Sylvie Ashford | Starting with Questions, Not Answers

I am a co-term student, and I’m finishing up my B.A. in International Relations and Arabic at Stanford, with Honors in Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. I’m originally from Washington, D.C, and before coming to MIP I worked as a Middle East policy research assistant and campaign field organizer. 

MIP was exactly what I hoped it would be. The program brings together fascinating people from different countries and life paths. I learned so much from them in and out of the classroom, which ended up being one of the most meaningful aspects of the program. Particularly after spending the first half of the program on Zoom, I loved every time we were able to come together as a cohort for classes and social events this year.

Being a part of this community has definitely changed how I think about the process of policymaking. What I've really come to understand is that policymaking should start with a question, not an answer, and with a rigorous effort to understand a specific social problem in its own context. After graduation, I'm moving to San Francisco to work at the Natural Resources Defense Council, and I know that keeping that perspective in mind will be a huge help to me as I’m doing policy analysis and advocacy work to support the NRDC's Climate and Clean Energy Program.

David Sprague | MIP Training, Military Service

When I first started as an MIP student, I didn’t realize how flexible the program would be or how many options there are to study in different fields. The program really emphasizes how to approach policy making through practical considerations, not just wishful thinking, whether that’s in computer programming and coding, international affairs, climate science, business, design thinking, or any of the other topics policy covers. There’s a lot of crossover with other programs on campus like the design school and the Graduate School of Business, I think this dynamic gives students a policy framework that's grounded in sound political strategies. 

It’s definitely been a busy two years. Beyond being a MIP student, I’m also an active duty officer in the U.S. army, and I have a family. I’ve been very appreciative of how I was able to work within the program to try and keep all of those different responsibilities in balance. This is the best location, hands down, to pursue a policy degree, and there are so many opportunities to get experience with things you truly value, whether that’s family, friends, researching a topic you have strong opinions about, coding, or surfing.

After graduation, I will be returning to the Army to be an operations officer, or a prime integrator, in organizations ranging from 700 to 10,000 soldiers. I know that what I’ve learned here at FSI in the master’s program — both about policy making and myself — is going to help me serve our men and women in uniform better.

Shirin Kashani | Moving Forward, but Not Away

I am graduating this June, but I’m not going far! The program helped me realize my dreams to continue my career in academia, and so I will be pursuing a PhD in political science here at Stanford.

Part of the MIP experience is the one-on-one advisor matching that the program organizes for students. I was paired with Dr. Jeremy Weinstein, and he was so genuinely helpful and keen on setting me up for success. He met with me every two weeks to help me plan and prepare to be a competitive, successful PhD candidate after MIP.

For any students coming into the program, I would strongly advise you take advantage of how flexible the program is. The four specializations — Cyber, Environment, Governance and Development, and International Security — are there to guide you, not to put you in a box. Take courses from departments in your interests and customize your electives to whatever you think will help you. Don’t be afraid to go beyond what’s expected of you in the program to explore and make the best out of your two years on the Stanford campus!

Mikk Raud | Coming Full Circle

Prior to starting this master’s program, I spent eight years studying and working in Beijing and Hong Kong, where I most recently worked for a global risk consultancy, assisting multinational companies with assessing cyber risk, threats, and regulations, as well as crisis management. One of my goals here at Stanford was to pivot away from Asia and refocus my studies in cyber security and cyber policy in the U.S.

Because it’s right in Silicon Valley and so close to the leading industries, the MIP program here at Stanford was my top choice of school, and it has not disappointed. Aside from being able to closely interact with top faculty members and professors such as Frank Fukuyama, I got to see guest speakers such as President Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama, and other high-level U.S. military officials that Stanford has brought to campus to speak to students. I’ve learned so much from classes like “INTLPOL 340: Technology, Innovation and Modern War,” taught by Steve Black and Joe Felter, and groups like the Hack Lab.

As my time at Stanford comes to an end, my academic experience and industry experience are making a full circle, and I will be going to work with the global financial technology firm where I interned over the summer. I will be working on technology and information security issues while I am in the U.S. by using the one year of optional practical training (OPT). Given the current events in Ukraine and their proximity to my native Estonia, at some point I would also like to be able to contribute my skills and experience back home.

 

Each of the students in the 2022 class of the Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy has had the opportunity to practice policymaking and problem solving hands-on in the Policy Change Studio, the two-quarter capstone course of the MIP program. Each year, second-year students partner with NGOs, think tanks, and other groups around the world to get out of the classroom and into the world to bring their know-how to some of the world's most pressing issues.

To learn more about what the 2022 cohort has been working on, explore some of the capstone presentations below.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

What sets the MIP program apart from other graduate policy programs? 

MM: First, we're a small community-focused program. There are fewer students per class compared to similar programs, which means we can really focus on our students and on creating a community between students, staff and faculty members. Another important distinction is that we have an interdisciplinary and flexible curriculum. Students get to explore a range of disciplines as part of their degree requirements to help them get a feel for what they're truly interested in. At MIP, we teach both hard and soft skills, and the aim is to prepare leaders who will be able to understand policy problems, design appropriate solutions to them, and then create implementation plans for these solutions. It's a well-rounded and thorough program.

We also have an interactive and innovative learning environment and we use different teaching methods — such as case studies, workshops and experiential learning — alongside more traditional lecture and seminar courses. At Stanford, we're fortunate to have leading academics and practitioners in their respective fields, and our MIP students have the opportunity to learn from them. Additionally, another aspect of our interdisciplinary curriculum is that MIP students can take classes from any of Stanford's seven schools, which is unique. Lastly, I would say that we're pretty adaptable, which is unusual. For example, we were able to add a cyber policy and security track to our curriculum when those issues became more prominent in the world of international affairs in recent years. 

Can you explain more about the specializations — or tracks — within the MIP program and how they are unique?

To give a little bit of background, all MIP students complete the same core curriculum and they’re also all required to complete a capstone project. In addition to that, students have to dedicate at least 25 percent of their coursework to their chosen area of specialization. Each area of specialization includes two required courses, as well as an offering of approved electives that students can choose from based on their individual interests. 

What's cool about the specializations is that they're led by a Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) faculty member and guided by at least one of FSI’s research centers. For instance, we have the cyber policy and security track, which is guided by the Cyber Policy Center. It allows students to pursue interests including disinformation, hate speech and cyber warfare. Another track is energy, natural resources and the environment, which is guided by the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development and the Center on Food Security and the Environment. It allows students to pursue their interests in climate change, food security, energy policy or natural resource-management, for example.

There’s also the specialization in governance and development, which is guided by the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law. That track is for students who are interested in things like international development, migration, governance challenges and global health. Finally, we have the international security specialization. That one is guided by the Center for International Security and Cooperation, and those students can pursue their interests in foreign policy and national security, nuclear policy, counter-terrorism and more. Our specializations allow students to pursue their interests, even if they are really, really diverse.

The average age of students in MIP’s recent cohorts is about 27 years old. Are younger students encouraged to apply? 

On average, our students are 27 years old and they have four years of work experience. But it's important to understand that there is a range — we do have a handful of students who have come straight from their undergraduate studies and have completed a couple of relevant internships. And we also have people who are 35-plus years old and who have been in the workforce for 10, 12 or 15 years. 

In terms of whether someone coming straight from undergraduate should apply, what I normally say is that it's going to be a very personal decision, and the answer is going to vary from applicant to applicant. Some applicants can benefit from taking time away from school to figure out what they really want and what they're really interested in, and gaining some practical experience and skills. But others already have focused career goals, have completed internships and have a clear understanding of the skills they need to work in the fields that they want to be in. For them, it might not make sense to take time away from school — they might be ready. In general, we look for candidates who have both proven academic ability as well as relevant work experience.

For those students who are lacking a strong professional experience component, having a strong demonstrated interest in an international policy field and clear career goals can be helpful. We do a holistic review of the applications we receive, and we try to get the complete picture of each applicant. I would suggest that if you think of your lack of experience as a potential weakness, you can play on your other strengths in your application. So the answer to your question is that it varies. We do have some students who are coming straight from undergrad, but in the end, applicants have to really try to think through what will be best for them given their specific goals.

Is there an ideal MIP candidate?

That's a great question. Because we're a small program and we have those diverse areas of specialization, we have applicants and students from all over the world. They have varied interests and diverse personal, academic and professional backgrounds. What this means is that there is no single way to be a successful applicant. There isn't one model to follow. Again, we look for people who have proven academic ability and work experience. We have a somewhat older cohort, and we do place some value on work experience. But because we're both small and interdisciplinary, we’ll have somebody who comes and wants to study climate change, and someone else who wants to study counter-terrorism, and another person who wants to study global health, and somehow all of these people are finding a home in the same program. So there's not one way to be successful.

But I think the key is to have a demonstrated interest in international policy, whether that is through your undergraduate career, or your internship and work experience, or the type of research that you've been pursuing, as well as having an idea of what your career goals are and being able to articulate why the MIP program is the missing component to get you from where you currently are to where you want to be. 

The MIP program is not requiring the GRE this year. How will GRE scores be considered when you're reviewing applications?

We decided to waive the GRE requirement because we realized that some applicants weren't going to be able to take the tests safely, and others weren't going to be able to take the test at all. So we committed to a GRE-blind review of applications this year. The rationale behind that decision is that we don't want to place the folks who aren't able to take the test because of the current circumstances at a disadvantage. We’ve been receiving questions like, “How are you making decisions if you can't see people's test scores?" And what I say is that we do thoughtful and holistic reviews of the application — in a general year, your GRE score is just one small component of all the different things that we look at. So, removing that one component doesn't mean that we're not going to be able to make informed decisions. We're not going to look at the scores because we want to be fair.

What kinds of funding options are available to students? 

There are a number of options available to MIP students. One of the newer things that has had a large impact on the MIP program is the existence of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program at Stanford, which offers full funding for graduate students across the university. Because Knight-Hennessy focuses on funding people who want to make the world a better place, their criteria is pretty nicely aligned with what students in the MIP program naturally tend to want to do. So we're lucky to have several of our students funded through the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program. For instance, in the incoming class of 24 students, nine of them are funded by the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship program, which is a huge number.

In addition to that, we have internal fellowships and scholarships offered either through the MIP program or through FSI. We are able to either partially or fully fund a handful of students every year, and those are generally merit-based fellowships. So we might be able to make some funding offers to those people who we think are our top candidates.

And we also have people who come with external fellowships. Some are funded by their branch of the U.S. military, since we have a few military students. Some are Fulbright scholars, or have received similar external fellowships. Those are all scholarships and fellowships that happen at the time of application, but then there are other mechanisms for student funding once the student is enrolled in the program. For instance, MIP provides financial support to students who pursue an unpaid internship over the summer between their first and second year of study. We also have a pretty great assistantship program within MIP that allows the program to hire a few of our second-year students to serve as teaching or research assistants for faculty members at FSI or at MIP. And those are the main ways that students can fund their degrees.

Do you have a question that was not answered here? Reach out to Meghan at mip-admissions@stanford.edu 

“I would encourage students without work experience — who are coming straight from undergrad — to apply!

I was discouraged when I was beginning the application process at age 21 and saw that the average age of the MIP cohorts was 26 to 27 years old. I didn’t think I had a chance to get in, but I did. So if any future students are hesitant to apply because they think they might be too young, I would encourage them to be bold and do it. You never know what could happen!”
-Jillayne Ren ‘20

“I think that challenging preconceptions about what the MIP program can offer you is really important because 

in MIP and at Stanford in general, interdisciplinary learning carries a lot of weight. You can have flexibility in a lot of things that you do. And I think you can see that in the movement of students [between specializations and interests]. Many people come in with a certain specialization in mind — maybe something they did as an undergrad or as a job — but then they realize once they get here that the way they see the world has changed. So they switch specializations or they dabble in both — maybe a mixture of Energy plus Cyber or GovDev plus Security.”
-Kyle Van Rensselaer ‘20

“It's easy to apply to grad school because a lot of other people are doing it and because you've been thinking about it for awhile, but it's

very hard to answer why you are really doing it. What's the purpose of doing it when you have so many options and alternatives? For example, creating your own organization, or changing jobs, or studying online.
The process is so deep and tough at the same time, that if you don't have a very good idea of what that purpose is, I think it's easy to deviate from the actual objective of having a meaningful experience and getting the tools you need to create an impact. So I would advise people to ask themselves why they want to do it first. What school, what program — that comes later. If you have a clear purpose, I think the other questions are going to be easier to answer.”
-Daniel Gajardo ‘22

“Talk to students — don't be hesitant to reach out to people in the program. I think the nature of a policy

program is that it attracts a lot of people who are looking to do good in the world. And part of that extends to paying it forward to other people who are following close behind us. I get excited when I talk about the opportunity that I have at MIP and I think that's probably true for most of the people in my cohort. Don't hesitate to reach out and see what the experience has been like for us.”
-Kyle Smith ‘22

“When an opportunity is presented to you, go for it! There are a lot of really interesting things going on at Stanford.

From time to time we'll get an email saying that a certain professor is looking for a research assistant or something similar, for example. And I think being open to trying new things and learning outside of your discipline is really useful because everything is very interconnected. And even if you're laser focused on one area of study, that doesn't necessarily mean there isn't something that you can learn that might surprisingly be applicable to what your interests are in another discipline.”
-Olivia Seideman ‘20


Begin your application for the MIP Class of 2023