Master of Real Estate Program
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What characteristics does the Real Estate program seek in an applicant?
A: The following are a few of the characteristics evaluated when recruiting for the Real Estate program.
- Academic ability: The graduate classroom is competitive. The program strives to admit students who show promise for both a thriving scholastic and professional real estate career. With continued hard work, students who were successful as undergraduates tend to be high achievers when they enter graduate school as well. The GRE and the GMAT exams also serve as indicators of academic ability.
Applicants who have a 3.25 GPA or greater on their final 60 hours of undergraduate coursework, and who score in the 50th percentile or higher on the verbal and quantitative portions of the GRE and/or the GMAT, are competitive for admission to the Real Estate program.
- Motivation to pursue a professional career: The Master of Real Estate prepares students for a professional career (Master of Real Estate is not a degree that is particularly useful as a prelude to doctoral studies).
- Desire to begin/continue a career in commercial real estate: The Master of Real Estate is a specialized degree. The program coursework focuses on the analysis and valuation of commercial real estate. Graduates obtain employment in a variety of firms in the industry including commercial mortgage lending, development, consulting, brokerage, and valuation.
Q: I will not be able to submit an official GMAT or GRE score report by the application deadline – what should I do?
A: We are able to act on unofficial scores, so it will not be a problem if your official GMAT results are not available by the application deadline. If you are admitted to the Real Estate program, we will need to obtain an official score report after you are enrolled.
Q: Does the Real Estate program emphasize any particular aspect of commercial real estate?
A: No. The program is designed around courses that concentrate on a variety of different topics, with the overall goal of giving students a comprehensive understanding of the commercial real estate industry.
Q: How does a specialized degree like the Master of Land Economics and Real Estate compare with the Master of Business Administration?
A: The Master of Real Estate degree is focused on the analysis and valuation of commercial real estate. If a prospective graduate student is interested in broad set of career opportunities, he or she might consider an MBA degree. MBA programs, however, often do not provide much opportunity for specialization.
One of the attractions to employers of Real Estate program students is that graduates leave the program with a firm grasp of commercial real estate concepts, as well as how to implement that knowledge once in the workplace. As a result, 100 percent of Real Estate program graduates were employed within 30 days after graduation since December 1996, while more than 75 percent accept job offers by the time they graduate. While the past does not necessarily dictate the future, we are confident that the well-educated, ethical young men and women of Real Estate program will continue to attract prestigious employers with the talents these students hone and obtain through the program.
Q: How long is the Real Estate program?
A: One-and-half years (or three semesters, including a summer internship).
Q: Is it possible to graduate in less than the typical length of the program?
A: A student would need to take a very heavy course load to complete all of the required coursework in two long semesters.
Q: Is the Master of Real Estate degree available online?
A: Our master's degree program is offered on campus and is not available online.
Q: Does the Master of Real Estate degree consist of a thesis?
A: No. Each graduating student is required to make a formal 30-minute presentation to their peers and Real Estate programs faculty about what they did and learned during their internship.
Q: Must I have an undergraduate degree in business administration to be admitted?
A: No. Currently, about one-half of Real Estate programs students have undergraduate business degrees. The remaining students possess a wide a variety of undergraduate degrees including agricultural economics, agri-business, architecture, construction, economics, engineering, the liberal arts and science.
Q: I was not a business or finance major and am worried that I do not have the prerequisite classes necessary to begin the program. Should I still apply?
A: Although you may apply without having taken the courses and add them in as part of your program curriculum, your application will be weighted against other applicants who do have the pre-requisites. The admissions committee has a tendency to sway towards applicants who have completed ALL pre-requisites. Taking the pre-requisites as part of the curriculum could also lengthen your program of study by a full semester.
Q: Is prior work experience required for admission to the Real Estate program?
A: No. The majority of students who are accepted into the Real Estate program have only recently received their undergraduate degree. Few, if any, have had significant real estate-related work experience.
Q: Is it possible to attend as a part-time student?
A: We do not offer classes that are tailored to part-time students. We do not hold weekend classes and, while we do have some classes offered between 6:00 and 8:00 in the evening, this is due to space and faculty availability rather than an attempt to accommodate part-time students.
Q: What is the difference in starting the Real Estate program in the spring versus the fall semester? Does either have an impact on securing internships or scholarships?
A: All of our students found internships last summer. Most of the search activity takes place in the spring because most companies are not in a position to make an internship decision until that time. Getting an internship seems to be related all sorts of factors, but a spring or fall start does not seem to make much of a difference. There does not seem to be an affect on scholarships either.
Q: I would like information on available research assistantships as a source of income during graduate school. How do most Real Estate program students finance their education?
A: Currently, our state budget does not provide money to support students on assistantships. Most of our students use some combination of part-time employment (on or off campus) and borrowing.
Q: In some graduate programs, the student is fully responsible for looking for their internship themselves. Is this the case with the Real Estate program?
A: Securing internships is mostly a joint effort among the student, the faculty and fellow students, but the process varies for each person. For example:
- some students may have a connection that will give them a lead to an internship opportunity;
- some students analyze the Former Students Directory and contact individual former students about the possibility of an internship. Even if these contacts do not directly lead to an internship, they often produce some excellent leads;
- some students are given a lead by a fellow Real Estate program student;
- some firms will contact Professor Donnell and set up a campus interview schedule;
- some firms will contact Professor Donnell and ask that interested students contact them directly;
- and sometimes Professor Donnell gets directly involved by calling individual firms about a particular student.
Q: What are some preliminary steps students can take to make contacts for internships?
A: Real Estate program students should pay close attention to the speakers that present on each Friday morning during the semester. A number of these speakers will be seeking a summer intern for their company. Students should make an effort to meet them, ask them about internships and so forth. Students should also do their best to attend socials hosted by these companies looking to recruit from the program.
Q: If I am admitted to the program, should I seriously consider only those internship opportunities in the areas of commercial real estate that I know I am interested in pursuing?
A: An internship does not predetermine your professional career. The internship experience allows exposure to the professional world of commercial real estate. No one has ever been cut off from a particular career because of the summer internship that they accepted. If you are offered something reasonable, it would be sensible to accept the offer.
Q: Do any students find themselves stuck without an internship opportunity when school adjourns in May?
A: Many firms seem to connect internships to summer. Some companies looking for interns call the department in April or May when many of the Real Estate program students have already accepted a summer internship offer. Professor Donnell sometimes has trouble finding someone to take a really excellent opportunity that appears at the last minute.
Q: Do Real Estate program students receive compensation for their time as interns?
A: Our internships are paid internships. Salaries for interns vary quite a bit. Students average about $2,250 per month. Appraisal interns with Texas firms get about $2,000 per month; national consulting firms offer about $3,500 to $4,000. Most everyone else is in between. $2,500 to $3,000 would be considered attractive. Put another way, interns should neither go into debt nor build up their savings account during their internship. Local living costs also need to be considered.
Q: I already completed a commercial real estate internship before applying to the Real Estate program. Can I receive program credit for this experience?
A: While it is a good thing to have an internship prior to enrollment in the Real Estate program, we can only give academic credit for internships completed during the summer before graduation.
Q: Do Real Estate students typically accept a full-time position with the same firm with which they completed an internship?
A:Our students participate in a wide range of internships. While nearly all of these students return to campus with a job offer for permanent employment or a strong promise of one, many of the students do not wind up taking that job. However, many of the firms successfully recruit among our other graduating students for permanent positions.
Q: The list of companies that have recruited from the program for both full-time positions and internships is impressive. If I had a desire to work for a company not on that list, would the program help me get my foot in the door for an interview for an internship or full-time job at that firm as well?
A: The list on our Web site of firms that hire Real Estate program graduates indicates where students accepted jobs in December 2003 and May 2004. There really are not many companies that we do not have (or have not had in the past) Real Estate program graduates.
Q: In attempting to weigh the costs and benefits of going back to school, what can I expect as a starting salary coming out of the Master of Real Estate Program?
A: Real Estate program graduates have been averaging around $52,500 for the last several years and the band is fairly narrow ($48,000 to $55,000). These figures fluctuate depending on the individual and the area of commercial real estate pursued, not to mention the amount of demand that exists in the various areas. For example, there is a good deal of demand in valuation, but the pay scale appears lower than in consulting. Commercial brokerage and mortgage banking sometimes negotiate lower starting salaries, but offer a large amount of earning potential.
Q: I am interested in commercial appraisal and would like to obtain an MAI designation. Can I do this through the Real Estate Program?
A: Completion of the Master of Real Estate degree permits you to apply to the Appraisal Institute for designation as an MAI and you will receive credit toward the MAI designation. For more information, please visit http://www.appraisalinstitute.org/education/masters.asp.
Q: Are there other universities that you know of which offer programs specifically for Real Estate?
A: Yes, there are several. For more information, visit the Appraisal Institute’s Web site.
Q: How do I apply to the Real Estate Program?
A: Our admissions application is available online at http://mays.tamu.edu/lere. Go to the Admission section and click on the link in the text, which will take you directly to our online application. In addition to the application, you will need to supply us with your transcript, GMAT or GRE scores, letters of recommendation and essays. Preference will be given to those complete applications for fall admission that are received by March 1st. (Applications received after this priority deadline date may receive no consideration if we are able to fill our available slots with applications received before the priority deadline date. If we do not fill our available slots with applications received by that date, we will consider other applications received before May 31st.)
Q: When is the deadline for spring admission?
A: October 1st of the previous fall semester.
