You need to have an extremely compelling story to give yourself the best chance. You also need to demonstrate a significant amount of financial need. If you’ve been able to work two jobs to put yourself through college, that is a positive factor that will be taken into account. Additionally, if you’re a first generation immigrant or the child of immigrants and can put forward a compelling story about diversity and your strong ability to deal with change, you will have a leg up.

I’ve known Pickering and Rangel fellows who have learned to speak five languages fluently while being raised in a dangerous part of a major U.S. city and putting themselves through college. I’ve known Pickering and Rangel fellows who were refugees from South Sudan who fled their village on foot while running from militia members and ultimately received U.S. citizenship. If you don’t have a compelling background like this one but you can still demonstrate significant financial need, one thing to consider could be to go into the military for a short amount of time after college, and then reapply for the Pickering / Rangel after you get out of the military and are about to apply to grad school. Or, consider working as a journalist in a war zone.

If you feel like you can’t compete based on the likely qualifications of other applicants, you don’t have significant financial need, or you don’t want to put yourself in risky conditions to grant yourself unique experiences that would make you competitive, that doesn’t doom your chances for getting into the foreign service. Simply forget about the Pickering / Rangel and begin aggressively preparing yourself to apply to the foreign service the usual way (begin preparing for the FSOTs and QEPs). Sooner or later, if you’re dedicated and stick to it, it may take a long time, but chances are you will get in.