Any help/insight here would be appreciated. My background is in site acquisitions for a commercial/multifamily developer but I'm trying to transition to REPE post-MBA. I'm also potentially interested in RE/gaming/lodging IB. My initial goal was NYC, but I was waitlisted by both Columbia and NYU. I was accepted to both Anderson and McCombs and am struggling with the decision. Anderson is obviously ranked a little higher, but I feel that, culturally, I'd be more comfortable in Texas vs. LA. Long-term, I'd probably want to head back to the mid-west (Chicago) to be closer to family. Any thoughts/insight would be appreciated.
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I remember UT constantly selling their real estate curriculum but I’ll be honest I know nothing about UCLA.
Your money will obviously go a lot further in Austin than LA so you might save more money at UT. Also you seem to like the culture at UT as well and that is hard to measure.
I’m not sure how well either school places in RE PE but I know if it is in Texas, UT will get you an interview. Pretty sure Dallas has a lot of this type of work and you would be competing with SMU kids. I’m sure the hoards of SMU students will give me MS but UTs students are a cut above, especially MBA, and I think you would do well. Goldman has a small MM real estate IB practice out of their Dallas office so maybe that is an indicator of buyside presence in the area. I know Starwood Capital has an office in Dallas. Also Hines is HQ’d in Houston and they obviously run big developments.
Go with McCombs then. They have a lot of cache in TX.
There's your answer.
Hook em
McCombs has a REPE fund that is run by MBA students. They invest into a new deal every year. I believe it’s the only one in the country.
It's a copy of the UNC RE Fund. Certainly not the first nor will it be the last, but it's definitely an additive piece to their program.
Go through the places you want to work at potentially after graduation and run a search on LinkedIn for alumni and see where they went to school. Outside of H,S,W, most of the MBA alumni networks tend to be the strongest in the city/region around their alma mater.
Anderson places a decent amount of people in REPE, but it's harder to locate opportunities outside of the region the school is in (this is true for any school). I know a few people who got opportunities in NYC, Texas, DC, etc., but most stay in the LA area. It's not impossible to get beyond the geographical boundaries of the school, but you need to put in a lot more legwork in your networking, and it can be heavily dependent on where alumni end up. See where the alumni end up and judge opportunities that way.
As for culture, that's going to be a personal preference, although I will say while there are stereotypes of LA there are still plenty are people who don't fall into that category.
Thanks. This is helpful. Let's assume that I'm able to land a REPE job in either LA /Texas for a couple years out of Anderson/McCombs. If I wanted to head back to the Midwest at some point (likely Chicago), do one of those names hold more weight? I will definitely check LinkedIn. Thanks for the help!
Your experience should hopefully be carrying the day if you want to move back.... I would say if I had to bet, a random Chicagoan probably thinks higher of UCLA than UT? Who cares though. I also say this as a UT grad.
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