REPE Out of UG Advice

Hey, I am a rising sophomore at an ivy, really interested in going into a top REPE shop out of UG think (SW, BX, Brookfield, KKR). I currently have an exploding offer for an IB internship at a bank with a not so strong REGL group. I would love to get some advice on if I should take the offer, recruit for other IB internships, or recruit RE sophomore internships?

17 Comments
 

I assume the internship is for your sophomore summer? Is it at a BB? Regardless, if it’s in REGL you should definitely take it. If you’re at an Ivy with a solid REGL IB internship for your sophomore summer, you could easily leverage that to a BB REGL internship your junior year and then leverage that BB internship into a FT offer at a MF REPE or maybe even go straight to MF REPE for your junior summer. “Worst case scenario” you work in REGL at a BB after graduating for a year and then recruit for REPE. But having any sort of banking internship your sophomore year is huge advantage when recruiting for junior year summer internships

 

Yes its at a BB for sophomore summer. I am just worried since their REGL group is not top 10 and I don't think it gets a lot of deal flow. What is your advice for that? Do you think I should go to another stronger group within the bank?

 

Your biggest advantage right now is that you are only a rising sophomore, but have already secured an IB internship at a BB. You should take the internship and then recruit for REPE and other BB IB internship for your junior summer. And even if your internship was at a top BB with a ton of deal flow, the internship is only 2 months, so you probably won't be seeing very much anyways. I don't work at a MF REPE, but I think internships are more of a signaling tool that shows 1.) you are interested in this industry/job and 2.) you are competitive enough that other firms (top firms in your case) see potential in you. Since internships are so short, firms will see you as a blank slate that needs to be trained. You just need to prove that you are the most trainable of all the candidates.

 

You are in a great position - congrats on the offer. I’m at another MF REPE (not in your list) and I can say that we mainly want to see finance acumen and real estate interest - your gig checks those boxes. From there your best shot at STWD and BX is to land a summer analyst position for junior year. You will be set up for that given your school and experience, so then it’s just up to luck as there are limited spots at those top shops.

From there my opinion (others will agree/disagree) is that you should target to land at a top 25ish REPE shop for the junior internship, rather than a bank. I think this will maximize your chances, so that you have a return offer in hand if you don’t get the looks at the top 3 firms.

Going to a bank will land you well, but at my firm the 2yr bankers get the pay increase but come in at the same title as the ugrads (almost always analyst/senior analyst title).

 

I’d take the REIB offer for your summer and recruit for 2022 SA during your sophomore summer. I am at an MF on your list and can say that having your IB experience will definitely get you an interview at my firm.

Real Estate Professional Network Discord Server: https://discord.gg/xxWQ2nC
 

You would be considered a strong candidate, yes.

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If your concern is the 'low-tier' issue, please know this is really a WSO type construct, the real world of RE employers will not sit there and rank I-banks (at least not in any way like you see on this site). Sure Goldman is big name and well known/regarded, but UBS or DB on your resume isn't really going to be that meaningful by comparison.

What matters is what you do, so working for a REGL group will outpace working in S&T or anything else for REPE/development, etc. What you do matters 1000X more than where you do it. I'd think this is obvious but people seem to miss it. If you work in real estate/related areas, you actually LEARN real estate and thus are valuable to future real estate employers. Having some name on a resume really does nothing for your future employer.

 

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