University of St.Gallen (HSG) MBF 2012 intake

Ronnie, regarding your question, it depends on your budget but I don't think the cost of groceries is so high that it warrants a need to go to germany by train lol. I mean some students I knew would occasionally car pool to go there sometimes, but yeah I don't think you're saving thaaat much if you stick to basic stuff. also the nights aren't that cold in winter that you can't go outside by winter lol, it's definitely cold but it's not the polar circle .

Have any of you received the letter? I got my "definitv zugelassen" status yesterday, any ideas how long it might take till we receive the offical letters etc?

Regarding the Cass debate, having some work experience I realize that 1) MBF is by far the most cost effective (unless you have a free ride elsewhere) 2) unless you're going to Oxbridge (Said and Judge) and maybe Imperial if you're looking for trading jobs, I don't think any of these masters is worth the additional cost in terms of placement. The MBF (and HSG in general) places very well, and you'll definitely get interviews with the top banks and MBB if the rest of your profile is decent. Cass, and even LSE to some extent with their dozens of masters do not warrant you good placement on the street, and I don't think it's worth paying that much when you can get an equivalent (or even better) master for almost nothing. If you look at the 3 biggest employers for HSG alumni in the past couple of years it's UBS, Mc Kinsey and Credit Suisse in that order.

Congratz on the admit.
"nights aren't that cold in winter that you can't go outside by winter lol, it's definitely cold but it's not the polar circle "...Lol !!

I'm waiting for the letter, too..I guess it's gonna take a while..

Anyway, after a few months I've been thinking about it, I must say I agree with what you've said..I was just scared by the language, but I'm sure I can learn a decent level of German in a year and a half, and it would be a third language, a big plus..

I've been talking with some professors at my university (Bocconi), and they all said that Cass is not known for its quality of teaching, which can't be compared to that of other universities..And they all agree on the fact that HSG has a very quantitative program that is useful if you want to get a Phd, but that might be useless otherwise..But they said HSG is a good university anyway..

i agree about the reputation of mbf for recruitment, statistics are really clear about it, but i'm not so sure it's so cheaper than other programs in uk with almost the same reputation. the university suggests a budget of 27,197 Swiss franc yearly so 40,795 for the full program. in warwick, just as an example, tuition fees are 27,500 and the average estimated expenditure is 11500, so it would mean a total of 39000 pounds which are equal to 58000 franc. at the same time you should consider that you would work in the second year, since in uk masters are 12-month-long

Regarding the cost of life, I can't really speak for Warwick but I have lived in London for some time, and I don't think the cost of life is higher in general...Don't get me wrong, Switzerland is expensive, but St. Gallen is actually rather cheap for a swiss city, so per example the cost of housing is probably as low a you would pay in the UK (and probably lower than London). I've visited a flat share once where everyone had their own room and the total cost was 300CHF per person, so if have a tight budget it's definitely possible to have a far smaller budget than they say. There is a decent amount of students from Zurich and Germany that come from priviledged backgrounds that go to school with porsches etc and that spend a lot of money in the student parties each week, but that doesn't mean you can't have a very affordable life in st. gallen. I would say if you don't travel out of st. gallen and you don't spend a lot in nights out etc, a budget like 1000-1200 CHF per month is easily doable. Internships also pay fairly well in CH (4000 - 5000 CHF per month) so that might also be a good way to finance part of the master.

For my personally the only disadvantage with this master is that it's 1 and half year, and knowing st. gallen it's a loooot of work. I have seen other universities (including top universities like bocconi etc) and while it's also hard, you usually get 6-12 credits and more for an exam, whereas in st-gallen it's 2-6 credits for a similar amount of work. So overall I'd say it's a lot more work than other euro masters, and that's the only reason why I'd go to a master like LSE, but then again I don't like the idea of having any debt and that's only possible with HSG in my case

Congratulations to all the new admits!!

@f4atality - About the letter of admission, if you haven't received a soft copy through email, you could write to the university and ask for it. If you need the original hard copy, it's going to take some time as it took about 2-3 weeks for me to receive it by post (I live in India so could be the reason for delay).

About the cost of the program, I read on the HSG student forum (on Facebook) that it might go up to 3,000-5,000 CHF a semester (for Non-EU students)!! But I'd say it's still worth the investment as long as they don't increase it to and exorbitant amount!!

Cheers!
Pradeep

Hey everyone!

What's up with housing there?
I just figured that I need up to 12 (!!!!!!!) weeks to get student visa in Switzerland.

And need to figure my housing situation in advance.. I've seen housing application in service portal -what's that about?

And yeah, I'm glad to have that awesome boy:girl ratio

Regarding the workload of masters degree at HSG, is it true that students are usually able to complete full 90 credits in 4 semesters??

yeah baby "zugelassen mit vorbehalt"

I got my official letter now. I have to take 20 credits of suplementary courses + German. Do I have to complete all this the first year and at the same time complete my regular courses or can I focus on my suplementary courses the first year and then on my MBF courses? ~70 credits in one year seems like a task for superman.

Posted from my mobile device

Here is the quote from official Requirments for Admission:
"Supplementary work must be successfully completed within one academic year from the point in
time at which students take up their studies at Master’s Level."

I think, I'll have even more than you do, anyways:) They don't accept like 50% of my courses, even though my math & statistics were way more deep than it is required.

Btw, how much did it take for you to get an official letter?

Do they force you to study German if you don't know it? That sucks..

I mean, I would have studied it anyway, but having a German exam to take at the University is different

Yeah, I've seen that. What I was wondering is whether I need to take a certain amount of courses in my MBF-degree (besides the compulsory courses) the first year or if I can push them one semester ahead if I need to.

I havent gotten my physical admission letter yet but got an email today with all the information.

I actually look forward to the 10 days of german before the real semester starts (and the real german course). I guess I'll see you guys there.

Has anyone applied for a room?

I've just found out the deadline for housing accomodation is on the 15th of May!
But I won't know by that day whether I accept the offer or not..And I guess you'll have to pay a non refundable 250 chf fee to apply..

Does anyone know how difficult is to find a room in St Gallen?

I am pretty sure that is just for exchange-students, i.e. not applicable for us.

Yeah, I've heard this is only for exchange students...

As for room in St Gallen, a friend of mine told me that in existing shared flats there is usually a competition to get a room (like 10 candidates apply for one room and flatmates decide who is the best for them)

That's why it is easier to rent an entire flat share it with friends, but my problem is I don't know anyone there

Oh, then I'm sorry, I don't know much about their requirments either.

And the email? how long did it take? I need it for Visa and I have to apply asap.
I called to the office and they told me do not expect physical letter at all, in my case it will be only an email.

And yep, German sounds pretty exciting:)