fso2k11

Getting a masters degree is valuable on so many levels. So is work experience. I took the foreign service test four times. I was invited to the Oral Assessment on my first and fourth try. Here are the differences with my profile from attempt 1 and attempt 4. Attempt 1: - BA in international studies and French - 2 years of work experience in politics in DC - Studied overseas in French once - Age 25 Attempt 4: - BA in international studies and French - MPA from Maxwell - 5 yrs of work experience, including 2 years in more relevant and interesting roles - Virtual Student Foreign Service internship with an embassy in a unique place - Internship in-country at the Public Affairs Section of that same embassy - One year in public sector consulting for a federal agency in defense and international affairs with a decent consultancy - Critical Language Scholarship studying Farsi - 2/1 in Farsi speaking/reading - 28 yrs old. Obviously, my profile had changed quite a bit over the intervening years. I honestly was not qualified in my first attempt, but by my fourth attempt I was ready. My A-100 had an average age of 31. Not that there is any reverse ageism in the foreign service, but the applicant pool is highly qualified. My A-100 included a retired full bird colonel, for example. Even if I didn't make it into the foreign service, when I got the FS call I was working overseas on a USAID consulting gig and achieving my "Plan A." Then "Plan B" came along. As long as the steps you take for Plan A and Plan B overlap, you'll be preparing yourself for an adventurous and rewarding career. On the other hand, strongly consider whether you want to be in the foreign service in the first place. I am staring at potentially 4 total years of adjudicating visas before actually digging into my Public Diplomacy-coned work. The new norm is 3-4 years of consular service before beginning in-cone work, so keep that in mind. My other expat peers in private & NGO sectors are managing huge budgets and huge staff. I won't have as much responsibility for half a decade. FS is rewarding public service, but the pros and cons can be debated ad infinitum. -

I want to chime in here: $50k is not a ton of debt. It's not even a lot of debt. Again, I can't give any official advice or pre-adjudicate a clearance, but consider the average American debt load and the amount of people who have top secret clearances, and the rule of averages would tell you that you're within the normal range. Underwater mortgages, student loans, car loans, etc. Now, if you don't make your payments or you have a dismal credit rating & past bankruptcies, read up somewhere else for more expert advice, because I think those can be red flags. DOS DOES take part in student loan forgiveness, e.g. the 10 year public sector forgiveness program. They also offer the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP). If you serve in a hardship post (20% hardship or greater), then DOS will pay $8k toward your federal loan balance every year (after-tax amount around $5,400). Private loans and weird loans like the Alaska parent loan program or whatever are not included. For perspective on hardship, Bogota is 5% hardship and 15% danger, Buenos Aires is 10% hardship, Mumbai is 20% hardship so officers there qualify but Chennai was just bumped down to 15% so officers there do not qualify for SLRP. Most posts in Mexico, Central America, Africa will qualify for SLRP as well, so it is easy to get posted there. Combine the SLRP with my rent-free life in a low cost country and I will pay off my loans before completing my 2-year tour.

I'm 2.5 yrs out of grad school now and just was browsing, thought I could chime in. I lived in DC for a few years. I figured I had a big enough DC network in politics/NGOs that I could leave DC for grad school, so that's what I did. In fact, I made it a priority to leave DC while still branding myself to return. I went to Maxwell for my MPA and I couldn't be happier because 1) I chose a university with another huge DC network, 2) I got my degree for CHEAP compared to my peers, 3) I was able to learn a critical language while there. Every MPA student ends the program with a consulting engagement-like experience, and my client was a USAID office responsible for civil society assessments. So even if you leave DC, you can come back if you line things up right. However, somehow GW and the other DC-based programs are able to line up so many federal internships and fellowships. That may have changed at Maxwell since opening their DC-hub in the brand new CSIS building and Dean Steinberg made it a priority to grow those types of connections.

Does anyone have any idea when we'll be able to ask for official data from Boren on the number of fellowships awarded per lang/country?

Hi everyone! Happy results day! Please fill out the form (or RE-fill out the form) now that results are out. I didn't get a fellowship, but lets keep the form up for the benefit of next year's applicants. Again, please fill out the form completely even if you already did so. Here is the link. https://docs.google....EV2kwQk5OS2c6MA Then, look at the results here: https://docs.google....kwQk5OS2c#gid=0 Good luck to everyone and congrats to the recipients!

Actually, for some reason a handful of Univ. of Maryland grad students at the Persian language flagship have declined their Boren fellowship awards in past years. I only know this because U Maryland publicized them as award recipients anyways with the line "declined a Boren Fellowship to study the Persian language in Tajikistan."

I think those people are not getting the point of that question on the survey....I bet that someone is forwarding around the link to folks who aren't reading the grad cafe thread as rabidly as we do. I'll try to fix it up later tonight to make the question optional until results come out. I've got my money on us hearing back Wednesday.

Yeah I saw that...holding out hope because that was a scholarship app. and I'm a fellowship applicant. We'll see...

Someone named Jill just filled out the form. Jill, did you already hear your results? You said that no, you did not receive the award. Did you get a rejection, or are you just saying "haven't heard back yet"? On another note, I'm fascinated that you picked Afghanistan as one of your countries. I didn't know that was possible. Can you talk a bit about your application? I guess it is good news to me that no Tajikistan fellowship applicants have so far posted that they received a budget email.

Hi everyone, I have updated the spreadsheet for folks to submit FINAL RESULTS! As soon as your results come in, fill out the form again at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDU0Y2R1Z191S2NKQ1JEV2kwQk5OS2c6MA Then, look at the results here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Asi20Z5Kk3M8dDU0Y2R1Z191S2NKQ1JEV2kwQk5OS2c#gid=0 Good luck!

Not true. All the people who put themselves on last years spreadsheet and got the budget email got alternate or awardee status. Keep in mind that was about 20 people from a sample of over 1000. So who knows. This years data might confirm that trend, we will know in a matter of days. I say Wednesday.

Someone posted on Boren's facebook wall that she called in and talked to a person who told her results emails will be out next week. So good luck everyone.

Well I just heard back that I got accepted into the Eurasian Regional Language Program....and I got some $ and got my plane ticket covered...that means there's almost exactly $20k left to be funded...the max amount of fellowship funding...crossing my fingers.

Sure! Hey all, here is the 2012-2013 Boren Fellowship/Scholarship spreadsheet. I made a form for you to fill out, which I believe can be accessed even if you're not a gradcafe user. Please fill out the form completely. When results-date nears, you will be asked to fill it out again with your results update, so come up with a "username" that is both anonymous and memorable. I am selfishly interested in seeing whether any Fellowship applicants for Persian or for Tajikistan received the budget update email... Here is the link to the form: https://docs.google....k5OS2c6MA#gid=0 And here is the link to view the sheet AFTER you have filled out the form: https://docs.google....kwQk5OS2c#gid=0

I just saw this comment on the Boren Awards facebook page: "There were 575 applicants for the Boren Fellowship and 1014 applications for the Boren Scholarship. We hope to give out approximately the same number of awards as last year (117 and 151, respectively)." So that's 20% of the applicants for fellowships. If we assume, based on past years, that there are another 50-60 alternates for fellowships, we're looking at 167 to 177 (~30%) getting award or alternate status. Of the 16 fellowship applicants who submitted info to the spreadsheet, 10 received the budget update email, so either a) we have a lot of selection bias, or receiving the budget email does indicate any pre-determination of awardee/alternate status. It's not a random sample, so good luck untangling that one.