Customer Reviews

CliffsTestPrep Foreign Service Officer Exam: Preparation for the Written Exam and the Oral Assessment

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I just received my copy of this book and I have to say I was expecting a whole lot more. It offers a pretty skimpy selection of sample questions and answers from the various subject covered by the FSO exam. Over 60 pages of this 300 page book are dedicated to grammar. This is obviously important but I have better books covering this area already. Also I can find those rules on the internet for free. I was really expecting a book that was filled with sample questions and answers. This did not have that. It does not even offer suggestions for books for further study. You think they would have at least plugged their own books, which are generally good.

I would recommend people getting a dummies guide, Idiots guide, or Cliff's guide on the covered subjects. According to this guide these would include; American History, World History and Geography, Economics, United States Society, Mathematics and Statistics, Management, Communication, and Computers.

The test is basically multiple choice and tests a person's knowledge of trivia versus in-depth knowledge of any of the subject areas.

One other thing to the Cliffs people: New Kids on the Block are in no possible way ever considered to have been a Rhythm and Blues band as you state in question 12 on page 30 of this guide. They were a bunch of pretty boys that appealed to pre-pubescent girls.

There are a few typos and factual inaccuracies in this as the other reviewer has pointed out. Since you can not really use this as a compendium of questions from prior tests it really isn't a major downfall. All in all this book is a bust get it only if you have some extra cash sitting around but don't expect it to be useful for serious study.

I found so many errors in this book's first few pages that I wonder if I take the test, will I have memorized a bunch of untrue information?!?!

Overall an overpriced, amateurishly edited thing I probably didn't need. I regret not going for ARCO's guide...

Recently took the FSWE and I must say while I agree with the main critiques of the other posters, it really is their own fault for trusting such a source for the knowledge portion of the test. First, do not get this book if you need a refresher for the job knowledge portions of the exam. You shouldn't need a prep book for this portion anyway. There's a reason they provide a suggested reading list to you when you sign up for the exam. I'd also suggest learning the Constitution, looking at maps, and becoming an avid reader of Time and the Economist while also following a main paper like the NY Times or the Washington Post.

Finally, the English Expression portion is a whole section on the exam consisting of about 70-90 questions. I found that the Cliff's book did an excellent job in this regard and really prepared me going into the exam. I whizzed through the English portion and found many of the questions to be even easier than the ones in the Cliff's book. Here is my reason for giving the book a 3.

I have not yet taken the FSWE but based on the study guide some of the sections seem relevant (english grammar, US politics). Other than that it is hard to take a book seriously that has quite a few mistakes. In the absence of any other guides I would suggest downloading the official guide from the state dept. website (sold by ACT) and using this guide for review. There are also other resources out there - namely the yahoo boards for the written and oral exams.

I felt that the best way to prepare for the Foreign Service Officer Test (i.e., the written exam) was to do as many sample tests as possible. This book gives you an ample supply of test questions in all areas of the test, with explanations for each answer (including why the wrong answers are wrong). Coupled with other sources of test samples (e.g., the Foreign Service Study Guide from the State Department), it will give you a broad range of experience with test questions. And the price is reasonable.

I found this book in my local library the day before I was going to take the FSO exam and almost flipped out when I started taking the practice tests for the Job Knowledge sections. On some of the 10-question practice tests, I could only answer 2-3 of the questions! I seriously considered just forgetting about taking the test I was registered for and reregistering later for another date after I had more time to study. The only reason I went ahead and took the test was because it costs you $50 if you don't show up. I'm so glad I did. The Job Knowledge section of the actual test bore little resemblance to the Cliffs Test Prep guide and it was much easier.

In addition, this book has many errors. Some are typos, like "The correct answer is D., John Smith," when in the question, "John Smith" was actually choice "C." Others are factual errors. For example, right before taking the economics practice tests in this book, I reviewed some textbook material on economics, and found a practice test question "correct" answer that was a word-for-word direct contradiction to what I had just read in the textbook.

If you can borrow this book from a friend or the library, it's worth looking at because it does give you an idea of what the different sections of the FSO exam look like. But, don't take it too seriously.

As I studied with this book, a series of inaccuracies started to cause a mounting sense of dread on my part...what about the ones that I'm not catching? For example, a question over some basic facts about the IMF lists as the answer: "B. The IMF was founded in 1965 to promote the health of the world economy." In this case, I happened to know that the IMF was created at Bretton Woods in 1944. But there are likely other cases where I have committed erroneous information to memory. The book if full of stuff like this. It's bad enough when the letter provided for the answer doesn't match the explanation, but that's easy enough to figure out. It's these other ones that disturb me. I'm going to have to chuck this book and buy the other one in hopes that it's better. Don't buy this one!

I normally read the reviews before making a purchase on Amazon. Not too sure why I didn't this time? This study guide is horrible! I've never wanted to throw a guide/book across a room so many times out of sheer frustration.

Cliffs should be ashamed for allowing such a poorly written study guide to stay on the market for four years! There are so many problems with this guide - most already mentioned. (Feel free to find more problems for yourself)

Having the Job Knowledge Test Review answers directly after the questions makes little sense given your natural tendency to look only a little further down to see the answer. Cliffs could have at least turned the answers upside down?

Consistent typos and simple errors totally compromise the guide's value when it comes to the tests and answers.

The Sample English Expression Test is so bad, you'll actually feel good that you paid "some" attention in school when you can clearly see that the guide is just "flat out" wrong in multiple instances. If anything, this section is more confusing and a detriment to your future score on the FSOE.

The only thing good that can be said about the guide is the information other than the multiple choice problems - normally why you buy a study guide in the first place. The sixty pages of English grammar review are helpful. General information such as tips on how to approach the exam day is informative. Getting past all the other problems however, makes it hard to see the few positives in the guide.

Bottom line: Joining the Foreign Service is an honorable field to go into. Passing the exam is the first of many steps to serving your country on a global level. This guide does not hold to the same standards Foreign Service officers are to uphold. It also doesn't help that you have to wait almost a year before taking the test again if you don't pass it the first time which is common. Do yourself, including your family, a favor and purchase a different study guide.

Do not even check this out at the library. Tons of errors. Terrible terrible terrible! I just found the fifth error in two days of studying. I threw the book across the room. The Cliffstestprep people should issue an apology and a refund. Could you imagine buying a book to learn Spanish with answers like donde esta el libraryo? That is this book.

This book is full of errors and sample questions that are based on errors. Poor editing, really inexcusable. There is no subject matter information other than what is located in the answers. The practice exams at the end of each section does not correlate at all to the information presented in the preceding sample questions for each section.

Overall an amateurish effort, very disappointing. Purchase any other study guide other than this one.