American High school student, endgame is to practice in Europe. Need advice

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EuropeandentistCT

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I am a 16 year old American entering my senior year of high school, looking at colleges now. Little bit of background, I am half Indian, and look it (I don't know if that would be an issue). I know basic High school French, and English is native. Grades-wise, I am competitive for the top caliber of schools, extra curriculars, not so much. If I end up getting accepted to a top-tier school, after financial package+ my parents, I would have to take out a loan around $30k/year. That of course, is w/o scholarships/jobs/workstudy that would be different school to school. My other option would be going to my state school (UCONN), and going through their Honors program. In-state tuition is basically half of what a private school would cost, and with aid, I estimate I would have to take out a loan in the range of $10k-$16k/year.

My endgame is to become a medical professional in Europe, and I'm really leaning towards dentist at this stage. At the moment my plan is as follows:

  1. Get a 4 year Biochemistry/whatever premed degree that will prepre me for European dental school, as well as the usual shadowing/research. Try to take language classes, probably minor in French.
1a. Study abroad, hopefully in Paris or SE Asia, so I can either live in Paris and work on French immersion, or so I can travel in SE Asia.

1b. Work on campus wherever I go in order to generate money for spring/winter/summer break traveling.

  1. Apply through the Atlantic Bridge program and go to dental school in Ireland, so I am qualified to be a dentist for anywhere in the EU as well as Canada. Take out a loan for this, see if I can get any aid.

  2. Live somewhere in Western Europe as a dentist.
This is obviously an over simplification of the process, but as a whole, will it work?

I don't know if I would say my plan hinges on this, but I am also in the process of getting jur sanguinis Italian citizenship through my Great-Grandfather. I'm currently tracking down his naturalization records to see if my grandfather was born before he naturalized. If I get the Italian citizenship, will that make my plan even easier? Will there be issues if I can't get the Italian citizenship? All that I've read seems to think STEM is the way to get a European visa if you're American; does that include medical professionals?

Finally, I have been unable to find a consistent salary area that medical professionals make. On this website, I'm finding they make 50k-60k USD/year in Europe, but Spain has 185k USD, and that sounds wrong with what I know about Spain's job crisis. On this job website, I found that most of these jobs that require 3-5 years of experience offer 80k-120k EUR/year with other perks. I know that European salaries are lower than American salaries, and that is definitely evident here. However, the better standard of living (IMO) makes up for that. I guess what I'm trying to ask, is, what is a dentist's salary and what kind of lifestyle would it allow me to live?

So I realize after reading this, is it's kind of unorganized, but all of this is in my head and I kind of just had to type it out. Oh, and the reason that I'm not just applying to a program such as Charles University in Prague (6 year right out of HS), is that I don't know what the situation will be like in 4 years. Maybe I will really want to stay here, in which case I'm effectively screwed if I go overseas. All the people I've asked (dentists, doctors, relatives, parents, counselors) think that it is too early in my life to make such a big decision, and I agree with them. I want to see how I feel about this idea in 4 years, after I have matured a bit. Although I don't know, is it smarter to just go to Malta/Budapest/Prague and attend dental school there if endgame is to become a European dentist?

I am just here to see if my plan is a good one, and if you guys can answer any of the questions I talked about earlier. If I forgot to mention an important detail, or if you have comments/questions, please ask them, as I would like to know from more experienced people than I. Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, kind of new to this in general.

Thanks

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Honestly, and not trying to be mean or anything, but you're 16. Every 16 yr old wants to go to Europe and live. I did for sure.

I would go to the best or cheapest undergrad here because I agree with the other people you've asked - 16 is very young to be making decisions that involve leaving family like that.
Plus where would you live? Would your parents move with you? Would they be supporting you? There are more questions to be asked with the Prague decision. I'm not sure how loans would work or how the program works.
 
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Honestly, and not trying to be mean or anything, but you're 16. Every 16 yr old wants to go to Europe and live. I did for sure.

Yeah that is probably true haha.

I would go to the best or cheapest undergrad here because I agree with the other people you've asked - 16 is very young to be making decisions that involve leaving family like that.
Plus where would you live? Would your parents move with you? Would they be supporting you? There are more questions to be asked with the Prague decision. I'm not sure how loans would work or how the program works.

I am just apprehensive really about doing all this now... at the moment, I am really just feeling like going to the cheapest undergrad here, then reconsidering if I truly want to move my life to Europe in 4 years. I was just hoping people here might have a bit of experience with some of the programs.
 
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I think you need to chill on your plans to go to Europe. I feel like we don't really know how good we have it in the states until we actually see what other countries are like lol! That being said, I'm amazed at how much you're trying to plan out ahead of time. When I was your age in high school, all I wanted to do was chill with friends and play games. You went all out in hs and gave yourself a really nice shot at scholarships and stuff :)
 
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Be 16.
It's good to have goals, but yours are about 10 years out and VERY specific.
-Finish off high school strong, keep your grades and EC'S high. Have fun and enjoy your senior year.
-Go to college, work very hard, but make sure you leave enough time to ENJOY college. Have fun.
-Go to a U.S. dental school. Do not make a decision you may regret.
-Europe is crazy now. Who knows how it will be in 10 years.

Enjoy yourself, be 16!
 
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I am a 16 year old American entering my senior year of high school, looking at colleges now. Little bit of background, I am half Indian, and look it (I don't know if that would be an issue). I know basic High school French, and English is native. Grades-wise, I am competitive for the top caliber of schools, extra curriculars, not so much. If I end up getting accepted to a top-tier school, after financial package+ my parents, I would have to take out a loan around $30k/year. That of course, is w/o scholarships/jobs/workstudy that would be different school to school. My other option would be going to my state school (UCONN), and going through their Honors program. In-state tuition is basically half of what a private school would cost, and with aid, I estimate I would have to take out a loan in the range of $10k-$16k/year.

My endgame is to become a medical professional in Europe, and I'm really leaning towards dentist at this stage. At the moment my plan is as follows:

  1. Get a 4 year Biochemistry/whatever premed degree that will prepre me for European dental school, as well as the usual shadowing/research. Try to take language classes, probably minor in French.
1a. Study abroad, hopefully in Paris or SE Asia, so I can either live in Paris and work on French immersion, or so I can travel in SE Asia.

1b. Work on campus wherever I go in order to generate money for spring/winter/summer break traveling.

  1. Apply through the Atlantic Bridge program and go to dental school in Ireland, so I am qualified to be a dentist for anywhere in the EU as well as Canada. Take out a loan for this, see if I can get any aid.

  2. Live somewhere in Western Europe as a dentist.
This is obviously an over simplification of the process, but as a whole, will it work?

I don't know if I would say my plan hinges on this, but I am also in the process of getting jur sanguinis Italian citizenship through my Great-Grandfather. I'm currently tracking down his naturalization records to see if my grandfather was born before he naturalized. If I get the Italian citizenship, will that make my plan even easier? Will there be issues if I can't get the Italian citizenship? All that I've read seems to think STEM is the way to get a European visa if you're American; does that include medical professionals?

Finally, I have been unable to find a consistent salary area that medical professionals make. On this website, I'm finding they make 50k-60k USD/year in Europe, but Spain has 185k USD, and that sounds wrong with what I know about Spain's job crisis. On this job website, I found that most of these jobs that require 3-5 years of experience offer 80k-120k EUR/year with other perks. I know that European salaries are lower than American salaries, and that is definitely evident here. However, the better standard of living (IMO) makes up for that. I guess what I'm trying to ask, is, what is a dentist's salary and what kind of lifestyle would it allow me to live?

So I realize after reading this, is it's kind of unorganized, but all of this is in my head and I kind of just had to type it out. Oh, and the reason that I'm not just applying to a program such as Charles University in Prague (6 year right out of HS), is that I don't know what the situation will be like in 4 years. Maybe I will really want to stay here, in which case I'm effectively screwed if I go overseas. All the people I've asked (dentists, doctors, relatives, parents, counselors) think that it is too early in my life to make such a big decision, and I agree with them. I want to see how I feel about this idea in 4 years, after I have matured a bit. Although I don't know, is it smarter to just go to Malta/Budapest/Prague and attend dental school there if endgame is to become a European dentist?

I am just here to see if my plan is a good one, and if you guys can answer any of the questions I talked about earlier. If I forgot to mention an important detail, or if you have comments/questions, please ask them, as I would like to know from more experienced people than I. Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, kind of new to this in general.

Thanks

Hey,

what did you end up deciding?
 
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