A group of University of Aberdeen students will fly the flag for the UK as they head to New York this week (Saturday, November 9) to compete in a prestigious international Real Estate competition hosted by Ivy League University, Cornell.
The University of Aberdeen is the only British university taking part in the fifth annual Cornell International Real Estate Case competition and the final stages will be held at Convene at 32 Old Slip in downtown Manhattan on November 14.
The competition will see each team be given an actual real estate transaction and then be given time to analyse the case and make an investment recommendation. After a preliminary presentation round, three remaining teams will then present their case solution to a judging panel made up of real estate industry leaders, who will then choose a winning team based on the best overall analysis and presentation. The teams are judged on their investment recommendations, their approach to the problem, their presentation skills as well as their ability to answer and respond to direct and probing questions posed by the judges.
Team Granite Rock is made up of Matthew Aitchison who in the final year of a MA in Economics and Real Estate; Darren Barr a MA Accountancy and Finance student; Isla Carson who is completing a BSc (hons) Mathematics; Robert Hamilton, a MA Economics and Finance student and Natasha Ross who is in the final year of a joint honours degree in Accountancy and Property.
The group will be accompanied on the trip by Mark Whittington, Head of Accountancy, Finance and Real Estate at the University.
Mark Whittington said: “I am absolutely delighted that Aberdeen will be taking part in this annual competition. We have put together a really strong team and I am sure that they will do the University proud while they are over in New York.
“Taking part in projects such as the Cornell International Real Estate Competition highlights the University’s commitment to student experience and those who take part will be gaining valuable real world experience which will prepare them well for life after University.”
The fourteen invited teams will be competing for a share of $22,500 prize money and represent leading universities from around the world. The competition for the University of Aberdeen comes from hosts Cornell University; Chinese University of Hong Kong; Indiana University; New York University; Pennsylvania State University; Renmin University of China; University of British Columbia; University of Connecticut; University of Michigan; University of Pennsylvania; University of Texas at Austin; University of Wisconsin at Madison and Villanova University.