University of Cambridge - Mphil: Real Estate Finance

Hi,
I did this program recently. In summary: program alright, Cambridge great, job placement decent if you leverage reputation. Would recommend with the following points:

1. Overall educational experience:
* The program is highly academic despite the fact that the majority of students are trying to get into the private sector. A significant portion of your time is spent on academic papers rather than traditional corporate finance.
* The two (full year) core real estate courses are good. They give a good overview of RE finance and corporate finance with pretty good lecture quality.
* They get a lecturer named Mark Mogull (PE founder at Benson Elliot) to teach 4 lectures and one of his Associates to teach four seminars. These are the highlight of the course: super solid modelling training, amazing lecture quality with lots of real world examples. Wish he taught the whole thing.
* When I did the course, there was an additional Financial Modelling. This was very poor quality, I was criticized pretty harshly for using some of the practices that they taugh on my first week on the job. 
* The electives are where the course really fell short but I have heard that they are revamping some of them. Ancient and irrelevant econ professor, incompetent development professor who had never developed himself, etc. Really frustrating.
* That said, Cambridge is an amazing environment: the community of the college system and academic environment in the city are second to none.

2. Post-grad placement opportunities:
* The course website quotes a “100%” employment rate… This might be true eventually but should be quantified with timeframe. I would say that upon graduation, 60% of our class had a job secured. The rest were employed over the next 6 months.
* The Department sets you up with a mentor, which is really useful and produces a resume book that is circulated to potential employers (smaller funds and family office style employers).
* They also do 3-4 networking events over the year, these are pretty good.
* Otherwise, you are relying on Cambridge Career Services like any other student. They have some good networking events but your success will be determined by how well you leverage the Cambridge name and alumni connections.
* The program has a great reputation in London. People in our class took a while to get employed but a high percentage of them have ended up at strong London based PE funds.
* Big plus now is that the degree gives you a 2 year work visa post-graduation (was not case when I graduated)

3. Admissions process:
* CV: should demonstrate trajectory toward RE is possible or at least suitability for program.
* Grades from UG: seems like top 10 – 20% of your UG was competitive
* Two References
* Statement of Purpose (two pages)
* Answers to two/three questions: Why RE, Why Cambridge, Etc.

4. People seemed to fall into two buckets with fairly even split:
* Right from undergrad with strong grades
* Had worked a bit with a more varied academic background

5.Otherwise good to know:
* Admissions are reviewed periodically; they admit stronger applicants in earlier rounds and defer less strong applicants for later rounds.
* CV/story in statement of purpose & questions is very important. Why RE and why this program?
* Apparently the professors look at your Linked in, make sure it matches CV you submit.

All said, I would recommend it. The program opens many doors and I really hope that it develops to get away from some of the issues mentioned above.