Thinking of doing the MBF, U. of St.Gallen

Hey guys,

I'm very interested in doing the Master in Banking and Finance from the University of St Gallen. I'm currently doing my pre-master at another university in switzerland (University of Fribourg) where I've "almost" finished my bachelor degree in economics; I passed all my exams but I still have to write my bachelor degree paper. So I'm looking to apply to the MBF for September 2013.

What do you think of this program? It's currently among the top finance programs in Europe, it's #5 in the Financial Times' list of Masters in Finance Pre-experience 2012.

I think it would be ideal for me. I would get to stay in the country, it wouldn't cost too much cuz I could come home every now and then, it's only about 3 hours away by train. So it's not like I'd have to leave the country to study, I woudn't have to take care of too much paper work, etc...

Also, it's very cheap, about 1'300 swiss francs per semester which is nothing compared to UK/US master programs. I'd have to find a flat and I'll have expenses but it's so much more cheap. I couldn't afford to go to a UK program for example, unless I get a loan, and I don't want that.

Plus I'm looking for a challenge. The university I go to is pretty good, not the best but still good. It's just that I pretty much managed to get by with "minimal" effort, I'd study 1-2 weeks before the semester exams and I'd manage to pass. I didn't really have to bust my a$$ to get this degree. I'm still proud of myself but meh, you know what I mean. I feel like I have so much more potential. The master in accounting and finance here (which I started as a pre-master) is ok but not great, nothing near St-Gallen, plus I don't like accounting so I don't like the focus they put on accounting (they only have this degree that incorporates finance at my uni...) I could finish my master degree here and not "lose" a year but I think the benefits of going to St-Gallen would heavily outweigh the benefits of staying here.

What do you think?

At the moment, I'm only planning on applying to St-Gallen. Don't really feel like leaving the country to study, mostly cuz it would be too expensive.

The application deadline is April 30th so I still have some time to think about it.

I've already done the TOEFL (got 104, so that's ok)

My grade average isn't great but it's ok, I don't think it'll be a problem.

I still would have to do the GMAT or GRE.

Also they have some awesome exchange opportunities with some of the best unis in the world. I could potentially go a whole semester and study abroad. St-Gallen has exchange programs with the LSE, Duke, Kellogg school of management, NYU Stern, Booth school of business and the University of California Anderson School, just to name a few. It would be a dream to study at one of these for 6 months.

I'm so motivated, I don't want to end up with a **** job at KPMG or something like that.

I'm willing to go balls deep here, I'm so motivated.
Anyway, thanks for your help in advance guys, I really appreciate it.

Sorry for the long post guys. I know I rambled quite a bit here.