<p>I'm at Penn State and deciding between petroleum engineering and civil engineering. I heard UT Austin has a dual degree between architecture and architectural engineering. I've also heard architectural engineering had a track in structural. What I was thinking is that if I do that and then get an mba with focus in real estate, I can build a house and then sell it. Like vertical integration sort of. Any opinions?</p>
<p>You probably should do land development, it’s part of civil. Then get MBA. Build your own house and sell them might be way too much steps for 1 engineer haha.</p>
<p>Well yeah but I’m saying I could start a firm that could handle everything.</p>
<p>AE at PSU has options in both structures and construction management. You could consider the Engineering Entrepreneurship (E-SHIP) minor as an undergrad, then re-evaluate your goals in a couple years and see what seems like the logical next step.</p>
<p>Unless you are really passionate about aesthetics and design it is best to leave that work to others who are; there are enough ugly buildings as it is. (And you can always hire folks to do that work.)</p>
<p>It’s not something you have to make your mind up about right now. You can get your architectural engineering degree, followed by your MArch, followed by your MBA. Doing it linearly only adds a year to your overall plan, and would probably be better for your mental health.</p>
<p>One step at a time. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.</p>
<p>You wouldn’t be able to do that by yourself. You will probably end up needing one or two partners to work with you on this type of a venture, each with their own area of expertise.</p>