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Rating: 
Summary: Misleading, Unhelpful, Not worth the money
Review: I am very disappointed in this book. As I remmeber, The first section is devoted to how to get into the Civil Service which is pretty worthless for someone looking into the Foreign Service.What was unpardonable is that I actually found one of there questions that has a wrong answer in the answer section. If you can not trust the answers they are giving you, then what is this book worth???? I would like Arco to give me my money back. Or better yet - they should not be lazy and send someone to write a really good, up-to-date prep book. It seems to me they did a lot of cut and paste from the Department of State website, and gave no real time or efort to its preparation
Rating:
Summary: Complete Waste of Money (not even worth 1 star!)
Review: I bought this book in order to prepare for the Foreign Services Test, but I ended up ignoring it all together. The background information contained within this book was almost verbatium off of the ...website from the Foreign Services section. The only reason to purchase this book would be for the practice questions. However, I found at least 2 questions in the knowledge section were wrong, and another couple that contained typos that caused me to select the wrong answer. Thus, I questioned the whole legitimacy of the examine book. The English section is NOT reflective of the English section contained within the actual Foreign Services Examn, which was a complete SHOCK during exam day! ...completely, useless book.
Rating: 
Summary: Full of typos
Review: I take the exam tomorrow, so I don't know how relevant the questions are yet, but I am shocked by the number of typos that the book has. The book is full of misspellings, answers that don't match questions, and some very strangely worded questions. It's a shame that the only study guide for this test is so poorly edited.
Rating:
Summary: Not representative of the exam--barely adequate preparation
Review: I took the Foreign Service Written Examination (FSWE) on 24 Apr 04 and used this book as a means of preparation. I was sorely disappointed. It is not representative of the examination at all. The sample examinations do not match the FSWE in the types or number of questions for the job knowledge or English expression sections. There are no examples of essays in the book that are required for the FSWE. Either this edition (2001) is grossly outdated or it never was representative of the FSWE. Additionally, there are numerous errors in the book, including missing multiple-choice answers and poor grammar. The majority of the book is dedicated to information that already is available free on the State Department web site or through its free test registration booklet, such as explanations about the Foreign Service, lists and examples of forms, et al. The only value the book provides is to ask questions that generally are related to "current" affairs (again, this edition dates to 2001) and American government. It also provides a reasonable guide to grammar, but then asks questions in the English expression section solely related to the rules it presents in the grammar guide. The problem is that aside from a $15 online exam guide, there is no other book, to my knowledge, that claims to prepare one for the FSWE. The online version is produced by the same company that produces the examination, but it is far too brief to be of any use. Buy either at your own risk. You're welcome to have my copies.
Rating:
Summary: Not representative of the exam--barely adequate preparation
Review: I took the Foreign Service Written Examination (FSWE) on 24 Apr 04 and used this book as a means of preparation. I was sorely disappointed. It is not representative of the examination at all. The sample examinations do not match the FSWE in the types or number of questions for the job knowledge or English expression sections. There are no examples of essays in the book that are required for the FSWE. Either this edition (2001) is grossly outdated or it never was representative of the FSWE. Additionally, there are numerous errors in the book, including missing multiple-choice answers and poor grammar. The majority of the book is dedicated to information that already is available free on the State Department web site or through its free test registration booklet, such as explanations about the Foreign Service, lists and examples of forms, et al. The only value the book provides is to ask questions that generally are related to "current" affairs (again, this edition dates to 2001) and American government. It also provides a reasonable guide to grammar, but then asks questions in the English expression section solely related to the rules it presents in the grammar guide. The problem is that aside from a $15 online exam guide, there is no other book, to my knowledge, that claims to prepare one for the FSWE. The online version is produced by the same company that produces the examination, but it is far too brief to be of any use. Buy either at your own risk. You're welcome to have my copies.
Rating:
Summary: Use the Study Guide from State Department
Review: Not sure you need any guide at all, as it is mostly intuitive. If you need help passing the test, you would be better served using the official study guide. It is cheap and updated annually. Best of luck!!
Rating:
Summary: Useless
Review: The people writing positive reviews must be from the publisher and have never taken the test. This was a real waste of money. The state department web site provides all the information that you really need to know and it's free.
Rating:
Summary: A mess!
Review: To reiterate the reviews already posted, this book is a waste of money. Not only were some of the questions and/or answers incorrect, the book was full of typographical errors and misleading instructions. I did find taking a paper practice exam helpful for getting in the right frame of mind and finding out what I need to brush up on, but most of the pertinent information is available (and more accurate) from [...]. Disclaimer: I haven't taken the exam yet, but I don't expect this book to help. My advice is to follow the guidelines in the exam prep booklet available from the State Department.
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