re: #72 Joe Bacon 🌹

When I took it, they required a BA but preferred an MA degree. You also had to master 2 foreign languages. In Western PA I spoke English and French. Picked up Spanish in High School.

I had reasonably good Spanish at the time, and mediocre Portuguese. I probably could have squeaked by with those and my BA. I gave up consideration of the foreign service after I realized I could teach abroad, and have the international experience I wanted without all the government requirements.

The written exam was very heavy on history, politics, geography and economics, as I recall. My degree was in lit, but I studied enough of the other subjects to be able to answer most of the questions correctly. But jeez, it was a brutal test. Three hours, then lunch, then another three hours. Like two GREs back to back.