Master’s degree journey

Hello everyone,
Figured I'd make this post after I finally made up my mind about where to study and why.
Backstory:
I come from a central european country, studied business and economics in my home town (non-target) and became interested in pursuing IB while in my final year.
This ended up being quite difficult since there is close to none IB being done out of my home country, my lack of knowledge of the industry to recruit in other countries and no master's or bachelor's from a reputable college.
Attempt #1
At the end of my Bachelor's degree I decided to apply for a few colleges in Europe that are quite known. At the time, I didn't even know what a GMAT was and quite obviously I didn't get in anywhere.
I ended up settling for University of Luxembourg because it seemed like a good market to be in (this was wrong, because it also wasn't the market for IB). The course was very technical and I felt like it didn't give me enough opportunity to recruit for jobs outside of Big4.
In the 2nd semester it became obvious I should try again. During this period I met @mech60 who was kind enough to help me out and put me on the right path. This is one of the reasons why I love this website, you can meet people who are willing to take the time out of their day to help you. This person helped me out more than some of my family friends who work in banking. My tip here - never hesitate to send someone a PM and ask for advice.
Attempt #2
Around March this year I started looking into Master's programs. I looked into US, AU, UK and Europe. After considerable back and forth and no full rides I decided against US since as a international I'm not guaranteed a visa and 100k+ of debt is too much for me to take on at the moment. I decided against UK as well because of insane costs of studying after they left the EU.
This left me with Europe and Australia. I decided against Australia in the end since I don't feel like leaving my family and seeing them once a year due to the distance.
Around May I started studying for the GMAT and I wish I had done it sooner because it took me awhile to get a score I was satisfied with (around 680). My advice here is - the sooner you start studying and trying mock exams, the better. I even missed some deadlines because of this.
(Random tip - start planning for application requirements ahead of time. Unless your degree certificate is in English, plan on having it translated ahead of time. Apply for the GMAT and IELTS month in advance.)
I applied to EDHEC, RSM, Bocconi, HEC, ESADE, UCD etc. In the end I got accepted to EDHEC, Bocconi, UCD and a few more that I didn't take into the final consideration. My tip here - spend the 50-100€ per application and send out 10-15 applications. It seems like quite a bit of money you'll never get back but it gives you options.
I ended up selecting Bocconi. The reason for this was a mix of things. I can afford it without going into debt, being close to family, quality of school and overall city (I didn't like Luxembourg as it was boring and small).
I intend on doing a update post in a year or so with my impressions and follow-up if I made the right choice.
Final word:
For anyone doubting if they should do something or not, I will always recommend creating a pros and cons list, weighting it out and making the right choice for you.
For any questions about the application process my dm's are always opened. The whole reason why I'm doing this post is to give some insight because half a year ago I was the one searching for people in similar positions to mine. I hope it can help someone.
Cheers!