Career query : Masters in Real Estate

Question

Hi,

Recently, I have reading about the Masters in Real estate program offered in the US by a few universities such as TAMU (Mays), NYU Schack, Johns Hopkins, University of Wisconsin etc.
I am interested in moving into real estate finance and equity.
Kindly tell if these programs are worth pursuing or should I mainly focus on an MS in Finance and maybe specialize in Real Estate finance.
Also, if possible, please elaborate on the kind of job functions/roles that I can expect to pursue after an MRE.

Profile :
Bachelors in Engineering, Civil - 2014 from a top private university in India. 
CGPA : 7.82/10, top 15-20 % of class
Work ex - Engineering analysis division at an internationally reputed Property Insurance firm at their India office
GMAT : 710

Thanks in advance.

bryantmichaels · Answer

THe MBA is a much more versatile degree and is generally good job insurance especially if you ever think about changing careers, but if you are wholly dedicated to a career as a real estate person, then you could save some money and maybe some time doing the dedicated real estate route. The real estate degree is also something you may could do part time while you continue your career. If you are looking to change your career completely (industry and function), you will be challenged to convince b-schools to take you in. B-schools typically frown upon double switchers (someone who is switching industry and function), so you might have more success on the admissions side if you seek the dedicated Real Estate program.

majianurag · Answer

Hi,

I have considered the MBA as an an option. As far as career switch goes, with my background in civil engineering and my present work related to property insurance, I believe the real estate industry to be quite related to my academic background and profile. So I am not sure if it should be considered a career change if I decide to pursue an MBA later on in life. Also, I intend to continue with an MBA specialized in finance, so that my real estate finance experience acts as a link between my academics in Bachelors and the MBA.

As far as going for an MBA now is concerned, I am an Indian, engineer and 22. My academics are above average but I don't think that my profile ,as a whole, has those killer characteristics strong enough to put me in much competition for the Top 25 B Schools. Also, I feel my present job is unable to provide me with special skill sets and international exposure that a good MBA program generally seeks. I definitely don't want to hurry into an MBA and end up spending big bucks without deriving much benefit out of it.

An alternate to going into real estate finance may be moving towards finance in general and maybe specializing in real estate.

So, I believe going into real estate finance , working for a few years to get hold of that sector and then making a move towards an MBA from somewhere really makes more sense to me.

Kindly advice on the same since I am quite new to the admission concept. Forums like these are the only source of guidance that I have at the present moment since most program officers seem to be unwilling to respond to my queries at this point in time.

Take care and thanks for your support till now.

Cheers!

bryantmichaels · Answer

As a former real estate professional myself, I can tell you that much of what you learn in the finance coursework of an MBA is not applicable. Real estate is pretty unique, so there are many concepts of corporate finance which won't really help you. from this perspective, a dedicated real estate program would likely be a better bet in my view. If you can't get into a top 25 school for MBA, you'd be better off going for a really good MS in real estate somewhere.

majianurag · Answer

Hi Bryant,

Thanks for your valuable time and advice. Appreciate that!

I have begun my research and have found a few programs on real estate. They are as follows -

1)TAMU Mays - MRE program
2)Johns Hopkins University
3)University of Wisconsin - GREM ( I am not certain if I am eligible for it )
4)NYU Schack

Please do inform me if you know of a few programs that I could target.
TAMU is a 16 month program, that allows me ample time to fit in an internship. This was an important factor when I considered the TAMU MRE instead of Masters in Finance.
Although the TAMU program seems so lucrative on so many fronts and considering it is a 40 yr old program (as stated on their website), I did not find much mention of it on any blog/forum/review site. Also, it seems tough to get hold of alumni and present students since there are so few.

Apart from TAMU Mays, all the other programs seem to be on the expensive side, considering they are not MBA programs.
It would be helpful if you could maybe hint on whether it worth shelling out 60k for a real estate program.

One major concern about MRE programs that I have been coming across is the fact that I might end up in real estate sales and appraisal business,
which I am not too keen on. I am majorly interested in a move towards finance.

Regards
Anurag

Apart from TAMU Mays, all the other programs seem to be on the expensive side, considering they are not MBA programs. It would be helpful if you could maybe hint on whether it worth shelling out 60k for a real estate program. One major concern about MRE programs that I have been coming across is the fact that I might end up in real estate sales and appraisal business, which I am not too keen on. I am majorly interested in a move towards finance. Regards Anurag

bryantmichaels · Answer

Anurag-

You need to start contacting target programs and inquiring about who their top recruiters are. I would do this on the phone vs. trying to look it up on the web. This way, you can make personal connections with the programs, reverse engineer your career and choose a program with the kinds of opportunities you want. There would be no reason why you would "end up" somewhere you did not want to be if you can choose wisely on the way in.

Career query : Masters in Real Estate

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