NYU MS Real Estate Development

CRE:

I've been told that NYU's SCPS is kinda the redheaded stepchild of NYU and that there is very minimal, if any, interaction with the business school. That could have changed though so I'll defer if corrected.

Any chance you'd be interested in MIT, OP? I'd pick that program over both Columbia and NYU.

yes it is "the redheaded stepchild of NYU", but that really doesn't mean much when it comes to if its worth it or not. NYU's finance track is strongly regarded and people that come out of it end up in good positions. Is it as strong as Columbia on the development side? maybe not, but its not like its crap in itself.

people consider Cornell a good school because of the strong alumni base even though it is in the middle of nowhere. if you read the placement statistics and average salary it is good. Columbia and NYU don't even give out placement/salary data.

Jaime_Lannister:

The NYU Real Estate program generally speaking is known in many New York Real Estate circles as "The Program", and is very well regarded (a quick google or linkedin search can tell you where its grads have ended up). It is perhaps the oldest of the Real Estate programs in the US, and its regular industry roundtables and REIT conferences are heavily attended and report on, so it is definitely not a "redheaded stepchild" by any means. Joshua Kahr teaches Columbia's Finance courses, and is a graduate of NYU's MSRE.

That all said, Columbia's real estate program is in its architecture school, and that does have certain in-house benefits when studying a Development programme.

Cool. Ya like I said I'm happy to defer. I know far more about Georgetown and MIT's programs.

GPMagnus:

If NYC is not a must, the I can second Cornell (although I believe its a 3 year program) and MIT. Do take with a grain of salt, as I looked at these programs circa 2006 ...

Cornell is 2 years, but is one of the only MSRED schools to actually publish salary and placement stats. Also, the alumni base is very strong (25 people per class, 50 total in the program) and from what I know they look out for each other. I have spoken to graduates of cornell, nyu, and columbia and everyone mentioned great things about their programs. The person I spoke to from NYU mentioned their career services might not be as strong as the others due to the larger size, but he did say every alumni he reached out to was a great help and didn't hesitate to speak with him.

NYU and Columbia outdo Cornell in the ability to have an internship during the school year, Cornell is in bumfuck. Also, I would strongly assume NYU and Columbia offer more industry events to attend due to being in NYC.

I can't speak to NYU's acceptance rate, because I have no idea, but I find it weird that you'd leave Big 4 after only, what, 8 months? And without having something else lined up? I would bet that 8 months(or less) of FT isn't enough work experience to skip the GMAT. Why are you sitting for the CFA if you want to be in RE?

In case you're not catching my drift, you need to figure out how to sell your story better, whatever it is. Family member got sick had to quit and care for them full time for a bit, now I'm looking for new opportunities, whatever. RE isn't like IB where it's (I'm obviously simplifying and I'm not in IB) go to X target school, do Y internships, get degree in Z, get hired at a BB. Network matters more than anything else. Jumping into more student loan debt to get a masters when it sounds like you really aren't even sure where you want to be isn't a great idea, especially since you don't really have substantial experience and network to fall back on. Just my 2 cents.

If you've got a Big 4 background and PE internships and all that, and I'm assuming you're in NYC, do you know anyone in RE? Can they introduce you to people? Maybe someone needs an analyst and is willing to take a chance. Never know. Btw being able to do that is a perfect example of the skills you'll need in RE. But trying to do that for a couple of years might be better than jumping into grad school with less than a year of FT experience.

NYU acceptance is unfortunately high for MSRE. The unofficial # I heard was like 65%. That being said most of the people in program are impressive/from impressive families. Maybe 10% of kids make me say, how the fuck did he get in here?

650 GMAT and 3.2 GPA should do the trick. Just don't fuck up the essay which is the most important part of the application. I got in without taking the GMAT but my GPA, internship experience, essays, and letters of rec were all really solid.

Also, if you want development in NYC, go to Columbia. NYU is better for RE finance types.

Edit: started my own thread so not to hijack JB's.

I don't know many people in the program who took the GMAT. I can't tell you if you are going to get in or not, but it isn't terribly hard to get in. One thing to think about though, since you are a recent graduate, you will be able to use NYU OCR to apply to jobs. Line your graduation date up with the undergrads so you can apply to the entry level analyst positions with on campus recruiting. Also make sure to go through recruiting for internships if you plan on doing it part time. Some firms that come to campus are PREI, NYLIM, TIAA-CREF, PwC, D&T, EY all for their real estate groups.

Hello @pudding, would starting in the fall line up with a may grad date if pursuing full time?

@pudding, Thank you so much and did you go to NYU and do you think I should apply without GMAT or should I take GMAT based off my background?

I graduated from the program

10-15% of the students are the smart americans that you want to stick with 25% are people that are interested in real estate and who are not competitive with the top 10-15% The rest have family connections from abroad who dont need to worry about money and who arent very impressive at all

Hey i've been hopping the NYC analyst circuit for a few years now and have honestly been stuck with tons of BS principals. Was able to get decent experience but in the end I feel like its been mostly excercises. I see you got into the hedge fund world. How were you able to transition into hedge fund from RE?

Thank you guys so much and for those who did not take GMAT what was your background/GPA?

And how are the careers out of the MSRED?

Adding on to what @CRE said, if you come into the program at NYU, get ready to pound the pavement. People can get a great job, you just need to put yourself out there. What you find is that many people don't actually put themselves out there for the job and hustle to get in front of the correct people. Use the time in the program wisely and network, and hopefully the correct job will come (or at least a job to put you on the path you want to go). If you don't network, it is going to be very hard to get a job. The program does a great job of hammering home how important your network is.

Thank you guys so much for the advice and if anyone is a current student, PM me if you guys will be at the info session on the 20th.

Thanks to all for given information...

In general you will find masters in real estate gets a luke warm response on this site. I also considered it for a time however I am leaning toward a part time/full time MBA instead in the next couple years. From what I have heard admissions has always been suspect which hurts the program within the real estate world because people seem to know this. That being said a friend of mine is a director of acquisitions at a mid size REPE firm and he said it was a good learning and networking experience but it won't break down any doors.

In general you will find masters in real estate gets a luke warm response on this site. I also considered it for a time however I am leaning toward a part time/full time MBA instead in the next couple years. From what I have heard admissions has always been suspect which hurts the program within the real estate world because people seem to know this. That being said a friend of mine is a director of acquisitions at a mid size REPE firm and he said it was a good learning and networking experience but it won't break down any doors.