Delay Graduation for Another Shot at REPE Acquisitions SA Recruiting?
Hi everybody! I'm currently a junior at a semi-target university. My ideal goal is to get an acquisitions role in an established REPE investments firm/team anywhere in the United States; however, I wasn't quick enough last year in applying for REPE SA roles for this upcoming summer and ended up settling with a Commercial Real Estate Lending/Banking SA role (NOT REIB) at a BB/IBAB (BofA, JPMC, WF) on the debt side. I have no internships on the equity side. My question is, should I delay my graduation to try applying and networking for the 2024 REPE Acquisitions SA roles that are recruiting now (KKR, BX, Sculptor)? I'm worried that my lack of an internship on the equity side will make me less competitive for FT recruiting. I would greatly appreciate any feedback on whether my concerns are valid or I'm just worrying too much and should just network and apply for FT roles. Thanks! :)
So easy to lateral in real estate. Start in debt, move to a REPE fund after a couple years. Pretty standard move
I would say yes if you had an internship in hand but that doesn't appear to be the case. Ultimately, you're gambling on a hypothetical.
Most real estate jobs recruit in the spring. A lot can happen between now and your graduation in 18 months. You can lateral around in real estate fairly easily. Another $60K feels like a bigger gamble to get a shot at summer recruiting, which you still may not get the job. Graduate when you’re supossed to graduate. Network your senior year. And if you network well, I promise you’ll land a good role. And don’t be surprised if you land that amazing role in March/April/May/June. Most real estate firms are small. They don’t recruit in the fall unless they are these mega PE firms. And if you don’t land the mega PE firm now, I promise you can do it later. They have tons of churn bc most people don’t want to work those hours.
Thanks for the advice! I greatly appreciate it :)
I agree with the above because you already have a real estate internship it might be better to try and graduate on time and apply for full time roles. The REPE roles that hire out of undergrad should see commercial real estate lending as favorable when applying for full time roles. Theres not too many funds that hire on the accelerated timeline as mentioned above. A lot of REPE hires on a need basis.
You can also make two resumes and apply for SA roles and full time roles simultaneously. Put the graduation date as 2024 for one resume and 2025 for one. Don't have to necessarily change your graduation date unless you lock something down. Even if you get a SA role you want you can just do an extra semester the following fall and graduate in December or apply for a one year masters and do that in the meantime.
No. You will get FT interviews everywhere just fine with that experience. Just be on top of the game late summer/fall.
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