<p>For a while I was thinking of goin' into Real Estate in other words become a Real Estate Developper, starting a business of some sort and investing quite a bit not only in properties but also Stock on wall street all w/ an International twist...
I don't know what kind of Undergrad degree to pursue or where to study (State public, LAC, etc...)
Any input would be very helpful
thanks for any replies...</p>
<p>well it partly depends on what programs are at your school and how good they are, but I'd say, do international business. There's so much globalization going on, that it can be very practical, especially when you mention "international twist"</p>
<p>Real estate developers are quite a varied group -- some with small organizations, some with big organizations, some working on residential projects, some working on commercial projects. There are many ways to get there. If I had to pick only one way to get there, I would obtain an undergrad degree in construction management. Here is a link to schools with these programs. <a href="http://www.acce-hq.org/baccalaureateprograms.htm#VA%5B/url%5D">http://www.acce-hq.org/baccalaureateprograms.htm#VA</a>
My favorite one is Virginia Tech's because they have both an undergrad and grad program and also have a number of civil engineering courses that you could take to supplement your construction management training.</p>
<p>I was a partner a major national developer and have interviewed many prospective developers coming from undergraduate and graduate programs. I am also often asked to advise students asking the very questions you are asking.</p>
<p>First, I advise students to take several Marketing Courses. The principles are very important to the value creation process of real estate and are generally applicable to other areas of business.</p>
<p>Second, at the graduate level, I am particularly impressed with the Real Estate Development Master's Degree students that I have talked to from MIT and USC. Both programs are very highly regarded in the real estate development community. Pound for pound in the real estate development area, they are match for the MBA's from the top business schools. Having said that, an MBA from a top business school is also an excellent springboard to real estate development, but has the added advantage of better flexibility of future career path.</p>
<p>Finally, your question was directed at the undergraduate level. There are a number of majors that provide some peripheral knowledge of areas important to real estate development .... business, urban planning, civil engineering, architecture. Again, I think the specific major is not critical, but it would make sense to take more than one marketing course, an economics course, some kind of financial analysis course and maybe a real estate course. Other than that, I would select a major that (a) has a bunch of required courses that I would truly enjoy taking, (b) has some path that would enable me to get a job after graduation that I enjoyed doing to position me for graduate school, and (c) is not so rigorous in required courses, so that I would have time to get involved in social, athletic and leadership activities.</p>
<p>It's no joke that historically many of the successful real estate developers are the "C Students". It's not that they are truly necessarily poor academically, but they have spent time developing social and leadership skills, perhaps at the cost of academic excellence. Today, I'm not sure being a "C Student" is a good strategy, but I do know that being an "A Student" neglecting social and leadership opportunities is not.</p>