Thoughts on Baruch vs Columbia MSRE programs?
Background: I worked CMBS at a big 4 firm for 3 years. Spent the last 4 years at an affordable housing lender. I'm looking to transition to RE development (affordable housing development if possible). I'm looking to pursue a Master's in RE to help transition to development and expand the network. Fortunately, I've been accepted to both Columbia and Baruch's RE programs for 2021.
Issue: The cost of Columbia compared to Baruch is night and day. Columbia is full-time and $90K+. Baruch is ~$15K and part-time.
I'm leaning towards Baruch because I think that it can help me transition to RE development at a fraction of the cost. But I wanted to get people's thoughts on why I'm crazy to choose Baruch over Columbia, or why one program is better than the other all things considered.
Thanks all!
You have the ideal background to jump to the development side.
Were you able to build your network with other affordable housing developers at the lender you are working for? You can leverage your current relationships. Developers hire from lenders all of the time. There a plenty of people who graduate from these programs who would want to be in your role and you managed to get there without the expensive piece of paper.
Columbia is known for the development but since you have the experience I don't think you are crazy at all to choose Baruch!
Thanks, good to know I'm not completely off my head to turn down an offer at Columbia lol
I haven't made a lot of contacts on the development side, more on the asset management side. I need to work on networking. I'm probably guilty of getting too comfortable in a role and not making the effort to continually network. That's something to work on. Especially for grad school, which is mostly about building a network.
If anyone on here has gone through Baruch's MSRE program, it'd be good to know what you thought of it. I see a lot about NYU, but not too much about Baruch. It'd also be interesting to hear if people have tips on networking while working or pursuing a graduate degree.
Was planning on applying to Columbia and Baruch MSRE, curious to see which program you picked.
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