No, not really. MBA degrees are meant for career changers who want to win roles in industries such as IB and consulting. A pre-MBA internship or something else related to deals before the program would definitely help, but it may not be necessary if you’ve already had the strategy roles and do enough of the fit and technical prep on your own.

I am considering pursuing an MBA to break into REIB. My only concern in whether my lack of previous REIB and/or IB experience will work against me. Any thoughts you can share on my situation will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Moving to PE is always more difficult as a post-MBA Associate, but it might be a bit easier within RE because it’s specialized and the talent supply/demand are sometimes mismatched. If you don’t have IB or other deal experience prior to the MBA, I don’t think you can move into PE directly from the program.

Your university brand name/reputation/alumni network matter far more than the specific degree. So, Real Estate anything for a major is better than a non-RE major if you want to get into REIB, but a top school will beat a lower-ranking school any day of the week. Penn State is not a target for IB recruiting, so that is the main issue here. However, it could lead to other roles within RE, which you could then leverage to get into REIB eventually.

Thanks. Unfortunately, I’ve never found great books on this topic. There are plenty of sources on individual property deals and analysis and property modeling, but very little on analysis at the corporate level in RE. But I’ll post anything useful I find here.

I don’t know why, after years of working in REPE / RE investing, you’d want to return to REIB and work longer/more stressful hours, and I don’t think they would accept you as an Analyst at this stage. If your end goal is one of the mega-funds, then you should recruit for a larger REPE firm or group and then work your way up from that. Yes, it’s still difficult to get into the mega-funds, but it’s also difficult even if you’re at one of the top banks (the vast majority of Analyst do not do it).

Super Target School undergrad (wanted to get into IB but poor grades in first year so no internship won, hence no FT role) —> Boutique REPE house acquisitions role (involvement in several high value transactions 3+ years, very specific RE niche) —> Huge global asset manager direct RE investments role (<6 months, specific RE niche coverage, but different niche to boutique role).

I am unsure of my next move assuming my end goal is Blackstone, Apollo, Brookfield. Do I have a chance to lateral in at a year 1 of 2 level into an REIB team, reset the clock, and then have a crack at mega funds after 2 years? I am confident that I could find a role in a tier 2 REPE house, but based on my research, it is not particularly likely to hop up the fund ladder from boutique to megafund, although we are talking about the thin end of the bell curve here, so nothing is “likely”.

Note – Hard to recall the exact timeline, but I have been a reader on this website for at least 10 years. Some good advice over the years, I should’ve listened to it lol….