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116610LV
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UC San Diego Rady MBA or Columbia MSRED ? 02 May 2019, 00:52
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Hello GmatClub, a few words regarding my background I have a B.A and an LL.B. Certified as a lawyer and have been working in big law for a few years, specializing in real estate. I'm 27 years old so time is of the essence. I'm looking to transition out of the legal world and I'm really confused as to which degree to go after. My GMAT scores aren't good enough for a top 10 MBA and I only got accepted to the Rady full time MBA program in San Diego that starts this summer. I was basically set on doing the MBA until a colleague suggested I look into an M.S in real estate or real estate development. I looked into the programs offered at NYU, Columbia, Georgetown and Pepperdine. All these programs are in locations I would be very happy to be in and all said I would have a very good chance of being accepted with my current CV and GMAT. Basically it boils down to this question - Mid level school MBA or M.S from a top tier school? M.S means going all in on real estate. An MBA would offer a lot of flexibility. Ultimately my career goal is eventually start my own company and get in to real estate development. However who knows what can change down the line. The Columbia MS is appealing to me as it's an incredible brand name school and I would have access to an incredible alumni network. The fact that the MS is only one year compared to the two year MBA is also a consideration. However I'm concerned about the reputation of the MSRED degree in general and feel that maybe an MBA is a safer bet.

Would love to get your thoughts.
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MiMEssay
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UC San Diego Rady MBA or Columbia MSRED ? 24 Nov 2019, 16:03
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116610LV
Hello GmatClub, a few words regarding my background I have a B.A and an LL.B. Certified as a lawyer and have been working in big law for a few years, specializing in real estate. I'm 27 years old so time is of the essence. I'm looking to transition out of the legal world and I'm really confused as to which degree to go after. My GMAT scores aren't good enough for a top 10 MBA and I only got accepted to the Rady full time MBA program in San Diego that starts this summer. I was basically set on doing the MBA until a colleague suggested I look into an M.S in real estate or real estate development. I looked into the programs offered at NYU, Columbia, Georgetown and Pepperdine. All these programs are in locations I would be very happy to be in and all said I would have a very good chance of being accepted with my current CV and GMAT. Basically it boils down to this question - Mid level school MBA or M.S from a top tier school? M.S means going all in on real estate. An MBA would offer a lot of flexibility. Ultimately my career goal is eventually start my own company and get in to real estate development. However who knows what can change down the line. The Columbia MS is appealing to me as it's an incredible brand name school and I would have access to an incredible alumni network. The fact that the MS is only one year compared to the two year MBA is also a consideration. However I'm concerned about the reputation of the MSRED degree in general and feel that maybe an MBA is a safer bet.

Would love to get your thoughts.

Hi 116610LV, I can understand your predicament. There are 2 aspects to this -
- MS in Real Estate is a nitche specializtion , such nitche specializations are recommended only when you are super sure of working in the industry in the long term. If you want to explore other management options, an MBA is the better option. You seem to want to explore wider options, so ideally an MBA is the better degree for you.
However, an MBA is a pretty expensive program, and for an international applicant unless you do it from one of the top 20 schools, it will be a bit difficult to recoup the ROI. So in the debate between an MBA from a lower ranked school V/S an MS from a tier-1 school, I would not suggest you to compromise on the brand of the school since it largely affects the ROI.
Lastly, I am not sure if the top 20 MBA schools are out of your reach with the current profile details provided. So if you can mail me your resume at support@mim-essay.com, I will be able to better estimate the best programs for you :)
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