Advice for Stanford IPS admitted students

[Caroline Goodson]

I'm a current MA student at Stanford's International Policy Studies (IPS) program and want to extend a warm congratulations to admitted students! I know decision-making can be tough; I remember being in your shoes last year. If you or any potential applicants for next year have any questions, you can post them here. I can also put you in touch with a current student whose interests align with yours.

[Cate Y]

Hi Caroline! Thank you so much for offering to provide some insight. Stanford IPS is on my list of top choices (among HKS (no funding), Columbia SIPA ($), SAIS ($)). I think at this point, I'm leaning towards IPS, but I wanted to gather as much information before making the final decision. If you could provide any opinions/facts regarding the following questions, I would really appreciate it:

• A little about me: I went to a top LAC with a major in IR and economics. For the last two years, I have been working as a quantitative analyst for a well known think tank. After a masters program, I hope to either work in international development(at WB, IFC, UN, etc.)/consulting OR pursue doctoral degree in public policy. My reasons for not applying to a PhD program this round are: 1) insufficient quant coursework to get into top public policy PhD programs; 2) patchy undergrad GPA; 3) not 100% sure if I want to go into research (also interested in industry, management consulting, etc.)
• During IPS, I was hoping to take a few undergrad and grad courses from the math/stats/business department. From what I have heard, it seems like there is a multidisciplinary spirit within the general Stanford community. Is this also applicable to IPS students? Have you or your classmates had difficulty taking non-IPS courses as part of your electives?
• I am interested in the international political economy track, due to my interests in political economy, labor economics, racial/gender disparity, etc. It seems like the majority of IPS affiliated professors/scholars tend to be political scientists/IR/legal scholars. Can you suggest IPS professors whose research focuses may be closer to mine? 
• How do you find the faculty/academic advisors' mentorship? Have you benefitted from their mentorship in job searches, plans after graduation, etc. ?
• I was fortunate to get funding for the first year, but I'll have to find a way to fund my second year of IPS. I heard many students take RA/TA-ship to receive stipend/tuition benefits. Do you find those opportunities to be readily available for most IPS students, or is it a bit of a challenge? Other than the FSI scholars, I am also interested in RA-ships at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and the Graduate School of Business. Do you think professors in other departments are open to taking IPS students as their RA/TAs?  
• One of the things that I found a little frustrating was that there is not much information about IPS, because the program is relatively new and the alumni community is smaller than other top policy masters programs. Do you find these factors to be a challenge for IPS grads seeking employment or further graduate education? I would like to know the professional/academic placements of IPS grads, if you have some information regarding that.  
• I heard there is no targeted job fairs at Stanford. How do students find internships/employments?
• I've never lived in the west coast. I wanted to know the living expenses, culture and other merits/disadvantages to living in the San Francisco Bay Area. 
• Are you satisfied with the IPS program in terms of topics covered, faculty engagement, classmate interactions, academic rigor, etc.? What made you choose IPS over other policy/IR programs? 

Thank you in advance!

[Cortazar]

Hi Cate Y and Caroline! I am an admitted student to IPS this year, and would love to hear more about the program. Did you finally accept the offer? It's been hard to find any information about the program apart from their website, so I'd really appreciate having some advice. 

I am currently trying to decide between Stanford IPS and SAIS/Georgetown in DC. I would like to specialize in economic development and specifically to take quantitatively heavy courses, which is what makes me lean towards SAIS instead of Georgetown out of those two in DC. I would like to work in an international organization (WB/IDB/OECD/UN) or in a think tank/NGO with an international perspective. So I believe that SAIS could be ideal for this professional career. However, as an international student, I do not think I will live in the US in the long term, so it is also important for me the reputation of the university out of the US. SAIS is quite unknown e.g. in Europe, whereas Stanford is definitely considered one of the top universities all over the world. 

In general terms, both programs seem to be great! I like that both offer strong quantitative courses, and they both have an interesting curriculum. One of my concerns regarding IPS is whether it offers a strong focus on development. I do know SAIS specialization in IDEV is well known, and offers plenty of opportunities as well as a Practicum project that looks awesome. Instead, the IPS names the specialization "International Political Economy", and even if it offers several courses on development, it doesn't seem to offer so many opportunities in this field. 

I would love to hear more about the IPS... It could be really helpful in order to make my decision! Thanks

[KNA_policy]

Seems like nobody ever replies here. Does it say anyting about the program? Maybe, less sense of community?