What does going to school have to do with real estate?

Personally, I use to ask the same question when I first entered the real estate industry.  I took up AB Humanities with a field of specialization in Business Administration. After my university studies, I had to take a short course for my real estate license and continuing education afterwards to renew it. Did my course help me in my real estate business? I would say definitely, but indirectly.

Going to school is not all about learning, but also developing to a person you will be for the rest of your mature life. In fact, you may not even use most of the things that you learned in university for your chosen career. Chances are you will still need to undergo training before you start your new job.  During the rest of your career, you will further take courses that will update your skills, undergo further training to keep up with the new technology, changing business models and standards.  Studying starts but won’t stop in school.  You will continue to do so through the short courses you take, training and seminars you attend and even through the books that you read.

Attending and finishing school is not all about the degree.  It is about giving yourself a strong foundation, a solid framework for you to build on your chosen career.  It is about having the discipline, exercising your logical and analytical thinking, learning to communicate orally and in writing, having the skills to interact with other people and being able to express yourself.    It is also about learning about yourself; your capabilities and limitations, your strengths and weaknesses and learning to always strive for the best that you can be.

Thus, when some people would argue that being successful in school is not a guarantee of a successful career, I would partially agree.  It is not a guarantee because not everything you can learn from school can be graded. There are more important things that cannot be measured such as your overall growth as an individual, your belief in yourself, your ability to accept failure and determination to overcome problems.  These are the things that make you…uniquely you. 

However, there are some people who can excel academically and be successful in life as well. They are the well-rounded individuals who can excel in all aspects;  from academics, logical and analytical thinking and social skills.  They have the guts and creativity to leave their mark on wherever life may bring them.

Here are two examples of famous people in real estate with different levels of achievement in school but equally successful.

Donald Trump: Attended the New York Military Academy at age 13.  He did well academically and socially. He later entered Fordham University and then transferred to the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania from which he gradated in 1968 with a degree in economics.  You can find his real estate achievements and portfolio here.

Barbara Corcoran:  She’s referred to as the Real Estate Baroness and the Queen of Manhattan Real Estate. Her credentials include straight D’s in high school and college and twenty jobs by the time she turned twenty-three. She is the founder of the Corcoran Group, the largest real estate agency in New York City. She built this company from a $1,000 loan to a $5 Billion business. You can view her achievements here. and here.

Overall, I would still recommend to everyone to attend and finish school.  Even if the course you took would not exactly lead you to your chosen career, going to school teaches you important skills in a short span of time that could otherwise take you a lot longer to learn.

If you’re given the privilege to attend school, take advantage to learn as much as you can.  Remember, even if you don’t excel academically, what matters is you grow as an individual. No one who went to school came out the same person as he did before going to school.  There will always be some form of advancement that is not always reflected in grades alone.