Nyu vs Columbia MSRED

For anyone who has been accepted into both programs, what was your work experience and GMAT/GRE score when you applied? What made you choose one school over the other? I'm considering one of these programs for next year and what to see how I stack up to others since they don't publish real admissions stats. Also, how was the job search after graduation? I'm looking specifically for development (MSRED) at NYU vs MSRED at Columbia.

 

Columbia is more competitive to get into and their MSRED is more architectural/nuts and bolts compared to NYU which is still rather Finance heavy even for the Dev route. Both are great however. Columbia has an MBA in RE which is finance heavy but unless your goal is mega fund/institional type RE (BX, etc) I wouldn't spend that much on one.

 
Notoriety:
I got into both and my stats were as follows. 4 years work experience (2 years in MGMT consulting, 2 years in RE Advisory) and GMAT 730.

I went with NYU because NYU was more finance focused.

Are you satisfied with NYU program? FT or PT? How is the placement?

 

Columbia > NYU and its not even close. Columbia's name, network, and curriculum is far superior. From what I recall, NYU doesn't require a GMAT and has an 80%+ acceptance rate. I'm not taking away anything from NYU, Blackstone I believe takes in around three grads per year, but the program is known in NY circles as fairly weak and doesn't garner much respect.

 

This is definitely not true at all. Just because it has a high acceptance rate doesn't mean it's not well respected. Just do a quick LinkedIn search for NYU Shack grads and see the quality of positions there in. Maybe not your Blackstones of the world but definitely good ones.

 
Best Response

I very strongly disagree with you. And think that your post does a great disservice to any non-nycers who might take your words as truth not being part of the local real estate ecosystem here.

The NYU program has a very strong and large internal, self-sustaining, highly accessible network (that reinforces itself monthly with regular social events, intimate brown bag lunches between students, professors and alumni, and annual large scale conferences attended by the who’s who of the New York industry) and the finance-investment curriculum is both comprehensive (in material, number of years to complete, technicals and breadth of study) and practical (seeing as many of its professors are well known and currently active local industry players in the top firms and teach the skills and mindset that they want their associates and vps to possess and have been known to hire from their own classes or recommend students to colleagues in the industry). Many students use the program as a “one-three punch” where they gain core and practical finance skills while stacking up 3-4 brand name internships and obtain local industry mentors exiting the master’s as a hirable entity. Do a data-dive with LinkedIn (and supplement the research with their corresponding company biographies) and it becomes very clear that this 3-4 brand name pre-grad internship strategy employed by NYU MSRE’s over the years has been a consistent recipe for success (and a way to avoid the dreaded ‘employment limbo’ which has silently plagued a great many re career-switchers, or those will little-to-no noteworthy or on-brand practical industry experience).

Columbia has actually keyed off of the NYU program to build out its own (from its basic curriculum to its staff to its administration): a quick look around their site shows - Patrice Derrington, Columbia MSRED director, spent three years as a teacher at NYU, Josh Kahr who got his Finance MSRE from NYU, and is a vocal fan of the program, and essentially constructed columbia's re finance curriculum brick-by-brick from the ground up (his columbia classes are available for free on itunes). Professor Johnny Din, also another big NYU RE fan, did 3 years teaching at NYU and holds a NYU Hotelier Business Operation Certification*).

To bootstrap on your Blackstone point, Blackrock sponsors (that is to say foots the entire bill) for many of its top investment people (those that show up day after day giving it their all for years - most with very impressive credentials already) at the NYU program when they make the transition from ~associate to ~vice president level. It is their ‘check the box’ executive item to get to a leadership level role and take on greater responsibility within the organization. The NYU RE network dwarfs the Columbia MSRED network by many a factor (in depth and breadth since it has both a finance arm and a development arm - both cohorts are self-contained in the program itself, and the students from both tracks mix academically day-to-day and socially provided the daily-weekly-monthly scholastic events). The Advisory Board is a veritable roster of the top owners and developers of every real estate firm in the City (having been initially funded by some of them looking for a local nyc ‘executive training’ program where they could recruit re investment and finance talent or “sophisticate up” existing executives, a resource which was sorely lacking at the time despite the plethora of multi-format mba’s in the market). I don't think that the Columbia at-large network (MBA, BS/BA) is -as- open to MSRED alumni as your comment implies given that acceptance percentages and overall qualification stats (GPA, test scores) are substantially lower for the MSRED compared to the undergrad and MBA (thus the program red-headed stepchild moniker frequently bandied about on several boards and venues, and members of those separate schools may not see MSRED as kindred alumni given this disparity). The very significant (from-oft returning to) overseas student body (with a preponderance from mainland China) also does not support the intimately local and network-driven business that is real estate, especially in bigger cities like NYC. Not to be hyperbolic, but you can throw a rock in any random NYU MSRE classroom and hit a NYC lifer who is inheriting a substantial New York commercial real estate portfolio (you can do your own math here), or a kid from the Midwest or down south who is heir-apparent to the family’s 3-4 generation re business or someone who is already working in a NY firm that most MBA/MSRE~D grads would like to gain entry to post-grad. The networking and career effects of this only-in-manhattan classroom dynamic cannot be over-spoken. Further, a linkedin review shows a disproportionate and outsized number of successful re entrepreneurs and company creators coming out of the NYU program. Companies like RXR are par for the course. Most (especially on WSO-RE) are in this industry to own their own shop one day or be principally part of one that allows magnification/leveraged compensation based on a much larger investment platform. A MSRE that consistently breeds local nyc entrepreneurs, gives practical technical abilities, allows 3-4 branded pre-grad internships, 1-2 active industry mentors, an extremely large re specific network and a strong signal that you are a professionally-minded re person -- increases the odds of this long-term goal becoming a reality.

In summary, you get a real estate master's to obtain actionable skills and a functional network that will grow (and be reinforced monthly-yearly) as your career expands and develops. You get it to show 3rd parties (investors, partners, financiers, future employers) that you are fully committed to your real estate investment career and are in the business for the long haul. You definitely DO NOT get a real estate master's to hang on your wall (or linkedin page) as proxy for intelligence or any "eliteness". And on that level, the only one that remotely (and still quite distantly) qualifies in the U.S. would be the MIT development program and even that single year program is not in the same realm of getting in and out of a top tier US medical-engineering-phd-law school graduate program and is more loosely akin to a top (albeit not elite - H/S/W) level MBA.

==========================







*https://www.kahrrealestate.com/core-team/



https://www.arch.columbia.edu/faculty/188-patrice-derrington



https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnnydin/

 

The Columbia MSRED is by far the best program in the country. NYU's program is more of a night school type program that pretty much anyone can get into and do part time for several years. Columbia is much better on every level including: curriculum breadth and depth, class composition, industry leaders teach the classes, best alumni network and job prospects, best brand in the city. The NYU program is more of a community college type of program.

Columbia MSRED vs NYU = day vs night comparison.

 

For someone with no development experience trying to transition into the business, I’m leaning more towards NYU MSRED as I can get internships and real work experience to add to my resume while still attending school. I’m hoping this helps boost my resume as I know firms prefer to hire more experienced people so there is less of a learning curve. Even if I could get into Columbia, I don’t know if just the degree alone is enough to open doors with less experience.

 
bobbigboy:
The Columbia MSRED is by far the best program in the country.

Bit of an overstatement there with MIT, Cornell, USC, etc...

It's a good program, don't get me wrong.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

You say "for when I leave NYC" - do you have a place in mind?

Going to grad school in a new area is a great reason to move there and it often ties you in better with both the market and the network.

Say you want to move to Los Angeles. Going to USC now is a much better option than going to Fordham and doing cross country flights to try and get a LA job with zero network out there and no connections to the area.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

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