Friday, August 1, 2008
Real Estate News
Career Specialization: Real Estate
Internship: Equity Residential, Chicago, Ill.
Alicia Board grew up in Philadelphia. After studying economics at Florida A&M, she began her career in the financial field. An opportunity to work in New York City's Department of Housing as a project manager led her to an unexpected conclusion: She had a passion for real estate. She found that the very things that fascinated her about economics—market supply and demand—were at the heart of real estate as well. She decided a career in real estate was the right path for her and that earning an MBA from a top real estate program would be key to her development. Board began using her analytical skills to investigate top MBA schools with real estate programs throughout the country. She ended up applying to only one—the Wisconsin MBA.
"When I came into the Wisconsin MBA program, I was so focused on learning about real estate, I hadn't taken the time to investigate any of the other career specializations. Coming here and learning more, and talking with other students, I've been enlightened about the strength of the Wisconsin MBA program overall. I think the specializations the school has chosen are really strong and really complement one another. I'm glad to be a part of this program.
"I know folks at other top-ranked business schools—people in their second year of their MBA program who now realize that real estate is what they want to know and wish they could take as many courses in that topic as possible. But it's too late for them. I feel fortunate that at Wisconsin we declare our field of study up front, so that we can take so many courses and really hit the ground running after graduation.
"The real estate alumni group at Wisconsin is phenomenal. Almost from the moment we arrive on campus as new students, we get an alumni directory specific to real estate alums organized by region of the country and aspects of real estate. I literally feel like there's not anybody that I couldn't get to if I tried. I think that is a major strength of the real estate program. They have events for us all the time. There are spring and fall advisory board meetings, every two years they have a big reunion, and then there's a trends conference in the opposite year in Chicago. The alumni are really great, very welcoming and very supportive."
Read more about the Wisconsin MBA program.