Bern vs. St.Gallen

My first term in St. Gallen is almost over - only the ugly part remains: exams. But it´s time to for a first conclusion, to answer some questions I´ve been asked connected to my transition and to compare Universities Bern and St. Gallen - now that I´m one of not too many who can really compare it! And I hope that all those strange reactions and behaviour a person gets (from both sides) when they say, that they switch from Bern to St. Gallen will change in the future. One side thinks, that you abuse the system and get easier, with less effort to the same degree than they did, and the other side thinks that you turn into an arrogant, money oriented bastard. I really can´t remember a first reaction which was “cool move”. It was more or less always “why?”
Ok, all of you who are reading this, I´d like to ask before reading further, what your picture about both universities is? And then ask yourself for how much of it you really have a proof and not just rumours you heard?

Now, here we go with my impressions from the first 3 months…

The students
Well there´s a common prejudice that all St. Galler students are arrogant, living on a different level than other students and thinking that they´re better than everyone else. My impression is that this prejudice is wrong on a general level. Most of the students are normal people, you can talk on a down-to-earth level and they face the same problems like me and you. It might be that sometimes they´re looking a bit more for their bests than at other universities, but still it´s not so drastic that you don´t help eachother out.
Like I said, this conclusion is on a general level. Like everywhere else, there are exceptions which prove the rule. You have them as well in Bern. Here, you can recognize most of them form their burberry scarfs (favourite color brown) or their draw-up collar of their polo-shirts. And another good indicator is a membership of AC (Ausländer-Club).

The lectures
The approach of my studies is more praxis oriented and more collaborative work in groups than I was used to in Bern (which was actually one of the reasons I decided to switch). The level of regular lectures is not really higher than I´m used to. Which proofs, that you can learn something at other universities as well and that St. Gallen is not the one and only. And the quality of professors is approx. the same. There are the ones who lecture very well. Then you have the ones who´s structure of thinking is very confusing - and if they express their thoughts in the same order, it´s kind of difficult to get their message. In the third category are externals which provide good lectures but are annoyed by all the regulations of the university. And finally we have the ones who are more a substitute of the central heating system than a facilitator.

The infrastructure
In this section I see the biggest difference to Business Administration in Bern. We have a nice centralized system where you can apply for exams and a central platform where you can get all your study material. In Bern you always had to do a hunting trip through the institute sites in order to get your study material. Apart from the systems you have quite similar infrastructure. Rooms are too small (or too many students are in there), too expensive cafeterias or a crowded library - we know this already.

It´s difficult to say what is better and what is worse and what the real reason is. Some effects are maybe related to the university, some might be related to a different level of studies (master vs. bachelor). To conclude I can say that I don´t regret my step and I don´t have to wonder how it would have been, if…