Lonestar99, thank you for the info!

These sound like unrealistic expectations. There's no way the Army is going to pay you $120,000 to do some push-ups on the weekends... And I have no idea, but I highly doubt the GI bill will cover $120,000 after enlisting for only a year. You guys might wanna do a little more research on that. I mean hey, if it's true, hell, I'll see ya at officer training this summer. But I'm willing to bet this is some grade A misinformation.

Really? Does that apply for SAIS?

bump. I feel better seeing fellow loaners out there, but that definitely sucks for us. That e-mail saying, "Hey IR Dude, congratulations on your graduation! Now that you're out of school, please pay $1400 by the 1st of every month for the next 10 years or we'll destroy your life!" is really gonna cramp my style.

Anyone out there get the magical phone call or e-mail? or... Anyone out there know an approximate date we'll find out? I'm not holding my breath on this one, but it'd be nice to tie up loose ends here.

For those of you paying with loans, are you nervous about the massive amount of debt?

When are we supposed to get the results?

Hi SAIS BC 2010, I was accepted into the AFP program as well, though only for the DC program. A friend of mine is currently a second year student there and has expressed fairly negative opinions of it. Can I ask you why you're switching and what you are thinking about switching to? Actually, I have lots of questions about the AFP program. Do you mind if I PM them to you? Thanks, IR Dude

My e-mail said : "Hhahah ahahahah ahahaah hahaha hahaha hahaah.... Yeah, don't apply here again. Love, Harvard"