jrnels, I am also a finalist for the Pickering and am very curious as to what exactly the writing test and interview process entails, since the email notification was very vague. May I ask where you've been reading up on what people have said about the writing test? And what FSI is? On another note, I called them on Friday to ask more questions about the writing test, i.e. is it argumentative, analytical, etc.? Are there any sample questions available? Are their multiple options that we will be able to choose from?, and I was told that the only specifics they can give us are what is already in the notification email... sigh. This makes it pretty hard to prepare for, unfortunately...