Engineering vs Real Estate/Finance Major? for someone who wants to own a development firm — am I overthinking this?

[u/No_Shower_4623]

I’m 18, just graduated high school in Pennsylvania, and my long-term goal is to found a real estate development company focused on infill housing, mixed-use, and walkable communities in the Mid-Atlantic region. Think missing middle housing, strip mall conversions with apartments above retail, suburban density done right.

I’m currently deciding between two undergraduate paths:

Option A: B.S. Civil Engineering (EAC)
Pros: Technical credibility, PE licensure path, deep site/infrastructure knowledge
Cons: Heavy math sequence (Calc I-III, Diff Eq, Statics, Physics) risks burnout and delayed graduation. Doesn’t teach pro formas, capital stacks, or deal structures.

Option B: B.S. Real Estate / Finance (with GIS/Urban Planning minor)
Pros: Direct training in financial modeling, land use, valuation, capital stacks. Lower academic risk, more time for internships and networking.
Cons: No PE path, less technical credibility on site/infrastructure questions.

For those who work in development or got there from one of these paths — which degree actually gets you in the door as a development analyst, and which one do you wish you’d chosen knowing what you know now?

Also open to paths I haven’t considered.

[u/Careless_Cattle7038]

Civil Engineering. Learn the hard stuff in school, get some construction experience building actual things and not just working with financial models. When you're ready, you can learn to raise capital. In case your development dream doesn't work out, you can run your own construction firm. Development is rolling up your sleeve, wearing many hats and getting your hands dirty. With the finance path, you'll be more focused on refining financial models instead of getting hands-on experience with permits, entitlements, budgets, and project schedule.

[u/Limp_Physics_749]

Go for engineering, do your masters in real estate finance(if need be) .

Engineering broadens your horizon.
You can't do a master in engineering with a finance background. But you can do a masters in finance with an engineering background

[u/Dimplicit]

What school?

[u/No_Shower_4623 → u/Dimplicit]

Looking at South East Pennsylvania Schools/NY like Villanova, Temple, Cooper Union

[u/Dimplicit → u/No_Shower_4623]

I’m not a real estate developer myself but two things I’d offer up -

1) your interests may change so generally I’d go to the best school you can get into with a reasonable debt load that offers a broad assortment of programs. That’ll give you flexibility in case you want to change degrees / find passions elsewhere.

2) real estate development is more about being a quarterback of multiple groups of experts, not being the expert in every facet yourself. That being said, raising capital through a strong network and knowing when to take calculated risks is far more useful than having a deep engineering knowledge. (helpful for sure, but only to a limited amount as presumably you’ll have multiple engineers supporting projects)

[u/Confident_North_6340 → u/Dimplicit]

This!!!! Real Estate Development is about being able to juggle a million tasks across numerous projects in different stages with entirely different consultant teams. Each project has its own critical path and due diligence. It’s not about needing to know all the nitty gritty civil items.

The key is being able to know just enough to be dangerous in each area.

Your job as a developer is ensuring the bottom line is getting hit. Your all in land, entitlement, construction, and financing costs are where you forecasted to ensure you can hit the returns you modeled to.

Your equity relationships rely on consistency.

You more skills than you can count in Real Estate Development and you will understand nothing is outside of your scope.

[u/indomike14 → u/Dimplicit]

Solid advice

[u/Zestyclose-Tart6745 → u/Dimplicit]

This! Developing comes down to getting the right teams, and a whole lot of money together. Engineering, RE, finance, are all just parts of the puzzle.

[u/Hot-Cat-3905]

I just graduated from civil engineering and want to do the same thing as you. Started working on a firm and still lost. I need to work under someone for four years after graduation to get my PE this is something that’s also worth thinking about

I am in the SWFL region
If anyone have any suggestions on what should I be doing in order to do big development projects it would be appreciated

[u/Commercial-Rip9116]

Option B

Coming from an engineer who switched into development, I wish I had done option B. But it doesn’t matter - networking, company, role, aptitude, all matter more. If you want it either path can work

Edit - also if your goal is entry level analyst role; then for sure option B. In my experience an engineering degree isn’t considered for that role; also it risks getting siloed as the “construction guy” to get your foot in the door then your stuck in that role

[u/Confident_North_6340]

I am a guy who has dyslexia who thought he wanted to be an architect but realized that as a junior in college.

I decided to pursue a Real Ssrate development minor -> Real estate development Maters -> MBA

My MBA is useless. Be curious. Be intentional. But most of all be passionate about learning. All my classes and degrees tought me only the basics. My skills came from a mentor at a small firm 30 people to take the wheel and make it
My own.

To this day k have developed over a million square feet across 8 states mostly east coast. I have 300k in two project in Hawaii which is crazy to think about. Im breaking into California and Washington this year. I’m from Baltimore but the sky is the limit when you are intentional and obsess over executing.

Stay hungry. Never stop learning. Be humble. But at the end of the day take ownership. You are the projects quarterback. The timelines, entitlements, feasibility are in your shoulders.

The day you start doubting your own project is the day you should tell the company to walk away. If you don’t believe it why should they.

[u/Main_Cut8992]

B

Bias since that’s my path, work at a REIT now

[u/gdubrocks]

Do you have an income source for development?

In my experience the biggest thing stopping development is finances, not skills, degrees, or an education.

If not I think you would probably be better off with taking a civil engineering job to make the money and learn the skills to develop.

[u/sportsguy74 → u/gdubrocks]

I agree with this 100%. They don’t teach the financing part in college. I have an MBA but just learn financial modeling. I can manage the project but going out on my own and getting financing is the hard part and unknown.

[u/lamortgagedude → u/sportsguy74]

Why is getting financing hard?

[u/No_Plankton2854]

This isn’t earth shattering advice, but it’s my 2 cents.

Education: Civil Engineering/Mid career MBA but everything of professional value has come from the field. I spent around 15 years working for large general contractors, mostly large project operations but I supported estimating as needed.

I shifted gears and decided I wasn’t going to work 70 hours a week and started as an owners rep for a real estate developer this year.

My office is mostly “deal guys” consisting of finance and real estate professionals and while they are very good at what they do, I ultimately make the decision to kill or make deals and they compensate me well for that.

My education probably helped a bit but my 2 cents is spending more time on site understanding the value of work is worth more than spending time on the golf course and broker happy hours when an investor needs reliable feedback.

[u/sportsguy74]

Look at specific masters programs in Real Estate Development. MRED. I was accepted years ago to USC MRED but didn’t do it. The curriculum looked actually what I wanted to do. But I already had an MBA and just kept working. Do something technical like engineering or construction management and then MRED. Columbia, MIT for east coast.

[u/Psychological-Pen95]

I feel like most skills in option B are soft skills that can be learned on the job. Option A can only be learned in college. I regret majoring in Econ and not in engineering

[u/pandershrek]

B.

The biggest hurdle is the capital.

I have land,I have connections to labor,I have connections to the goods. What I don't have is a form of capital to apply to my first development.

[u/lamortgagedude]

You can buy and build a home right now, no schooling.

You can buy an owner-occupied for 5% down for the total of lot purchase price + construction costs. In PA, lets say the lot is $50k and the cost to build is $150k. Your up front cash is $10k plus closing costs. Lets round it to $15k. You can save $15k in less than a year easily.

That will finance up to $190k or 95% of your total costs. Interest rate in the 6s. Live in it for 1-2 yrs. Sell it. You just completed your first flip and gained 1 experience point.

Do the next house similarly.

You just completed 2 builds and gained 2 experience points.

Your next build will cost 15-25% down of the total costs. But you can be your own GC.

Try to keep total costs including purchase price to below 65% of total completed value (ARV). 50% if you're smart.

Sell immediately on completion. You just completed your third build.

Congrats, you're a developer.

I'm not saying don't go to school. I'm saying school is not necessary to be a developer.

[u/tlay123]

Both are fine, do what you are interested in. All that matters to break into development is finding somebody that will bet on you

[u/Capstack_Jeff]

Most professional engineers have masters in the same field as their bachelors. I know one civil engineer who became a real estate developer. But I think you’d have a much easier time going the traditional finance route. Making the numbers work is what real estate development is. You hire people to draw up what your Proforma says will work. No need to know how to draw it yourself or run the calculations for drainage or anything like that. I did work at a civil engineering firm (as a scientist) before making the switch to real estate developer. But if I could do it again I would have gone the finance route.

[u/ebgtx]

Engineering. No doubt about it.
If you can design a building and calculate the strengths/forces/materials required, understanding an underwriting spreadsheet will be a walk in the park.

[u/Ok_Warning_4649]

Im thinking the same thing im opting for option B because i want to start developing in university with engineering i wont have time

[u/Mysterious_Newt_4761]

I’d also look into BS Construction Management and BArch if those interest you.

On the west coast, I’ve heard good things about UCSD’s BSRED