Four students pass Foreign Service exam In the best showing in the LBJ School's 29-year history, four students passed the written and oral components of the Foreign Service Examination. After their successful completion of the two tests, Kay McGowan, Roberta A. Ritvo, Sylvie Volel, and Dana R. Williams are now eligible for U.S. State Department training and employment. Before receiving assignments, all applicants must undergo a security clearance, a medical review, and specialized training. According to Michael Cohn, a Foreign Service officer handling recruitment activities at the State Department in Washington, D.C., only about 3,000 of 10,000 applicants who take the written portion of the annual exam are able to pass. Of those, fewer than one in 10 will pass the challenging, daylong oral assessment. "For the LBJ School to produce four passers out of four who took the oral assessment is a very impressive achievement," Cohn said.

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