CA Residency Details

[deleted526486]

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Hello everyone, thanks in advance for any advice.

I recently had a huge shift in my living situation. My fiance was just offered the job of his dreams in San Diego, CA. Originally, I had planned on applying to medical schools all over the country and he would find a job wherever i went, but that's no longer the case.

It would be amazing to go to UCSD (or even UCI/UCLA/USC), as we would get to stay together for that time. However, I'm not a California resident. I have decent grades (3.89 from a top 10 undergrad), and should have a good MCAT (37 average on practices, taking at the end of the month), but I'm no prodigy, and it is unlikely that I will gain admission as an OOS student.

That being said, I won't really be able to claim residency anywhere else either. I'm currently a resident of Ohio (where I grew up), and I've been living in NC for awhile. I can't claim residency in those states as I'll be 24 and married at the time of matriculation (so financially independent from my parents). I will, however, be a California resident at the time of my (hopeful) matriculation to medical school, but not when I apply.

Since I can't claim residency benefits in any other state, I'm considering putting CA on my application. I've tried searching these forums and other websites about the "legality" of this and it seems that there are a variety of opinions. Many say that schools do not check residency until matriculation (which would be fine for me), while others say that you can't claim residency unless you are a resident at the time of matriculation.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Or should I just email the UCSD admission staff?

 

[UrbanRiver]

I'd say call in at ucsd and ask. USC might be good for u since its a private school. No instate pref. I know a med student at USC.. current first year. Her fiance is also in San Diego doing a PhD at ucsd.. and they're getting married this summer. Since all lectures are webcasted, she spent about a week recently in San Diego to be with her SO.. while still studying. Maybe this can work for u guys in case ucsd doesn't work out?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using SDN Mobile

 

[anguisette]

Before the interview day, UCSD has a form for invited applicants to fill out regarding CA residency status.

It asks questions like: do you have a driver's license, in which state, since which year? Which state did you pay your taxes in last year? Do you have a savings account? Where is the branch you opened the account in located? Did you vote recently? In what year and where?

So... Lots of questions establishing maybe the length of your CA residency. Having said all of that, even if you're OOS first year at UCSD, people are generally able to qualify for in-state tuition the following years.

As for whether you'd be consider a CA resident while applying, that probably varies by schools' policies.

 

[deleted526486]

Thanks for the replies, both of you. I have done some more research on the UCSD residency website and California residency qualifications for tuition. it says that you must be a resident of CA (live for 366 days, financially independent, established intent to stay) by October 2014 for fall 2014. I'm not sure if this is the case for medical school, also, and if that means that I can be considered a resident for admission for fall 2014. I really don't have a state of residence if I can't choose CA.

Anyway, I emailed the person who deals with residency issues at UCSD with my questions. I'll post the answers when I get them.

 

[sinombre]

Lucky for you none of the schools in that area really give preference to in-state applicants (I saw tons of OOS applicants interviewing last cycle). You definitely have a good shot at getting interviews at UCSD, UCI, UCLA, and USC.

I can't really address your main question, but at least you have a good shot at being able to stay in the area (which is awesome, because most people don't have that opportunity).

 

[Goobs]

Lucky for you none of the schools in that area really give preference to in-state applicants (I saw tons of OOS applicants interviewing last cycle). You definitely have a good shot at getting interviews at UCSD, UCI, UCLA, and USC.

I can't really address your main question, but at least you have a good shot at being able to stay in the area (which is awesome, because most people don't have that opportunity).

In case anyones interested for UCSD they interviewed 12.7% of IS applicants and accepted 41.8% of interviewees of which 18.6% matriculated compared to interviewing 7.5%OOS applicants and accepting 44.4% of which 21.6% matriculated. Not sure if it's similar enough to say theres a difference or not though, close call!

Numbers from a combined MSAR and USNWR.