Can I become a Georgia resident?

[repoetic]

Hey everyone,

I've been researching some medical schools that I could apply to and one that I'm very much interested in is Mercer University as well as UGA. I'm an undergrad at UGA so my question is, and I was hoping that someone on SDN has been in a similar situation, if I rent an off-campus apartment/find a GA job/not be listed as a dependent on my parents' tax return for a year, would becoming a GA resident for the purposes of admission to these two universities be an option? I've investigated residency rules for the state and it's unclear whether I can still attend a university in GA full time and establish domicile in the state so I was really hoping somebody else here was able to do this at their university or maybe I'm just naive. Also, I know that some states are good to have a residency for medical school admissions and is Minnesota one of these? I wouldn't want to give up that residency if it's regarded as an asset like Texas' is for example. Thank you for any help

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[GrapesofRath]

https://www.aamc.org/download/321466/data/factstable5.pdf

Minnesota matriculates about 20% IS. It's a pretty "meh" state for MD residency purposes. I have no idea about Georgia residency rules but if you can establish residency there I think about 27% of IS applicants stay in Georgia for med school which is definitely a higher number. On top of that, Mercer's stats are a little lower than U of Minnesota(although I think Medical College of GA and U of Minnesota are very close).

 

[bootsandspooky]

FYI, Medical College of Georgia (MCG) is the second medical school that you are referring to; UGA does not have a medical school, though Athens is the site of a secondary MCG campus as far as I know.

I googled the in-state tuition requirements for UGA, Georgia Tech, and MCG (see the question "How do I prove that I am a Georgia resident?" on the MCG page). The gist of it is that you need to have proof of paying in-state taxes for at least one year, and the MCG link says that you also need to have a GA driver's license (which it seems you can obtain pretty quickly). From what I've heard and read, Mercer highly values commitments to rural and primary care, so demonstrating familiarity/interest in these areas would be helpful for your application there.

To be absolutely crystal-clear on the requirements, your best option would be to directly contact the schools.

 

[ChrisMack390]

I think your best bet may be to do a gap year and get a full time job in Georgia.

 

[robin911]

Also, I know that some states are good to have a residency for medical school admissions and is Minnesota one of these? I wouldn't want to give up that residency if it's regarded as an asset like Texas' is for example. Thank you for any help

Just to be clear, you are asking whether state of legal residence is considered by adcoms when applying to schools that are not your resident state?
You are asking, for example, whether adcoms acknowledge that you are a resident of Minnesota when applying to, say, Brown or Dartmouth?? (Just want to be sure your question is clear)

 

[repoetic]

Just to be clear, you are asking whether state of legal residence is considered by adcoms when applying to schools that are not your resident state?
You are asking, for example, whether adcoms acknowledge that you are a resident of Minnesota when applying to, say, Brown or Dartmouth?? (Just want to be sure your question is clear)

Yeah, that's part of my question- please correct me if I'm wrong but I was once told that, although private medical schools don't care about your state of residence in the application, out of state students are hardly ever admitted to public medical schools so at those places it's critical. I wanted to become a GA resident so I had a shot at Mercer's 3 year MD program and the tuition rates at UGA but before I took the steps to become a GA resident I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be denied and forced into some limbo position where neither MN nor GA treated me as in-state applicant. This thread has been very helpful so far

 

[robin911]

Yeah, that's part of my question- please correct me if I'm wrong but I was once told that, although private medical schools don't care about your state of residence in the application, out of state students are hardly ever admitted to public medical schools so at those places it's critical. I wanted to become a GA resident so I had a shot at Mercer's 3 year MD program and the tuition rates at UGA but before I took the steps to become a GA resident I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be denied and forced into some limbo position where neither MN nor GA treated me as in-state applicant. This thread has been very helpful so far

Though I am not an expert on what is considered "state of residence" on my UMN application they simply asked "are you a resident of the state of minnesota?" and then you have ~100 characters to explain why yes or no. If you grew up in MN, attended high school in MN then I think that they would still consider you in-state, especially if your parents still live here in MN.

Therefore, the only problem I see you having is justifying to MCG and Mercer that you want to be considered a GA resident even though you grew up in MN. For financial reasons, if you were to get accepted into MCG or Mercer, if you successfully change state of residence to GA you may get the IS tuition break. However, I am not sure adcoms will be convinced if you only have 1-2 years of residence. I am by no means an expert on this and would call to make sure.

Also, as a side note, why wouldn't you want to apply to the UMN as a MN resident?

 

[repoetic]

Also, as a side note, why wouldn't you want to apply to the UMN as a MN resident?

Thank you so much for the info! It's not that I didn't want to apply to UMN out-of state but on the AMCAS I thought I could only list one state of residence so I was planning on putting down Georgia instead of Minnesota because I was hoping to get into Mercer's 3 year MD program but they only accept legal residents of Georgia. I assume that following those steps (getting a GA license, paying GA taxes, etc.) would disqualify me from MN residency at the UMN but that would become a really bad thing if I wasn't a resident of GA either

 

[medic86]

OP:

This is not a good plan. Mercer vets length of residence in GA, and if you moved here just to become a resident and apply, you probably won't get an interview at all.

If you want to move to a state for a better chance at medical school, I'd move to Texas.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Establishing Ga residency requires you to hold a job in the state for 1 year, pay taxes, register to vote in Ga, and transfer your drivers lisence. You also need to be financially independent of your parents (ie they can't be paying your tuition). So you need a gap year if you want too.

Also look into mercer more before you make that commitment. I know some students there and they're all pretty disappointed with the lack of clinical sites and crazy tuition (I think ~45k per year).

 

[robin911]

OP:

This is not a good plan. Mercer vets length of residence in GA, and if you moved here just to become a resident and apply, you probably won't get an interview at all.

If you want to move to a state for a better chance at medical school, I'd move to Texas.

And even in TX i think they look at the length of time you stay in the state to determine residency.

Basically, you are a MN resident. You have spent 18 out of your 20-21 years (85-90% of your life) in Minnesota (I am assuming though you did not say in your OP where you were born). BUT, since you do attend UGA they may consider you as >>> than most OOS who apply to the MCG because you went to school in GA.

For example, there were a lot of wisconsin residents at my MN interview because they attended college in MN, evidencing strong ties to the state. This is similar to what you should do for GA.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Yeah people have basically hit on the other key point here; schools are also well aware of those who are just moving in a year or two before applying. In some states(ie Ohio) its a non issue really. Other schools in other states are going to be sensitive to people "gaming" the system like this(Texas I've heard comes to mind). Keep in mind there's a difference between paying taxes in a state for a year vs your whole life.

If a school has a specific mission to serving a particular part of their state(like GA) I think there's a pretty reasonable chance they will simply see someone moving from Minnesota a year before applying as not someone likely to fit that mission. You really need to show prior service to these types of communities to really get Mercer to buy you are a fit with their mission. Now given that you did UG at Georgia, perhaps this is a little bit different of a situation(you did after all pay the state of GA for your public education). But still, not sure if this plan is such a great one. And like I said above, if in fact you are going to move to improve your chances of getting into an MD school, there are better states to choose like GA. Hell, South Carolina which is right next door is a fantastic state for MD admission, one of the best in the country(although the same issues of coming across as "gaming" the system are potentially still alive here).

 

[repoetic]

Ok, thank you everyone for all the advice- I think my plan of action is to just give up on Mercer because I don't want to risk losing Minnesota residency and I agree with all your points, particularly that Mercer/UGA might not even treat me as a GA resident anyway. I did a lot of volunteer work with communities in rural GA during undergrad though (which aligns with Mercer's mission), would that still be something of value to call Mercer about or is it just a moot point?

 

[robin911]

Ok, thank you everyone for all the advice- I think my plan of action is to just give up on Mercer because I don't want to risk losing Minnesota residency and I agree with all your points, particularly that Mercer/UGA might not even treat me as a GA resident anyway. I did a lot of volunteer work with communities in rural GA during undergrad though (which aligns with Mercer's mission), would that still be something of value to call Mercer about or is it just a moot point?

I would still call Mercer to discuss your situation regardless. It is one phone call, ya know?

 

[GrapesofRath]

Ok, thank you everyone for all the advice- I think my plan of action is to just give up on Mercer because I don't want to risk losing Minnesota residency and I agree with all your points, particularly that Mercer/UGA might not even treat me as a GA resident anyway. I did a lot of volunteer work with communities in rural GA during undergrad though (which aligns with Mercer's mission), would that still be something of value to call Mercer about or is it just a moot point?

Mercer doesn't take OOS residents if I am not mistaken.

But yes I would call, there's nothing to lose. I remember reading a while back about how U Mass would consider a poster an MA resident for their admissions purposes even though technically they werent(MA has some absurd residency requirement rules which skewed things probably).

 

[NotYou20]

Ok, thank you everyone for all the advice- I think my plan of action is to just give up on Mercer because I don't want to risk losing Minnesota residency and I agree with all your points, particularly that Mercer/UGA might not even treat me as a GA resident anyway. I did a lot of volunteer work with communities in rural GA during undergrad though (which aligns with Mercer's mission), would that still be something of value to call Mercer about or is it just a moot point?

MN isn't a great state for applying. Most residents have no shot at Duluth or Mayo (you'll know if you're an exception). The TC campus is a good school and interviews ~60% of IS applicants, which is great. Still, other states have more schools or a state school with lower average stats. I wouldn't be concerned with losing MN residency for admissions purposes.

 

[familyaerospace]

Mercer focuses on you having as many ties to Georgia as humanly possible. I was told I had no ties to Georgia despite having lived here 15 years, had land, voted, had one of my parents living here and one of my grandparents. They know the tricks.

And about MCG, just make the assumption that you are not going to go to the Athens campus.