Fiancée counting as OOS ties?

[PuffBlueCat]

Hello all. I recently got engaged to the love of my life. She was born and raised in Wyoming, and went to school in South Dakota. I was born and raised in Wisconsin, which is where we both live now.

We both would much prefer I attend school here in Wisconsin primarily due to proximity to most of our family members, but obviously this is not a guarantee.

After Wisconsin (and the midwest in general), attending school out west is very much preferred to heading east or south for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, options are much more limited. Especially to OOS students, like myself, without any 'strong' ties to those states.

So my fiancée and I are wondering if her legitimate strong ties to Wyoming and South Dakota would be considered a good enough reason for submitting my application to the Universities of Washington and South Dakota and not immediately get thrown away. For additional context, I intend to practice rural medicine, and neither of us have any interest in living near the large urban centers on the coasts.

I am interested to hear what everyone thinks. Thanks in advance!

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[ampersandwich]

I would email the admissions office of both schools to see their specific policies regarding state-ties. You would probably have a stronger case with University of Washington because just attending school in a state (i.e. South Dakota) is typically not considered strong ties. I would emphasize that she still has family in Wyoming too.

 

[LizzyM]

Just spit-balling this as I have no inside information but I'm going to say "no" regarding UWashington. That said, you may find a welcome at some of the private schools such as Albany as well as state schools that welcome OOS students such as UVermont and Eastern Virginia Medical School.

 

[PuffBlueCat]

I would email the admissions office of both schools to see their specific policies regarding state-ties. You would probably have a stronger case with University of Washington because just attending school in a state (i.e. South Dakota) is typically not considered strong ties. I would emphasize that she still has family in Wyoming too.

That's a good idea! It's definitely worth asking the schools directly.

 

[PuffBlueCat]

Just spit-balling this as I have no inside information but I'm going to say "no" regarding UWashington. That said, you may find a welcome at some of the private schools such as Albany as well as state schools that welcome OOS students such as UVermont and Eastern Virginia Medical School.

I know UWashington does have pretty strict criteria. Albany and Vermont are on my list, but I will have to look closer at Eastern Virginia. Thanks for the response!

 

[Goro]

Hello all. I recently got engaged to the love of my life. She was born and raised in Wyoming, and went to school in South Dakota. I was born and raised in Wisconsin, which is where we both live now.

We both would much prefer I attend school here in Wisconsin primarily due to proximity to most of our family members, but obviously this is not a guarantee.

After Wisconsin (and the midwest in general), attending school out west is very much preferred to heading east or south for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, options are much more limited. Especially to OOS students, like myself, without any 'strong' ties to those states.

So my fiancée and I are wondering if her legitimate strong ties to Wyoming and South Dakota would be considered a good enough reason for submitting my application to the Universities of Washington and South Dakota and not immediately get thrown away. For additional context, I intend to practice rural medicine, and neither of us have any interest in living near the large urban centers on the coasts.

I am interested to hear what everyone thinks. Thanks in advance!

Nope.

What counts as a tie is you having lived in a state, grown up there, or gone to college there.

 

[ampersandwich]

That's a good idea! It's definitely worth asking the schools directly.

These policies seem to vary school-by-school, and it’s probably better to ask before paying a secondary fee. Anecdotally, I applied to schools in my partner’s home state and was told that it counted as ties (though I’d still have to pay OOS tuition if admitted).