SSE or HSG
Hi guys,
I've been accepted to both the MBF programme at St. Gallen and the MSc Finance and Accounting (corporate finance or Investment Management) at Stockholm School of Economics. I honestly don't know which to choose. First of all I don't know German nor Swedish. My career goal is to to work in Asset Management in London, but to be honest I'm not that sure about this, as I have almost no work experience and cannot really decide what will be interesting to me. I would very much prefer to live in Stockholm, because it seems like a great city. However, if I manage to learn German, another job market will be open to me as well, which will be great. Moreover, I am not really sure whether I will be able to socialize as much in Switzerland as I presume that there will be less internationals and everybody will be speaking German.
What do you think? Which programme is better and will give me a better shot to land a decent job? Thanks
Congrats on your acceptances! If you prefer to live in Stockholm, I would say go for it. A word of caution though: It is very hard to learn to speak German at a level that would make it possible for you to speak it in a business environment, especially in just 2 years. Don't know how difficult Swedish is, but I can imagine it's not much easier.
Congrats, both top schools! I went to HSG, it does very well in finance recruitment ( basically all BBs come on campus) and consulting and I can't think of one of my peers that really wanted to do IBD / consulting and didn't get a gig upon graduation. However to be fair German could be a concern as the banks recruit a lot for Frankfurt / zurich, but I and others from my class got offers for London so can't complain. And I do think you can learn German in a year if you go with the right attitude ( at least it's what I witnessed, many people pick it up) but you need to have german speaking flat mates etc, its also really easy to go by without knowing a word as everybody speaks English. Also for AM there are a couple of good shops that recruit there, some smallish HFs in Pfaffikon and some large like Allianz or DWS ( in germany though).
I can't speak for SSE but I have seen students from there at a lot of ACs and I think it places very well, and it might very well have the upper hand when it comes to London recruiting as there are probably more alumnis ( hsgs mostly are in Frankfurt and Zurich), but then again I think you should get interviews coming from both schools provided your profile is decent. Learning German might be more useful in the future than Swedish though ( strongest economy in europe etc).
Then, what's perhaps most relevant if you're single, swedish girls >>>>> st. Gallen; its a small swiss german town with not much going on and there is 75% guy / 25% girl ratio in the uni =).
For whatever it is worth, Stockholm is a very nice city! Especially this time of the year :) And SSE is a good school, of course.
word of caution - German can be hard and it is not enough just to be able to study on it or understand it; it should be flawless for elite gigs in Germany, although not all firms are that strict
I suppose that most of the opportunities will be for German-speaking area, but there should be many other for London etc.
anyway, congratz and let us know what you decided
my +1 goes to HSG
Swedish girls are definitely a plus, yes :D I know that HSG is extremely well regarded in the German-speaking area, however SSE seems to have a slight edge in London placements and I definitely prefer working in the UK. I spent my undergraduate years at a small university town and I feel like living in a proper city for a change. However, I don't want to sacrifice my career prospects for that. I guess it all comes down to whether I can really learn German (I pick up languages fairly fast, however I am not the hardest of workers), and whether having the option to go work in Zurich/Frankfurt is worth living in a small town (again), when it won't probably be that helpful when searching for a job in London (my first choice).
Two questions regarding HSG. In what language do most students communicate on a daily basis, English or German? Are presentations and career fairs usually in German or English?
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Unfortunately, I didn't get an offer from LSE. I did my undergraduate in the UK, decent university, don't know whether that will be a big plus when applying for a graduate position. As I said, I am not really sure whether AM is the best path for me, as my work experience is almost non-existent - two summer internships back home, I did not learn anything from them, to be honest. It's not like I would hate to work in IBD or consulting, AM just seems more fascinating right now.
My native language is Bulgarian, not very useful for finding a job abroad.
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