Real Estate Degree Elevates Career

Networking Opportunities Pay Off for Real Estate Graduate

Michael Denise didn’t imagine he would one day find himself living in Baltimore. After a tour of duty in the United States Marines, the California native met a woman from Baltimore. They married and moved east to raise a family. As a newcomer to Maryland, Denise decided to develop his budding real estate career. To do that, he felt he needed an advanced degree and to expand his professional network, which led him to the Carey Business School.

In 2015, Denise enrolled in Carey’s part-time MS in Real Estate and Infrastructure program. “The president of the company I was a working for at the time was also a Carey alum. I wanted to expand my real estate knowledge. He suggested the program,” said Denise.

After completing his degree in 2017, Denise landed a job with the international real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. Today, Denise is working in the company’s capital markets group working in multi-family and retail real estate, a job he found through Carey’s Career Development web page.

“I really got this job through this program,” said Denise. “The person who was conducting my job interview was a Carey graduate. I was really able to impress them with all of the things I had learned through the program.

The MS in Real Estate and Infrastructure program at Carey stresses networking and relationship building. In 2015, the program developed the Johns Hopkins Real Estate Alumni Forum to support students and connect them with real estate alumni.

“Networking is an important component in any business field, especially real estate. Johns Hopkins has had a strong real estate program for more than 25 years, which predates the founding of the Carey Business School,” said Ko Wang, the R. Clayton Emory Chair of Real Estate and Infrastructure. "We are very fortunate to have an active and engaged alumni community to support our students and graduates.”

As of 2016, 93 percent of Carey real estate program graduates were employed, had accepted full-time or internship positions, continued their education, or started their own business.

“In order to be successful in real estate, you need a lot of networking connections,” he said. “This program was a really great opportunity for me to make those connections. Through Johns Hopkins, I’ve met someone from just about every real estate company in the Baltimore metro area.”

In June, Denise retuned to Carey to begin pursing a part-time MBA. He and his wife also recently welcomed their second child.