Target schools for Real Estate Finance

There's a difference in the top real estate undergrad programs versus the top finance undergrad programs. That leaves me wondering if there is a difference in target schools for REIB, REPE, REIT in terms of undergrad recruiting. I'm assuming most, if not all, of the target schools for regular IBD would remain the same, but are there any odd ones out? Thanks.

9 Comments
 

i would think that some of the colleges that have a decent real estate program but that aren't necessarily the Princetons of the world, could still help you get interviews. E.g. Univ of Southern California seems to have a good real estate program. USC wouldn't be my top choice if I were dead-set on a hedge fund in Connecticut but I don't think it would be seen as a "non target" by someone at a west coast real estate fund.

Don't get me wrong, there may be Blackstone-type groups that literally will not hire someone outside McIntire, Harvard, or Ross as a simple rule. But there are a lot of other firms out there.

 
Best Response

My junior and senior year of undergrad I did a case competition hosted by Villanova's RE program that i think had a lot of talented participants. It was a 2 day event in Philly and was one of the most rewarding things I experienced in college so I'd highly recommend participating in one if given the chance. I don't necessarily think these are the best or anything by any metric but it'll give you a sense of which schools are at least active and on the scene.

California Polytechnical State University, Colorado State University, Drexel University, Florida State University, Georgetown University, Lehigh University Monmouth University, New York University, Ohio State University, Penn State University, Rutgers University, Temple University, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin, Villanova University and Virginia Commonwealth University

 

University of Wisconsin - Madison has a very very good real estate program.

We're not lawyers. We're investment bankers. We didn't go to Harvard. We Went to Wharton!
 

This is purely anecdotal, and full disclosure I am in Chicago, but I am consistently impressed by the Marquette and Wisconsin RE grads that I come across/work with, especially the level of preparedness of recent grads. I've also seen groups of Wisconsin students touring our office. Just one man's observation of course, but I have come across plenty of graduates from "better" schools who are lacking basic RE fundamentals when they start on day one.

 

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