Year Aboard as UK Undergrad

Hi everyone, I am a first year student (class of 26) at Warwick looking into year abroad opportunities, and I don't know if going for a year abroad will be worth it. My goal is to land an IB/S&T/ER - possibly PB - summer in London/APAC and convert to full time, and don't plan on doing a master degree unless I fail to land any summers/grad schemes. 

Pros of year abroad:

- Reapply for Spring Weeks (only received one low-tier bontique/MM spring this year)

- Ability to apply to Summer Internships 2 times (once in 2025, once in 2026)

- Possibly better market with greater dealflow when rates go down

- Possibly better schools for resume (I can go to Bocconi / HKU / Tsinghua)

- The experience (quite obvious)

Cons of year abroad:

- Risk of wasting a full year if Spring Week applications go south again next year

- Unable to speak the local language (native in Mandarin, but at best beginner in Italian)

- Cost (international student at Warwick - additional 30k + living expenses for the extra year)

Would taking a year abroad be worth it, and which school should I pick out of HKU, Tsinghua, and Bocconi? (I am a Chinese national with right to work in PRC only)

Looking forward to hearing what people here think!

1 Comments
 

Maiores ea ut illo qui tempora. Ut autem qui voluptatibus ut. Consequatur quia cupiditate dignissimos recusandae. Aut sint facere eum quos consequatur repellat non. Quia ut ut non ut rerum. Doloremque facilis ea in sit quo.

Inventore optio ea in aliquam. Omnis recusandae facilis totam. Dicta labore sunt facere suscipit maxime et quod et.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”