Dental school choice for duel citizen

[BandtheP45]

Hello, I have a few questions. I have almost finished my bachelors and I have paid for it with the GI Bill. I have also recently obtained my Irish Citizenship so I am now a duel American and Irish citizen. School is a lot cheaper for EU citizens but I don’t know if I would qualify for their rate because I’ve never lived in the EU. Has anyone else been in a similar situation and tried to go to school overseas? Is there a big difference in the curriculum overseas compared to the US? I also will not have any student debt when I get out of college, but my GI Bill will be depleted and if I go to dental school, I will have to take out loans. What is a ballpark number for student loan debt for dental school in the US cost?

In summary:

Has anyone with dual citizenship gone to dental school in Ireland? How much did it cost?

What are the main differences in the curriculums overseas (particularly Ireland) and the US? If I go overseas, will I have to have more schooling when I come back to the US or will the degree I earn over there be sufficient?

About how much will my student loans be for four years of dental school in the US?

Thank you!


P.S. I have already served for over six years in the Air Force and I am a disabled veteran. The idea of giving up my pension and returning to the Military is too thrilling, even if they would repay my loans.

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[DentalDoge]

I cant say anything about Ireland because Ive never been to Ireland either.

But US dental school costs vary dramatically. You are looking at around $200k - $500k for 4 years.

I will say this, if you go to DS in Ireland you WILL need additional schooling if you decided you did not want to practice in Ireland and want to practice stateside.

 

[arlmay]

I may be wrong but I am acquaintances with a veteran using his GI bill for DS. I don't know if you could pay for undergrad out of pocket and save your GI bill for DS

 

[xerxes106]

Depends on the school. You have Irish citizenship which is in the EU so you get a helluva lot of benefits. I have UK citizenship and although I qualify for domestic tuition rates, some places wont give it to you unless you have lived there for a year. Other countries like Germany, with that EU citizenship you have right of abode, no need for visas, and can easily enroll in schools without having lived there prior.

 

[toothshine]

http://www.ucc.ie/en/study/undergrad/cost/
https://www.tcd.ie/academicregistry/fees-payments/course-fees/UG_EU_Fees_2013-14.pdf

A quick skim showed me that some schools require that you have been residing in the EU for at least 3 years prior to enrollment/application. I only looked at the two unis above (in Ireland), but I'm sure you could apply to other EU dental schools as well. @xerxes106 mentioned Germany, but I'm pretty sure the courses will be taught in German - and universities generally require a C1 level of German for enrollment into a program taught in German.

I would think about this carefully, because if you want to return to the US to practice dentistry, you usually would need an additional 2 years of dental school (taking the NDBE Part I, applying with those scores, and then getting into a US dental school somewhere). Unless the US and Ireland have some sort of reciprocity agreement like Canada and Ireland does (or so I read somewhere on these forums recently)... but as far as I know, the US doesn't have reciprocity agreements in terms of dental schools.

 

[BandtheP45]

You guys are awesome! Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. It looks like I will need to stick with the US. I am going to try and get the Voc Rehab Bill to pay for dental school... Providing I get in. It is rare but not unheard of. Giz wiz info, if you have an Irish grandparent then you can get your citizenship. Do it before your kids are born and they can get it too! Then move over there when there in highschool and then send them to University for next to nothing! If only my wife would go along with that plan....

 

[toothshine]

if you have an Irish grandparent then you can get your citizenship. Do it before your kids are born and they can get it too! Then move over there when there in highschool and then send them to University for next to nothing! If only my wife would go along with that plan....

Haha. It's the same for Italy - if you have an Italian grandparent, you can also apply for Italian citizenship and get it pretty easily. The only problem with that is that if your kids end up studying in the EU and want to go to dental school in the US (assuming they're dual citizens with US citizenship), it might be tough because lots of dschools require that your undergrad be completed in the US.