Why I Decided Not To Study Another Year Abroad

Recently, I made quite a big decision. So I thought that it will be good to note down and share my thoughts and reflection. The decision was whether to add an intercalated year to my 3-year degree to study abroad. As a brief background, University of Warwick allows students to apply for an intercalated year to study abroad. Students in International Management and International Business degrees have priorities in choosing the schools as it is compulsory under their degrees. As I study Accounting and Finance, I could only choose from a list of remaining schools after they have been allocated to their schools.

As an aspiring entrepreneur, I have always wanted to go to the US to experience the culture, especially the startup culture. An intercalated year is a great opportunity, especially since getting a visa will be less of an issue. Being very eager, I submitted my name to the waiting list in my first year, even though the waiting list was only for second year students.

After more than a year of waiting, last Thursday, I received the list of schools I could apply to. To my disappointment, University of California was no longer on the list. The only university in the US I could apply to was University of South Carolina. It seems like a pretty good school but it is very far from where I want to be - San Francisco.

The next nearest option is University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. It's on the north of the west coast of the US. I was not sure which university to apply to. I thought about applying to UBC because a Canadian friend (Richard Loat, an amazing social entrepreneur) told me about the vibrant startup culture there. However, my goal has always been to go to the Silicon Valley so I also thought about possibly flying to San Francisco from Vancouver during my breaks when I'm there.

Seeking Advice and Reflecting

I decided to talk to a few friends about this. One of them is Kosta Mavroulakis. The first thing he asked me was, "Why do you want to go to the US?". I said that I wanted to immerse in the startup culture there (to be inspired and meet new people). Then he asked me, "What is missing in the UK that makes you want to go to the US?". I replied that the entrepreneurship and startup culture is stronger there than in the UK.

Just by thinking about these two questions and answering them, I had a realisation. I have been too absorbed into choosing an university to apply to and have forgotten about the bigger picture. Instead of going for an intercalated year abroad, there are also other ways to go to the Silicon Valley such as graduating next year and using the extra year to look for other opportunities to go there. Applying to a school on the list from my university is limiting myself to those few options.

Furthermore, I realised that the idea of going to Canada for the vibrant startup culture there was not well thought through. According to the Startup Genome report on startup ecosystem, London is ranked higher than Vancouver in terms of startup activities. Since I'm based about an hour train ride away from London, it does not make much sense to spend an additional year and lots of money to fly to Vancouver for that startup culture there when I'm so close to a highly ranked startup ecosystem and I can immerse in it now.

This also made me realise that I have not been doing enough to experience the startup culture here in the UK. I had been too focused on trying to go to San Francisco and neglected the fact that I am already in a country with a great startup culture. London may be not as good as San Francisco, but it is still pretty impressive.

The Decision

In the end, I made the decision to not go for an intercalated year and to graduate in July next year as I am confident that I will be able to find a better way to move to the Silicon Valley eventually. For example, I can find a job in a startup in that area or find a remote job and move there. Either of these options will be more enriching than visiting Silicon Valley as a student as I will be able to really be involved in the startup culture there.

Silicon Valley, see you someday in the future! For now, it is time to immerse myself in the UK startup ecosystem! (Thank you, Kosta, Richard, Zac and Matt for listening to me and giving me advice and your thoughts on this!)