Georgetown University MPS in Real Estate Program Review

by Joe Stampone on June 1, 2009

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georgetwon-real-estateI have received a lot of requests for interviews of the newly-formed Georgetown MPS in Real Estate program.  So I reached out to my friend and former high school classmate, Andrew Welburn, who was nice enough to provide this thorough review.

What was your background in real estate prior to the Georgetown MPS in Real Estate program?

I have a rather diverse background in real estate despite starting the program straight out of undergrad. I started my career on the residential side, obtaining my real estate license when I was 18 and starting a referral business when I was in college. However, most of my experience is on the commercial side. I’ve interned with Cushman & Wakefield, Prudential Mortgage Capital and McDonlad’s Corp. Real Estate while as an Undergraduate. I currently work for a family owned hospitality development and investment firm.

What other programs did you look at besides Georgetown and why did you choose Georgetown over the other programs?

I seriously considered NYU, Columbia, Johns Hopkins and The University of Maryland

I choose Georgetown for the following reasons:

- The ability to attend a strong program part-time while working as a Project Manager for a development in Washington, DC.
- The ability to help shape a new program with strong alumni backing at a school with a tremendous reputation in DC.
- The flexibility of the curriculum, which allows me to specialize in a specific area of interest.

Are the professors primarily full-time or part-time? Do the part-time professors make themselves accessible outside the classroom?

All of the professors are part-time.

All of the professors make an effort to make themselves accessible despite their busy schedules. I have been impressed, so far.

Do you notice a variation of the material taught by different professors of the same course?

Because the program at Georgetown is new, most of the classes have been taught by the same professors.

What kind of opportunities does the Georgetown Real Estate program provide to students outside the classroom?

Despite being in existence for less than 1 year, the program has put together some nice networking events and a few development tours in which a good amount of students have taken advantage of. I would expect more in the next few semesters.

How is the programs career counseling? Do they actively help students find summer internships and full-time positions? How willing are alumni in assisting current students? Since it’s a new program, are alumni in a position to help students?

One downside to being in a new program is not having an established career counseling office at hand. The staff and alumni are more than willing to help you find internships and full-time positions if you actively seek their help. It seems like the school has already established a few strong relationships with the federal government and the DC government, as a well as a few in the private sector.

What are your future aspirations in real estate and how has the Georgetown MPS in Real Estate program helped you to get closer to your goals?

I would like to grow my families hotel acquisition and development business.

The program is thus far providing me with a sound understanding of financial modeling and legal due diligence. The majority of the coursework is taught from the owner/entrepreneur/developer point of view, which is a certainly a strength of the program

How many classes are required to complete the program?

30 credits. 9 classes and a capstone project.

Is there anything else about the program you think people should know?

The fact that this is a new program obviously has its positives and negatives. The program does not yet have the track record as some of the other more established programs out there. This may not yet be the program for the student who wants a strong career counseling office and may not necessarily be comfortable finding opportunities through alumni and friends of the program. With that said, the program has already established an excellent local reputation in less than 1 year. The quality and expertise of the professors has exceeded my expectations to a certain degree, as well as the diverse curriculum. The majority of the students attend part-time which limits the program to a certain degree, yet enhances classroom discussions and networking opportunities among the students and faculty.

Rate the various aspects of the program from 1-10, 10 being the best:

Professors: 8
Curriculum: 10
Career Counseling: 3
Outside Opportunities: 7
Overall Rating: 8.5

Feel free to post any questions you have in the comment section below and I’ll have Andrew answer them.


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  • Darius

    Great job Joseph! Thanks a lot….very coincidental that your friend was considering the exact same schools that I am. If you looked in a folder that I have put together that contains all my app materials for the schools I plan to apply to, it will contain JHU, GT, UMD, NYU, COL…lol

    Thanks again

  • Darius

    So GT's program is 1 year in length? I was under the impression that it was 2 years…

  • joestampone

    Darius, thanks for your comments and kind words. 9 courses and a capstone project, even full-time I think that would take at least 2 semesters plus a summer. The NYU program is 14 courses, one of which is a capstone. I've noticed that the length of programs really varies. They seem to fall somewhere between 1 and 2 years if you're in the program full-time. Albeit, a majority of students are part-time.

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  • J.Ro

    Thank you Joe and Andrew, I'm very much interested in this program as well; however, I dont know if the course contents are designed for a student wishing to pursue RE entrepreneur in another country. Is the materials taught really applicable? How much is the total tuition fees? I would be grateful if Andrew can answer these questions. Thanks again. I look forward to the GT Review #2!

    Cheers!

  • Patrick

    Can you tell me if the Georgetown School of Continuing Studies is thought of with as much prestige as the “regular” university, or is it sort of considered like the Harvard Extension School?

  • joestampone

    Patrick, thanks for your comment. To be honest, that's an extremely tough question to answer. The program is new so it doesn't have the brand recognition older real estate programs have. However, I think this will change as the alumni base grows. Anything with the Georgetown name on it will immediately have brand equity. The school takes the program very seriously and if you choose to pursue Georgetown, I'm sure you will learn a lot and establish a lot of good connections. I hope this helps, let me know if you have any follow-up questions.

  • Darius Thornton

    Joe, the second review you conducted for the Georgetown MPS in Real Estate appears to have a broken link. I tried several times to click on it, but it only show the web page title, but the interview questions don't show up.

  • joestampone

    Darius, thanks for letting me know. That's strange, it seems to be working fine for me. Did you try both IE and firefox?

    Here's the link – http://www.astudentoftherealestategame.com/?p=1418

    Or just go to the homepage and scroll down to the review.

    If it's still not working let me know and I'll email you the review and do everything I can to get the issue resolved. Sorry for the inconvenience.

  • Darius Thornton

    Joe, the second review you conducted for the Georgetown MPS in Real Estate appears to have a broken link. I tried several times to click on it, but it only show the web page title, but the interview questions don't show up.

  • http://www.astudentoftherealestategame.com/ Joe Stampone

    Darius, thanks for letting me know. That's strange, it seems to be working fine for me. Did you try both IE and firefox?

    Here's the link – http://www.astudentoftherealestategame.com/?p=1418

    Or just go to the homepage and scroll down to the review.

    If it's still not working let me know and I'll email you the review and do everything I can to get the issue resolved. Sorry for the inconvenience.

  • yolanda8827

    It seems like that I have encountered the same problem. Joe, can you just email me the second review too？I'm so eager to learn something more about this program. Thank u so much!

  • http://www.astudentoftherealestategame.com/ Joe Stampone

    Sorry for the issue, I'm not sure why it's not working. I'll look into it. Either way, I've emailed you the review. Thanks for reading.

  • Emily Luu

    I am considering this program for Spring 2012. Does anyone know how difficult it is to get in the program and what kind of undergraduate GPA the program requires?

  • http://www.astudentoftherealestategame.com/ Joe Stampone

    Hey Emily, there’s no set formula. I can’t really speak towards the Georgetown Program, but with the NYU program it was far more important to show your passion for and experience in real estate.

    That could overcome a poor GPA.