policywonkette

Sorry I'm slow in responding the earlier questions. My classmates are amazing, they have a really broad range of experience and are incredibly intelligent and hard-working. Out of 21 of us, 11 are international students (from Pakistan, China, Nepal, Switzerland, Belgium, South Korea, the Dominican Republic, and Bolivia) and 10 from the U.S. Many have finance or consulting backgrounds, including consulting for developing countries, but we have someone who came from the DoD, one from DoJ, a former Kiva fellow, some people with start-up experience, and even a former engineer. The small class size definitely helps, we all know each other really well and help each other get through the courseload, which is heavily quantitative (at least in the 1st year) and very demanding. The program is a mix of quant-heavy skills courses and IR, which is a unique combination and one that I find really interesting and applicable to a wide range of careers. For pre-reqs, I would just apply and if you're admitted but need to fulfill one, they'll tell you and you can take it over the summer. If anyone really wants to know about course specifics or syllabi, just message me and I can try to answer your questions or send you a syllabus. As for multinational orgs, our Director is a former assistant Secretary General of the U.N., and we have instructors and advisors who hold or held high positions at the U.N., the World Bank, and the IMF, so there are several "ins" available. It's a great program, and I hope to see some of you next year! Good luck with the decisions.

Hi globalsun (and everyone else trying to figure out tough admissions decisions), I wrestled with the same question last year, and ultimately chose Stanford over SIPA, UChicago, and KSG. Stanford's program is both analytically rigorous and comprehensive (there are many required courses covering not just economics but also social psychology, justice, and other interdisciplinary topics), and has a definite international focus. There are also research opportunities for 2nd year students at Stanford's research centers, which will boost your attractiveness to research institutions. Compared to Harvard's MPA/ID, IPS allows more flexibility (because there are multiple concentrations) but the downside is that it is newer, and so less well-known. However, due to the interdisciplinary nature of the IPS degree, you can utilize the faculty and alumni resources of other, more established Stanford departments and schools. While the process for finding jobs is definitely not as streamlined as it is at KSG or the more established programs, there doesn't seem to be much of a problem getting jobs in D.C.; the Stanford name goes far and faculty have D.C. connections. There are a couple of students in the current graduating class headed to D.C. There isn't as much interest in working in D.C. as there is at other schools, since the class size is small and many students work internationally after graduation (half of each class are non-U.S. citizens), but as long as you are willing to be proactive and apply for spots, I'd say being on the West Coast is not a hindrance to landing a job in D.C. I think your best bet is to visit the places where you're accepted to and see what you think, because sitting in on classes and talking with students will be the best way to gauge which is the best program for your interests. Good luck!