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Economics St Gallen or Management Bocconi

Hi guys, I will be glad if someone shares his or her thoughts concerning msc's

what do you think is the best option:
- Msc in economics St Gallen + DD in RSM (focus on strategy)
- Msc in management Bocconi + DD St gallen Finance?

Does msc in economics seem too scientific?
How actually hard is to be enrolled in DD?
Additionally, whether DD is better then cems option?
How do companies consider CEMS? Is it still valuable?

Which one is better in terms of quality, social life, extracurriculum act., international experience and placement?
Read posts about foreigners in Bocconi and a bit biased attitude toward them. Is it really so?

Also,what are my chances to get scholarship in Bocconi with GMAT 700 and almost perfect GPA (not top uni), but without impressive extracurriculum and work experience?

Thanks for your help :rolleyes:
Hi Mary,

Having read your previous posts I thought that maybe my reply could be of some help.

I've heard from a good friend of mine who currently studies at the Uni of St Gallen that their Strategy and International management program is designed with a special focus on consulting. You can see that from their curriculum, corporate events organized by big consultancies (sometimes exclusively for SIM people) and judging from the career aspirations of the majority of SIM students. So in my opinion if you are looking for a job in that industry, it makes sense to study something like SIM instead of economics.

Regarding your question about DD and CEMS, there are also quite a few options from what I know. You can do an MBA double degree with Nanyang or INCAE, as well as other DD with HEC or other renowned schools. I think my friend applied for one of those in the first semester and got in without too many troubles. As a backup option there are also plenty exchange destinations thanks to the Uni's partner agreements.

Once again, I can't say anything about Bocconi, but the diversity of SIM students is quite impressive. When my friend got in, his group included above 20 nationalities if I'm not mistaken and the group was not too big - just 50 people.

I can't jump to conclusions concerning your chances to be accepted to SIM, but your profile looks quite competitive with a high GMAT and very good GPA. I don't know whether I could help you at least a bit, but I'd be happy to answer other questions you have (if I have enough info myself of course).

Good luck with making the right choice :wink:
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Mаry
OP
Hi masterstrategist,
thank you so much for your reply :smile:

Indeed, St Gallen is my top choice and I will be happy to be there. But to be honest, I consider my chances limited (I'm not pessimist but realist:wink:). Just basic calcs: St Gallen has a grade scale according to which adcom accepts students, summarizing my gpa and gmat, I still can't be directly admitted, it means that subjective factor gets into the play and this means nothing good for me, cause in comparison with guys who have bunch of internships in mbb and ib and tons of international experience...well, i'm not competitor there. At least I will be happy to spend exchange term, if not full study. Pure economics in St Gallen seems to scientific, I'm agree here, it isn't what I aim to.
In general, I give my preference to schools in German-speaking part of Europe, regardless of country, however I love italian language and culture, but I'm not sure about the quality of education in Italy. There's why have some concerns about Bocconi. Additionally,I read a lot of negative reviews about Bocconi, it makes me to think twice before applying.
But still I'd like to know what are the chances to get on double track, if they are too limited, I'll leave this idea.

One more thanks for your reply. I just want to get more international experience, both these programs allow a lot of opportunities, but yeah, St Gallen is much better and well, fairly much harder to get in. Too much marketing and reputation, too competitive environment :smile:
What do you want to do afterwards? What are your career goals? Both schools are very good. I did undergrad at Bocconi and although I there were things I didn't like, I must say it's a great university and gives you a lot of opportunities if you're willing to work hard and pursue them.
Well, Mary in the end it’s your choice of course, but with your aspiration for strategy and consulting I personally think you won’t find anything better than SIM. If I were you I’d give it a try, cause you have a good GPA and a very high GMAT, which is already a big advantage. When it comes to extra curriculum activities, I’ve heard people mentioned a great variety of stuff when applying from voluntary projects and exchange semesters to student associations and sports. And as far as I know not many students in SIM come with years of work experience and it’s not a prerequisite, cause it’s a MiM program not an MBA.
So my personal advice would be not to give up so easily, but of course only if it is really appealing to you.

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