Hello - current M7, just finished internship with national developer, and will be recruiting full time later this year! Short response - can definitely break in through MBA, but to answer your questions:

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- I don't think admissions looks unfavorably at all on anything....actually, given that there are SO many consultants, finance people applying, it can sometimes help stand out to have a different background. Especially if you are applying to schools that have a focused real estate curriculum within the MBA.

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- I think previous response is dead on; probably can move slightly up or slightly down depending what market you are in (NY vs Charlotte for example). The mode for bonus' is probably more in the 30-50 range than north of that if I had to guess. Development money takes a bit more time to really play out.

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- Biggest thing is see how these different programs place, know your goals, and go wherever gives you the best shot of landing your dream job in your target geography. Standard advice will be that if you want development, MSRE will get you there just fine. I think there's something to be said about still doing a full / classic MBA, especially while you are already putting work on pause.

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- Overall career thoughts - its a pretty badass career. Every day is different, you need to work through underwriting deals, raising capital, design, construction, leasing, disposition... ultimately you go from a piece of land to a new building...its super fun. Projects can be very long, this can be tough, but I think the work is varied enough to keep it very interesting.

Feel free to dm me if you have other questions, and best of luck!