Doing degrees between continents

I’m an American high schooler in my senior year, and I’ve been trying to figure out where I’d like to attend university. One of the things I’ve been considering is going to some European school to do a bachelors in psychology, and then returning to the U.S. for a doctorate program. Since I’m just starting out, I’m unclear on a lot of the important details. So, I wanted to see what I’d need to know about transferring, how possible it is, and whatever else I’d need to know more about regarding the degree I want. The ultimate goal is to be a licensed psychologist in the U.S. who did their doctorate in an Ivy League, but I’m unsure if this is workable.

The reason I want to do a bachelors in Europe is because I need a redo, if you will. Something to make my résumé look better before I apply to an Ivy League, as my high school scores are decent, but not Ivy League good. Another thing I want is the experience of Europe and the romantic language group. I’ve also heard how low the costs are for European schools.

Some problems I’ve heard about are course credit transfer issues, costs upon returning to the U.S., and getting scholarships as an international student. I just want to know how this comes out, especially since I’m not originating from Europe (having done high school in America), but instead leaving and returning to the United States.

I do have options for American universities to do a bachelors in, but I am curious about Europe, and would like that experience. The goal is to keep costs down, but I do know that’s not always possible… particularly with my decisions—transferring to and from a Europe. So I also wanted to see what options there are for living and learning Europe as a foreigner. Are dorms commonplace? Will I be finding my own place? Is it possible to live with a European family while I do my bachelors? I’ve heard something about that.

Since you want to keep costs down, why not find an inexpensive school here and study abroad. For example, FSU gives in state tuition to those who study through their abroad program first year.

If I read you right, you are saying you want to go to Europe for a year or two and then transfer to an Ivy ? That’s a highly unlikely strategy abd you can do the same here. As for language, you can look at a language flagship school.

If you go through a U.S. school your classes will likely transfer to that school.

As for PhD, on a per capita basis, not a single Ivy is on the top 20 for feeding to Psych PhD.

But not overly difficult and strong merit schools are such as Hendrix, Ripon, Kalamazoo, and Whitman.

Can you validate if I understand your timeline properly - that your degree would come from the US and not Europe ??

Transferring into an Ivy will be near impossible. Not impossible but very very difficult no matter your record.