Stanford IPS Ford Dorsey Program

[wonkish]

After hours upon hours of researching programs, I've heard little about Stanford IPS and have found few mentions of it on GradCafe as well. The program looks stellar based on what I've read. I understand it only enrolls ~25 students each year. Does anyone have thoughts or information regarding the reputation of Stanford's program?

I plan to specialize in labor and environmental policy in global supply chains. Does Stanford's International Political Economy concentration rival programs such as SAIS, HKS, Fletcher and WWS in this respect?

Any insight is greatly appreciated!

[globalsun]

Hi wonkish,

I think given your emphasis on labor and environmental policy in global supply chains, a school would need a top notch economics, environment, and business programs. IPS might be a good fit since it shares courses with Top 5 Economics and Business program, which are located right across the street from IPS in addition to several great Environmental Sciences departments. The GSB actually hosts a major forum on supply chains, so the campus is definitely a good place to learn about the topic. http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/scforum/

HKS could potentially offer all those courses given its economic and business programs, but I always hear from my HKS friends that the curriculum is highly structured and offers little flexibility if you have a niche focus. I could be wrong about that though. Princeton lacks a business program but it likely has enough resources to cater to your specific interests as it does have great environment and economics programs. Fletcher should offer you flexibility but many the courses you need might require a commute to MIT or Harvard, as there is not so much a critical mass of faculty on these topics on campus. I am not sure about SAIS as they are a more focused on traditional international finance issues, and lack access to cutting edge business and environmental science faculty and coursework.

Just my 2 cents. Hope this helps.