Bocconi (Italy) vs St.Gallen(Switzerland)

OP

I don't know where I see myself working. can be uk, usa, romania (i'm from here) germany,austria etc. I really prefer milan to live in as st.gallen is too smal for my taste but...bocconi has a prog in english so language is no issue. i also know german at a high level.

Reply 6

JamieLondon

It’s really bad thing to give advice but anyway…

had a friend who really didn’t enjoy his three years at St Gallen; talked of disinterred students etc. Have you been to St Gallen? How do you think you fit with the Swiss mentality?

It’s very important to like where you are studying so given your own stated preference, I know which I’d lean towards.

Reply 7

OP

I've been once in a small town in Switzerland and hated it. Basically I dislike any small city but that one seemeed extreeeeeeeemely boring to me.
Oh well, looks like Milan is the way :biggrin:

thanks

Reply 8

hi,

are you talking about undergraduate or graduate programs? i have myself been admitted to bocconi's master program in finance. well, bocconi is really good in business and particularly finance, but recently heard some things about bocconi that disturb me a little. first, someone wrote on this forum:

"A couple of days ago when I was talking to a person from BB Ibank I was told that if I apply for internships/graduate positions while studying at Bocconi I can be put into disadvantage (as an international) compared to Italians. She said that every bank sends special team consists of Italians to Bocconi career fairs/other events. So, they want to recruit Italian graduates to work with Italian clients/companies, and people from these teams will definitely prefer Italians during interviews. She also said that it was only the case for recruiting at Italian/Spanish unis."

i don't know how worried you will be because of this, perhaps as a romanian you can pick up italian easily or already know it, i guess it is not such a big problem then. another thing that rumours tell, is that bocconi accepts pretty much all candidates to its english language programs, because they want to boost their international students ratio, and the number of foreigners applying to bocconi just isn't so big that they could be as selective as, say, english, us unis or even some french ones. maybe it is just bullcrap, but has made me think. well, i still probably will go there myself.

Reply 9

OP

You mean that int are put at disadvantage compared to italians because of the language or because of the nationality? surely everyone does learn italian before or when they get there ?! it's only logic.
I really am not that worried because I don't really think I'll stay in Milan as long as too look for a job there.

Reply 10

valeryblack

You mean that int are put at disadvantage compared to italians because of the language or because of the nationality? surely everyone does learn italian before or when they get there ?! it's only logic.
I really am not that worried because I don't really think I'll stay in Milan as long as too look for a job there.

not so much the language or nationality as such, but the alleged fact that the english programs of bocconi wouldn't be as highly regarded as corresponding italian programs.

Reply 11

OP

ah...ok, now that would be a bit of a problem but maybe one can change to an italian programme after the first year (?)

Reply 12

by the way, as you mentioned you speak german, you might find following thread interesting in a german speaking forum

Topic: Uni St Gallen vs Bocconi/RSM und LSE

http://www.uni-protokolle.de/foren/viewt/61010,0?sid=0daf865e2e3710f59790744654e8d28e.html

Reply 13

OP

Hm...did a search on that forum in the hope to raed more about Bocconi.
Being that a german thread they are well, slightly biased when it comes to unis in a german speaking country. But al in all, I'd prefer studying in a uni that is on the 4th place rather than in one that has the 2nd place and hate the whole thing (st gallen)
thanks for the input

Reply 14

shonnino

well Bocconi is a very good university.. it is a targeted uni and has lots of contacts.. i dont know about st.gallen.

Reply 15

shonnino

well Bocconi is a very good university.. it is a targeted uni and has lots of contacts.. i dont know about st.gallen.

shonnino, i remember you replied to my similar thread about bocconi v. hec on ib thread. would you have any opinion about if the bocconi's english programs are at same level with the italian ones?

Reply 16

shonnino

well.. i am still an highschool student, so i cant answer you properly. however i had the chance to attend a project/campus last summer in Bocconi. They selected 300ish students and we did this summer camp thing.. i took the english course of the camp, and professors of the english programs gave us lectures.. they were ok.. though some of them did not have an excellent english.

I applied to italian courses.. as the professors of the italian programs seems to be more qualified and have better contacts with other business school. The English programs in bocconi are still "young" compared to the italian ones, so i guess it is natural that the italian ones are better. However the good thing of the english programs is that u get to meet smart and qualified students from all over the world.

Two months ago, i went to a career event in bocconi, but it wasnt for the whole uni, just for a specific course (CLES course which is the Economics course in italian) and i met pple from Citi and Merryl who were italian bocconi graduates, didnt find any non-italians employer, maybe because it was for a specific course. i don't know if they tend to recruit only italian students.. but i guess if you have good grades you will have the same oppurtinities as any other italian student. In addition, most of italian students are not interested in Ibanks..and not all italians are fluent in english.. So..

Reply 17

OP