Is a MSRE degree worth it or should you stick to an MBA/A.CRE Accelerator?
Hey Everyone,
As the title states, would it be beneficial for me to pursue an MSRE degree from a university like Georgetown or is an MBA/A.CRE Accelerator more beneficial?
I graduated with a B.S. in Management Info. Systems, 4.0GPA & summa cum laude, from a state school. Unfortunately, I did not have the option to attend a target school. I am considering heading back to UConn for a B.S. in Real Estate, but not sure whether it’s worth my time and money.
I think it depends on your desired career path. If you want to do real estate private equity (true LP fund) at Blackstone, Rockwood etc. then I would target the best M7 MBA school you get into. If you want to go work for an operator, do your MSRED at MIT, Columbia, NYU, Georgetown etc.
There are definitely cases where people flipped that script, but generally those are the paths I've seen with my peers. Definitely skip the second bachelor's degree - not worth your time.
Eventually, I’d like to get into those top firms due to the prestige and salary. I have thought about NYU (Stern), USC (Marshall), and Kelley, to name a few, but heard various opinions regarding a part-time MBA.
Regarding operator(s), did you mean firms like JLL, CBRE, etc.? I apologize for my lack of knowledge regarding this topic.
Why Kelley? I would stick with the higher ranked schools if you can get in (with a 4.0 and good test scores you should be able to). Their recruiting pipelines will be much better unless you're trying for a specific market. I speak from experience as a non-M7 MBA grad now in development.
When I refer to operators, I am referring to developers & owners typically: Lincoln Property, DivcoWest, Hines, Tishman Speyer, Related - those types.
CBRE & JLL are brokerage firms,
+1 This post is credited advice and rings true. That considered, a 5-minute Linkedin search for real estate private equity for MIT/NYU/Columbia MSRE or MSRED yields a massive amount of results, especially in RE epicenters like NYC. The 'true LP fund' is where more nuance/segmentation perhaps in those search results can be found.
Totally - as I stated there are plenty of people in "REPE" that are from those MSRED programs. My point was only that those degree programs trend on a very general basis towards GP developers (which some people still call "private equity") whereas the LP funds typically recruit more M7 MBA folks.
I guess it depends what career path I want to pursue like porkbellies mentioned. The issue is figuring out what to do. I’m 26 years old and feel like time isn’t on my side anymore.
I just started my “first” job related to my degree, hence why I need to think of something quick lol.
Questions you need to ask yourself:
- Do you want to meet 800 classmates who will end up in different industries (may be 5-10 / 800 will work in RE) or do you want to meet 100-150 classmates working in various functions within RE (construction, RE law, architecture, RE finance ie. lenders/investors/fund raisers, developers)? MBA for first choice and MSRE/D for second.
- Do you want to spend 2 years or 1 year (consider no income for that period) in gradudate school? Also 2 years allow time for internships and self-discorvering etc...MBA for 1st and some MSRE/D for 2nd.
- Do you want to recruit for the traditional jobs like IB/Consulting to stamp your resume before jumping ship to a RE job in the future? MBA if this is the case
- How committed to RE are you? Lots of people in RE know almost for certain they want to be in the industry (yes a blessing for sure) and don't care about getting a traditional business job like IB/Consulting "just in case" they change their mind. Being a banker/MBB consultant coming to RE isn't giving you any edge if you're gunning for a job at an operator/developer. May be IB/Consulting is useful if it's a true PE shop like BX that buys RE companies - but this isn't RE per se.
You'll come out picking up similar knowledge from the classroom about RE picking either choice MSRE/D or MBA+xyz addtional online RE education. But I guarantee you the RE knowledge you learn from your MSRE/D classmates cannot be replicated in an MBA program. There's people at good MSRED programs (MIT/Columbia etc) that have 10 years of experience in their field and are tremendous source of knowledge for their classmates. Based on the correspondences above, it sounds like you have barely any information about the RE industry and have not been aware of it until recent. I'd say an MBA is may be better for your case if you're not 99% sure about working in RE in the long run...
First... don't go back and do another UG degree.... waste of time/money IMHO.
As to MBA vs. MSRE..... really all depends on where you get admitted. Thus I'd maybe consider some form of ranking like this...
1. Top MBA (really 'top' by regional standard is fine, for real estate, this works good enough, since you seem like a NE focused person... all the 'top' schools are hyper competitive to get into)
2. Top MSRE (again, def a regional preference for the CRE world, so go to school close to where you want to work, all else equal)
3. Regional MSRE (given the power of local networks in CRE, regional MSRE's even in small secondary markets can be very very valuable, and cheap, again... if you are in the NE... the 'regionals' are 'top', but not all that hard to get admission to on a relative basis).
4. Regional MBA (last choice, open to all essentially, not gonna earn you 'prestige points' on WSO.... but.... a really large number of hyper successful people in all sorts of CRE will have actually gone this route and probably will do so again and again..... CRE is more performance driven/meritocratic when you get outside of the big name 'top' firms, so in all reality.... this can be plenty to have a super good career in CRE). (Yes... grads from Baruch/UConn/etc. do get good jobs, but yes, it's more competitive due to the sheer size of the number of 'top' schools and their programs like NYU/Georgetown/etc.... thus, maybe less valid in the Acela corridor but good everywhere else in the US).
Tbh.... if you really really really care about the 'top' firms like Blackstone, KKR, etc.... then only the Top MBA gives you a strong chance (and it's no guarantee). But, trust me, the sooner you give up that need or realize that you can make plenty of money without ever stepping a foot at those places, the sooner you see how much easier this can be!
Thank you for the detailed response. As expected, if I were to pursue an MBA at UConn, a local school, it'd be rather competitive to get into a top top firm, which is a personal goal of mine. I'll try my absolute best to get accepted into a t10-20 school, but we'll see what the future holds.
If you don't mind me asking, do you have any recommendations for development firms? Acquisitions and Development are my main interests, but I've had no luck with interviews due to my degree and school. I've been only looking at CBRE, JLL, and Marcus & Millichap since you receive the best knowledge and experience (other people have told me).
Thank you again and Happy New Years!
(note, I read your other responses above, so some of this is motivated by those as well)
TBH... if your personal goal is "top top" (assuming that means like Blackstone, KKR, etc?), even a "top 7 MBA" may not leave you all that well prepared if you have no real estate/finance background. Like the profile that typically gets hired is 3-5 years of banking/brokerage/finance/real estate PLUS the T7 MBA. The supply/demand balance for the "well known" big name firms is insane, like literally 1000s of qualified applicants per job. If you can land an internship (not easy, not impossible) with one you odds go up substantially, without, could be very very difficult. If they can pick people with transactional and high finance or direct real estate experience, they will. Not saying its impossible, but you really would need to fight your way up, network for personal recommendation, etc.
So, what would I do in your situation? Find a new job (you say you don't really find this current business analyst role interesting) in real estate! Banking, appraisal, brokerage are the easiest to get "in" on a relative basis (the analytical side of your degree and background makes me want to recommend you seriously look at appraisal/valuation and underwriting closely). Get in, get a real CRE type job, then you can figure this out better. If you do that for 2-3 years, you can then go to grad school (I've already posted my 'hierarchy' still applies), and move up as best you can. You could also apply directly for buyside/principal jobs now, but you will not be a particularly strong candidate (as it seems you are figuring out) and the job market on buyside will get wayyyy more competitive as market conditions slow needs and transactional jobs get cut (like people will leave brokerage if no deals, they will apply for all the asset mngt and other type jobs out of survival needs).
Getting hired into development without prior real estate or related field experience is very very tough. Not having a real estate/finance degree makes it worse. If you do the above (i.e. get into real estate services type role), you can later transition. Grad degree (more points for MSRE/D here) could help you get looks from developers as well. If you are asking me to recommend names of firms (what I sorta take from your question), just join the local ULI where you want to work and see who is active. Development is much much more local/market driven than any other part of real estate, also far less dominated by big names in any given market (I work for a firm in the "big" name, multi-market category... trust me, we compete with locals nobody has heard of as much as other big national/int'l players). This is very different from brokerage and investment management, where the "big" names truly do types of business/deals the "locals" couldn't dream of doing on any consistent basis.
So... TL:DR of this.... Get a real estate job, really most important thing to do, THEN consider grad school if still want to (like 2-3 years down road). For development, "big" names not that important, so really less to worry/stress on that level. If I had to pick one thing to recommend (given your background and current state of market), it would be appraisal/valuation.
Going of what you stated above, I am currently in a similar situation where I am from a unrelate undergrade degree (human bio) and am looking at MSRED/ MBA programs right now. I been working at a residential mortgage company for the last 3 years, would you consider this relevant experience or I am I basically starting from zero. Trying to evenly move to the buyside long term just trying to figure out the path to do that.
Qui necessitatibus praesentium dicta modi reprehenderit non. Molestias est consectetur cum dolorem eius ipsam quaerat. Rerum officiis aliquid tempora voluptate. Amet nesciunt similique et quod. Enim est aperiam dolorem possimus.
Asperiores id et quidem minus. Enim soluta consectetur sed necessitatibus consequuntur dolor sit. Eum quibusdam aut voluptatem deleniti.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...