HSG MBF… as a english-only speaker?

Has anyone went to HSG (St. Gallen) as an english-only/non german speaker, particularly in their MBF program? How was it?

For context, i’m heading into my last year at a top semi target in the UK with a few IB & buyside internships but at complete no name shops and want to break into IB/PE/ER/MBB etc. post graduation, obviously my preference is London being that I only speak english but would be more than happy to work in Zurich or another EU hub if the opportunity was there (am an EU citizen with perm residency in UK)

Has anyone went to HSG in either their MBF/MiM and broke into high finance/consulting in London or Zurich or elsewhere with ONLY english language skills? Am I an idiot for considering this?

21 Comments
 

Difficult to land a job in IB in Zurich without speaking German. Only a handful of firms do not have this requirement. However, HSG and especially MBF carries a lot of weight in Zurich thus you will get interviews there. The banking days is in my opinion of the best recruiting event in Europe. Brand in London is also fairly strong. I know for a fact that this year HSG was the most represented school at JPM for their IB SA programme with >10 students hired.

I am personally not a German speaker but I got interviews at many firms including top BB, MBB, MF PE during my time in the MBF

 

Thanks for this, do you speak any other euro languages or just english? Also how was your time as a student being that you didn’t speak german? Any culture things about the program worth noting?

 

Let’s say I get rejected from both for whatever reason. Worth going to HSG over, say, Bocconi or second/third tier programs in the UK like Imperial A + F etc

 

If you get rejected by LBS and HEC, then you also won't have any chances for the HSG MBF. It is by far the most competitive finance program in the German-speaking area and I would argue even slightly more difficult to get into than into HEC. This is the case for Germans but maybe as a non-German speaker you ll have an edge at HSG admissions due to internationality.

There is also the HSG MaccFin which is less selective, i.e. no GMAT required, lower grade cutoff, larger cohort, but still has very strong placement (from the German perspective, not sure about London placement).

 

Esse aperiam quaerat et totam. Facere magnam quas iure sit. Rerum perferendis ex officia qui velit. Officiis deleniti commodi voluptatem cum hic. Debitis eaque nihil eligendi porro.

Necessitatibus soluta dolor doloremque ullam quam earum. Quisquam laborum eveniet aut dolorem.

Quas blanditiis incidunt hic ullam iste vero molestiae. Quis unde quibusdam earum sed et. Ut rem adipisci culpa et totam et. Nam quam iste magnam minima.

Career Advancement Opportunities

May 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

May 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

May 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

May 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (65) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”