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Maybe this will be helpful for you:
https://www.adventuresincre.com/graduate-real-estate-series-mit-msred/
and
https://www.adventuresincre.com/columbia-msred/
Have you met with both programs? Visited?
There isn't a hive-mind verified master list of definitive pros and cons for these programs that apply to everyone.
I went to Columbia so I can only speak to what I experienced vs. what I have heard about MIT. MIT will definitely give you a good education and hard financial skills. Columbia will give you that as well but you need to commit to it and apply yourself. Take the Argus course over the weekend, sign up for all the finance classes, etc. Columbia does a good job of giving you a holistic education on RE. You learn a lot about the other aspects beyond finance. Most importantly though (in my opinion) are you connections. Columbia has a much larger class with a lot of different backgrounds. Much larger alumni base. You are also in NYC and have access to a lot more in the RE world. MSRED was more like going to business school. MIT seemed more like a small PHD program.
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I would personally choose program depending on the location where I'd want to work:
If NYC, then Columbia. If Boston, then MIT.
If anywhere else, toss-up, but MIT is probably better brand name.
I currently live and work in NYC and I have been working in FP&A for a major US bank for the past 5 yrs. I attended a top undergrad and graduated with a 3.3 gpa. I am torn between Columbia's MSRED program and the MSREd program at NYU. I am hoping to take the GMAT in October/November and apply for fall 2018 start. What you recommend given my background? Also, would be an avg gmat score for those who were accepted at Columbia?
Any advice would be much appreciated!!
Hi I was accepted to both programs, but I decided NYU was the better fit for me.
Below is my stats just for your 2cent.
School : Non-Target GPA : 3.8 GMAT : 730 Work experience: Big 4 Real estate Advisory (4years)
Thanks for the reply! Are you panning to go to NYU Part time or Full time? and why are you leaning towards NYU and not Columbia?
MIT is the clear winner here. Columbia is a solid program however, Columbia's MBA is well regarded in CRE and the masters is considered somewhat of the red headed step child. This is based on my own research and conversations so this is by no means gospel. Take a look at the placement at MIT and that's all you need to know. The one hit against the program in my opinion is the smaller class size and foreign student who of which many will go back home after they graduate and won't serve as a great network.
Tier 1 -MIT -Cornell -USC
I mean by that logic shouldn't the MIT and Cornell programs be the red-headed step children to their MBAs?
Fair point. Sloan is not known for commercial real estate and many student at Sloan who want to take CRE classes do so with masters students. Johnson is well known for CRE however, I think there is more meat to the program because it's a 2 year intensive.
MIT MSRED is an innovative RE program. Columbia MBA Real Estate Program however seems to offer a lot more RE finance -- really blown away by RE course descriptions. MIT really great at plugging theory to real world, however requires 3 - 5 years professional experience for entry. Columbian MBA entry directly from undergrad. Would anyone know which is the better RE program for a a keen novice trying to chisel out a career in real estate?
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