Everyone is here to do business, including yourself by your own admission.

@Taylor Jennings it's about more than just what's admissible in court - it's about what can land you in court.

I  always see Wharton being at the top of finance, real estate, etc. in posts and I read that to get in to Wharton you obviously need great grades (which I have) and something like great diversity or something and write a compelling essay on why you should be at Wharton(it's obviously harder than I made it sound), after Highs school I plan on enlisting in the Army for about 6 years, I'm an eagle scout and I am related to a founding father, other than that I dont have much more to put for the "Diversity/Culture section" Back to degrees the reason I don't want to get just a real estate degree is I would like something to fall back on in financing or something similar to real estate developing if the risk in real estate gets too high for me.

Maybe your friends will accept your admission gracefully and help you feel better about abusing your relationship.  

As far as I'm concerned, positive cashflow is the price of admission for a long-term buy & hold and appreciation is a bonus.

Learn conventional real estate, from the beginning, most in public forms or at investor meeting can't give you a 25 word essay on why real estate is valuable and mention the basics. 

By his own admission, he didn't have any formal training in finance other than that required for a loan originator.A RMLO (mortgage originator) is required to take a 20 hour class and a 100 question exam, about as in depth as a real estate agents license as to laws pertaining to mortgage originations.

I went to a few, well 4 actually in different counties close by and spent $40 in June (4 x $10 non-member admission) lol...so I think it's cost effective at 150 for the year and I can go to everything I want.

The MH/RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana has a huge library of historic and current information available to read and sometimes copy for the price of admission.

Membership is $100 and is worth the price of admission as the network is rather large and extensive here.