A New Adventure: Clemson

After months of waiting and praying, I found out last week that I was officially 1 of 20 students that was accepted into the Master of Real Estate Development Program at Clemson University. Unlike applying for an undergraduate degree, this was the only program I applied to. My thinking was that if I'm going to go back to school, it better be a program that I'm absolutely passionate about and feel it will be worthwhile (I learned that lesson in the Fall of 2008 at TX State).

So why this program? First off, there are only a hand full of programs throughout the country that offer a true advanced degree in Real Estate Development. Most schools, like the University of Texas, offer programs in City & Regional planning, but they do not focus finance, construction management and law factors associated with the development process. On the other hand, Clemson is one of these schools that offers a Real Estate Development program. In fact, Clemson is the only program in the country that is a joint degree between an architecture and a business college, with required classes in MBA, Finance, Law, Construction Management, Architecture, and City & Regional Planning. The combination of these courses, coupled with the hands-on involvement of current development projects throughout the Southeast, will provide me with the framework and opportunity to gain a broad understanding of not only a creative, sustainable vision of the future, but an understanding of the practices of yesterday.

Where is Clemson?

Clemson is located in the northwest part of South Carolina situated at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. It is 30 minutes from Greenville, South Carolina and two hours from both Atlanta, GA and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Where is the nearest airport?

The closest airport is in Greenville, SC (GSP) and has daily flights to Houston on Continental. However, it is usually cheaper to fly into ATL or CLT on any major airline. Note: Southwest does not fly into GSP, ATL or CLT. The closest Southwest destination is either Birmingham, AL (275 miles) or Raleigh, North Carolina (300 miles).

Which conference is Clemson in?

Clemson is in the Atlantic division of the ACC conference. Clemson's biggest rival is their in-state foe, The University of South Carolina (SEC). Their main rival in the ACC is Georgia Tech, which dates back to 1898. Although Georgia Tech and Clemson were split into different divisions when the ACC expanded to 12 teams in 2005, they are designated cross-division rivals and still play each other every year in football.

I am very excited about the opportunity that has been presented to me and will continue to keep everyone updated as I learn more about Clemson!