lycny

I was told that there are always a couple of people interested in Asia (specifically China) each year. But from conversations with current and prospective students, I see that people are interested in a wide range of geographical areas--Africa, Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East. If anything, IPS is international in its analytical scope. It is definitely possible to specialize in area studies. But I think the general curriculum is about understanding global issues and trends.

I went to the open house. Here's what I learned: a) The program has superb career services. Sarah Tung, the vice director, will get to know you when you first walk in and make calls on behalf of you to get you your dream internship/job. The annual spring break study trip is fully planned and led by students and paid for by the program. The people you get to meet on the trips are very high-level (e.g. Prime Minister of Brazil) c) The program is located in center of Stanford campus, right next to the Hoover Tower. It is housed in the same building as all the politics research centers, which means you can find professors right at where they work. d) The second-year practicum lets you work with real clients with a small team of students. The program identifies clients and sets up the project for you. Everyone has to contribute to the project and results are impressive. At least one project gets featured by major policy publications or newspapers. Great professional development exercise as well as personal development experience. The practicum is not role-play as it is WWS. It is a real policy consulting job. e) Staff and faculty in the program are super nice and very willing to work with you. f) The program can pay you to do summer internships. g) Research/teaching assistantships are easily available for people with relevant skills. h) Students in the program all have impressive backgrounds and are high-caliber. Hope this helps. Good luck to all who's still deciding. I look forward to seeing at least some of you in IPS in the fall!

Hi kaixinwawa, I'm in the same situation as you were last year, choosing between Stanford IPS with full ride and SAIS (also with full scholarship). I'm wondering how you decided between the programs and what's your experience been like whichever place you have enrolled in? Thanks for sharing!

It seems that the Stanford International Policy Studies program is quite unique in its curriculum design and access to a variety of research centers, professional schools, faculty across the university, ect. I suppose it might potentially offer a better education in studies of international affairs and policy analysis than the bigger programs such as SAIS, Fletcher, HKS and SIPA. Do people have thoughts about this program and how it compares with the other programs mentioned above? Is anyone also in the position of trying to judge the comparative quality of this program? Thanks for contributing!

Hi, I would like to invite folks to pitch in on the differences/similarities and relative strengths/weaknesses of the MA program at SAIS and MPP program at HKS in terms of any or all of the following variables: a) pedagogy depth of resources (faculty, library, professional networks) c) student experience d) curriculum and core requirements e) extent to which they train you how to think and solve problems (vs. just teaching you book knowledge) f) career preparation (recruiting resources and internships opportunities) and extent to which they allow marketability in a wide range of career fields (government, business, non-profit, etc.) Thank you for your thoughtful input! Good luck to everyone who's deciding where to go!