Classic Apartment

2200

By the Cathedral, in the center of town

https://mama-home.ch/

So damn overpriced. 16m^2 for over 2k per month is a joke. Location was right in town, which I liked, but most students live up on the hill by the university, which is smart in a sense because there are a LOT of stairs to walk up from the center to uni every day. Landlord was an a** hole (not sure if I can say that on here). Never sent me a signed copy of the contract back although I called and emailed her multiple times (so I basically lived there illegally), and also the apartment was built badly, and the fire detector was placed right above my stove so every time I cooked the fire alarm went off and the fire department came (thats a 1,400 CHF fine btw - they came 3 times...). Landlord made me pay, so I had to sue her (which also wasn't cheap in Switzerland, but I was being ripped off and it was about the principle for me. Other exchange students found apartments for much cheaper, I think if you live not in the center of town you can get better prices

I study in Madrid, which is of course a huge party city, but St Gallen was so bad compared to it. There is barely any clubs, and most of the time when you go there is no one else there.

I don't recommend any of the mandatory classes for students there as the classes are overfilled and the professors are bad. And rude too. Professors were very unapproachable at HSG

Careful with the bidding!!! If you come for universities like mine, where all your classes are picked for you, it is a little different that you have to make sure your schedule doesn't clash. Use the Biddit website from the student government to check that it doesn't clash BEFORE the bidding process Campus was also super boring. Most of the campus is just boring exposed bricks. The new building, The Square, is nice and modern but reminds me a bit of a hospital. Also, after like 7:45 in the morning, good luck finding a study spot anywhere in the uni. If you want to study in the library or in the Square, best arrive early!! (there are lines in front of the school at 7:30 already with people waiting to secure a spot)

One good thing is the trips. Super good location. Can take the train almost anywhere. In an hour you can get to a lot of different mountains for hikes, 1h train to Lichtenstein (day trip only), 2.5 train to Munich so you can go to Oktoberfest if you are there in the fall, then also the rest of Switzerland there are so many beautiful spots to travel too. Get the "Half Fare" ticket from SBB (the Swiss train operator) to get half price on all train and bus rides. Super worth it because St Gallen is super boring, so you will travel a lot. Zurich airport is an hour by train away in case you want to fly somewhere. Most classes don't have mandatory attendance so you can do longer trips and skip some classes.

Everything is expensive AF, city is super safe, very boring tho. Shops close around 18h on weekdays, and after that the city dies. On weekends (especially Sundays) you wont see a soul in town. Most HSG students also travel or go home then, so its hard to hang out with them then too. There are also only limited food options, but all very good (but again, expensive)

Not that I can think of, but feel free to reach out: lschmitz.ieu2022@student.ie.edu or +34 697 440 138