Student Report
Name of the University: University of St. Gallen
Exchange semester: Fall, 2014
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
We received information regarding the online enrolment confirmation procedure in early
March. Everything went smooth and housing confirmation, insurance and additional fees was
all done by late April or early May. All communication was online. If there was something
you forgot to fill out you simply received a personal email and then it was fixed. No problems
or difficulties at all..
Applying for a visa (if applicable)
No need to apply for visa. Only thing we needed to do was to meet at the city hall signing
some papers and then receiving our permit to stay in Switzerland for the full term. Remember
to bring your Norwegian Health Insurance Card so that you don’t need to sign and pay for an
additional insurance.
Travel
Direct airplane with SAS from Gardermoen to Zurich airport. Then a 50-60 min train ride
from Zurich to St. Gallen. Using SAS Youth Fair has the cheapest tickets, however you will
have to pay for extra check in luggage if needed. The train to St. Gallen costs 28 CHF. We
recommend buying the Half Tax card, that gives you half price on a lot of public transport in
Switzerland.
Housing
The housing office provided housing. Four types of options with regards to price level and
preferences (live alone, live with German speaking students etc.). The apartment standard
varied quite a lot without being reflected in the housing fee which ended up for everyone at
approximately 5000,- NOK each month.
Costs
- Approximately how much per month did you spend on rent, books, food,
transportation, and other personal expenses?
Rent
Books
Food
5000 NOK
100 NOK
Equal price level as in Norway
Transport
Equal price level as in Norway
Other
Bars are cheap. Clubbing is expensive
Culture and language
No problems at all with respect to the university where everyone was fluent in English. If you
speak German the German accent in St. Gallen might surprise you. In some sense the
pronunciation of Swiss-German is similar to the differences between Nynorsk and Bokmål so
in the beginning it can be a bit hard to understand everything. The culture is very similar to
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the Norwegian culture. The train facilities around Switzerland are really good (though a bit
expensive) so there are plenty of opportunities to travel around. If you are interesting in
hiking trips in the mountains you have some awesome trips ahead.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please describe:
The school was located at one of the hilltops of St Gallen. About 10 minute walk from the city
centre or 15 minute from the train station. The school itself is a huge concrete building with
auditoriums, lecture rooms, group study rooms and computer rooms. The main building
houses study areas, cantine, sleeping room, studt rooms and computer rooms. A connected
building to the main building, contains the library, auditoriums and another cantine. Campus
also contains a sports area which is free for students. There is a football field as well as gym
facilities, classes (yoga, spinning, body pump, dance arobic, pilates and so on), which is all
free to use by the students. However, the demand for these facilities are way to high, so it is
recommended to sign up for another gym if you want to be get a proper workout
Course registration
Course registration is unique at the university. Every student is given 1000 points they can use
to bid on courses they want. There are 3 main rounds for course bidding as well as 2 waiting
list rounds. Remember that you are responsible to check each course time schedule and make
sure that the courses you bid on do not collide! Remember to also check the exam (decentral
exam) dates to make sure they do not collide as well. Spend some time to develop a schedule
that fits so that you have many options when you bid on courses, and do not bid on all courses
in the first round, it is better to divide the points you have on three courses in the first round to
make sure you get them. The course bidding starts at the end of August and continues
throughout September.
Also be aware that most exchange-students do not need to take 24-30 ECTS, but only 16.
They are still given 1000 points meaning you start at a bidding disadvantage; this is a good
reason to secure your most important courses first. 2-3 good courses in the main bidding
round and the rest of your ECTS in the waiting-list rounds turned out to be a decent strategy.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
1. September
15. September
18. December
10-18. December
Two week semester
break in late
October/beginning of
November
Other:
Arrival
Introduction week is when you meet your buddy (highly recommended to sign up for the
buddy system) and start your German language course. The two first weeks are mostly social
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and you get to meet all the other exchange students. The two first weeks are also when the
bidding process ends and you get assigned your courses.
The International Office
St Gallen University and the “student mobility office”, which takes care of the international
students, are of big help and everything is always in order. The opening hours are a bit short,
but they have great systems and the information you need is always ready for you.
Promoting BI and Norway
There was one exchange fair and a Scandinavian society that we participated at. The
Scandinavian society only created one event this semester.
Social activities
All the social activities were planned and executed by the buddy system. The social life at the
Univerity of St. Gallen was great, especially among the international students. We did
everything from hiking, skiing, roadtrips around the country and party’s. It is highly
recommended to visit Säntis (and hike in Appenzeller), Lucern and Konstanz among others
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
The teaching style is a bit more practical than at BI. Some of the Professors have many years
of work experience and use this when they teach. The approach to learning is more practical
in terms of the use of cases and workshops with local firms. The academic level of the
proffesors and the other students are very high and the workload in each course is great, but
we learned a lot and it was a great challenge. Nevertheless, the share number of hours needed
of readings and school work, was lower than at BI.
Course materials
Mostly power point presentations and journal articals were uses.
Exams
All exchange students take the decentral exam, which means that you are able to take the
exam before Christmas. The normal students take their exams in January. What this means for
the international students is that the exams are mostly during the last week of the semester and
often at the latest lecture. Hence all your exams are very close to eachother and there is not
much time to revice for the exam. The teachers know this and tries to take this into
consideration when making the exams. Most exams were written (60 mins to 3 hours). During
the semester most courses have both presentations, hand-ins, class participation, and in-class
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assigments in addition to the final exam. We recommend looking into the schedule of courses
and maybe take some courses that have exams during the break or straight after the break,
because this will give you a bit better time in the decentral exam week
Library and technology
The library and the study areas was ok, though not as good as at BI. The technology was easy
to understand and use and there was little trouble accessing the computers.
Description of courses
Management Innovation (7,236,1,00) 6 ECTS
Very interesting course that focus on innovation processes in the management of firms. This
is a course that is only taught at St Gallen, and is a part of the highly ranked Strategic
International Master (SIM) (1st in the Financial Times ranking). This is a heavy course with
lots of readings and cases, and a demanding exam.
Costumer Value and Communication Management 1 (7,051,1.00) 6 ECTS
This is a fun marketing course that is very practical and a part of the MA in Marketing. The
class consists of two lectures a week (one theory session and one case session). The course
was this semester taught as a block seminar, meaning that the exam is straight after the break.
The course also contained a field trip to western Switzerland where we visited companies like
Nestle and P&G. This course is highly recommended
Transportations Systems (7,072,1,00) 6 ECTS
This course focuses on the train of Switzerland and how the transportation systems are
important for the economy. The course content is interesting, however the professors teaching
skills were lacking, leading to boring lectures. Still if you are interested in trains, this might be
an easy way to get 6 ECTS
Principles of Corporate communications ( 7,812,1,00) 3 ECTS
Course that looks at communication in an organization. This course might seem boring at first
sight, however, the class consists of a real life case with a company. This year we worked
with Deutche Telecom in a restructuring process. The course is taught during the break and
should be 3 easy credits.
Responsible Supply Chain Management (7.034, 1,00) 3 ECTS
Taught during the first week of the break by a professor from University of Colorado. Active
class, with many ethical and moral dilemmas. Turned out to be an interesting class, with many
take ways. The final exam is in the end of the first week of the “break”, and this course is a
great way of getting three credits done early.
Fundamental Corporate Valuation for active Investors (7,123,1.00) 3 ECTS
Course in valuation of companies based on financial statements. A rather high-level finance
course that requires a lot of work to get through. Very interesting material hindered by the fact
that it was though the first time this year. Should be very good next year. It also has a “twin”
course called “excel based financial modelling” which does not have an exam but rather paper
hand inn, might be a bit more pleasant.
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Strategic Leadership (7,204,1.00) 4 ECTS
Core course of the SIM-master that will demand a lot from you as a student. The focus is on
theories of leadership and how to lead an organization. The lecturer was both a central
researcher in the field and a consulting practitioner, which really added to the course. Loads
of presentations and internal competition (best presentation). Even guests from Porche and
Hilti. In the consulting exam we were given a case 48 hours before, then we traveled to
Lichtenstein to interview senior executives of Hilt and then after 3 hours of work we had to
present in front of the executives, students and teacher. Both the course and the exam were
very memorable. Only do this course if you are comfortable with stress and intense teamwork,
not for the faint of heart.
Research in Management (7,208,1.00) 4 ECTS
The research methods course of the SIM-master. Very practical focus, with real-life data and
cases as the material. It covers qualitative and quantitative methods extensively.
Recommended if you find methods to be boring or if you enjoy qualitative stuff. The main
project of this course was qualitative research in Allianz where we went to Munich to
interview employees in a department at their German corporate headquarters. Very exciting
and very realistic.
Corporate Development and Business Innovation (7,237,1.00) 6 ECTS
This course was thought during the “break” and was very intensive. Up to 10 hours of lectures
every day in three days. The lecturer was a vice-president at Daimler and very
knowledgeable, but the course is weighted down by extremely intense hours and only using
slides as material. The course itself deals with how to be a Chief Strategy Officer and how to
ensure proper execution of strategy. Interesting material, bad setup.
International Management (7,202,1.00) 4 ECTS
Another demanding SIM-course. One group paper with a presentation and a central exam.
The lectures are very interactive and it is recommended to be prepared before each class.
Strategic Management (SIM) (7,200,1.00) 4 ECTS
Best course I ever had. This is a interactive course where you are assigned one group case,
one individual case and a final exam. Every lecture there is a group presentation. The cases
are mostly real life cases and you definitely have a chance to improve your consulting skills.
Strategy Execution (7,241,1.00) 6 ECTS
The same teacher as in strategic management, but more focus on the execution part. There is
one group case which we presented for the CFO of the case company, where you get feedback
right away. There is also a final exam.
Practical Leadership in Development Aid Management (7,364,1.00) 4 ECTS
Interesting course focusing mostly on projects done in Africa and developing countries. For
me it was interesting to get the investment perspective of these areas and how grasp future
growth opportunities.
Additional notes on SIM-courses
If you bid on any courses that are core to the SIM-master you better be ready for a wild ride.
These courses are generally of high quality, but also extremely demanding. Working together
with SIMS-students can also be a challenge since they are very busy. The SIM-classes are
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excellent possibilities to network if you are willing to put inn the effort, since they are highly
motivated students from any continent.
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