How is the state of legal residency verified on AMCAS?

[OBGYN2010]

Is this done during the AMCAS verification process or after you get accepted to the school?? A little confused about this...I am currently working (interning) in California, but I did file taxes jointly with my parents who are in Illinois, so I can say that I am an Illinois resident correct?

THanks!

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[Supadupafly]

AMCAS does not verify it. The respective schools you apply to will ask you for proof and if you can't prove it, you're screwed.

Is this done during the AMCAS verification process or after you get accepted to the school?? A little confused about this...I am currently working (interning) in California, but I did file taxes jointly with my parents who are in Illinois, so I can say that I am an Illinois resident correct?

THanks!

 

[Scrub MD]

AMCAS does not verify it. The respective schools you apply to will ask you for proof and if you can't prove it, you're screwed.

How will they ask you to prove it? The med school I want to go to is in the state that I lived in for 20 years of my life and graduated high school from there. My mom moved into another state (who I was living with) but my dad was still in the other state. My mom paid for my license plate's so they are from that state but my driver's license is from the state of where I want to attend (used my school address). What forms would they need to prove residence? I always heard that it was where you graduated high school from.

 

[OBGYN2010]

Yeah...I am little confused about how they would want you to prove it...Do you just give them a copy of your tax return?? I don't have a licence from the state that my parents live in (Illinois) since I have been working in Cali for the past year, but on my AMCAS app, I said that my legal residence is in Illinois.. I was just gonna show them a copy of my joint tax form if it comes up. Is this legal??

Thanks

 

[DrBowtie]

Taxes usually will do...also it doesn't take much to switch your license to the new state.

 

[PhotoMD]

You have to prove with documentation that you have lived in the state for a year (at least in my state), have to have a driver license in the state, etc. Proof of living there for a year could be a lease or voter registration. I'm not sure of the particulars.

 

[CerealBox]

each state has different residency laws. just look up the residency laws at the state school you want to go to and make sure you can fulfill all of the requirements.

normally that means holding a drivers lic., voter registration, taxes, and living there or having a parent who you are dependent upon living there.

 

[Shredder]

my question is how is ethnicity verified. i really want to apply URM even though im not.

 

[TheMightyAngus]

AMCAS does not verify it. The respective schools you apply to will ask you for proof and if you can't prove it, you're screwed.

Exactly. Once you apply for financial aid you have to show tax documents. If you don't present a persuasive case and FASFA puts your residency in another state, the school has a right to withdraw the acceptance.

 

[jon stewart]

my question is how is ethnicity verified. i really want to apply URM even though im not.

idk, maybe when they see your photo, or when you go to the interview?

 

[Law2Doc]

You have to prove with documentation that you have lived in the state for a year (at least in my state), have to have a driver license in the state, etc. Proof of living there for a year could be a lease or voter registration. I'm not sure of the particulars.

All states have different requirements, different terms of residency required, different forms of evidence they will ask for and the like, and state schools within each state may have their own requirements for residency which differ from the state's definition of residency. (Meaning you might be a resident for purposes of voting or jury duty but still not qualify as "in state" for some state schools). So you really need to contact the school you are interested in, and determine residency on a school by school basis. The usual indicators are one or more of the following: having your primary home/apt within the state (and thus having your name on title or a lease within the state), paying taxes there, voting there, registering a car there, having a drivers' license there, maybe even having served jury duty there. Having gone to high school in the state also counted as partial evidence on one form I saw. Some states require proof of up to 5 years of residency (and thus will want eg. the previous 5 years worth of tax filings and the like), while others grant residency within as little as one year. You are only permitted to be a resident of one state. Hope this helps.

 

[kdogg- 00]

Exactly. Once you apply for financial aid you have to show tax documents. If you don't present a persuasive case and FASFA puts your residency in another state, the school has a right to withdraw the acceptance.

Ok, here's my question, you need to show that your primary residence in within the state in which you want residency, right? In my case, the state is PA. So, both of my parents live in PA, and I pay taxes in PA, but I personally haven't lived there full time since before high school. I went to boarding school out of state, went away to college, and then worked out of state for 1+ year. So, if my parents have always lived in PA, and I have always paid PA taxes, does that make my case convincing? Also, what if I am over 21? Then, I am not really a dependent anymore, so do they still take parent's state residency into account?

 

[jbrice1639]

Ok, here's my question, you need to show that your primary residence in within the state in which you want residency, right? In my case, the state is PA. So, both of my parents live in PA, and I pay taxes in PA, but I personally haven't lived there full time since before high school. I went to boarding school out of state, went away to college, and then worked out of state for 1+ year. So, if my parents have always lived in PA, and I have always paid PA taxes, does that make my case convincing? Also, what if I am over 21? Then, I am not really a dependent anymore, so do they still take parent's state residency into account?

most states have a line in their residency description that says you have to live in the state for at least a year, and that the primary reason you are in the state is NOT to pursue education...so if you go to boarding school for high school or attend college in a state, your primary reason for residing in that state is education, and you are not establishing legal residency in that state. So you're still a legal resident in the state your parents live in where you are paying your taxes. This also means, unfortunately, that you don't get to become a resident by your second year of med school simply by living in the state your school's in, again, because you're primary reason for residing in the state is to pursue education. Isn't legalspeak fun?

 

[jbrice1639]

Also, what if I am over 21? Then, I am not really a dependent anymore, so do they still take parent's state residency into account?

21 isn't the cut off...24 or 25 is the cut-off for dependency...but the main issue is whether or not someone claims you as opposed to you claiming yourself. if you are a student, your parents can legally claim you up to age 24 on federal taxes. as long as your parents claim you, then you are their dependent. however, that doesn't really affect your residency. my parents lived in a different state than i did while i was an undergrad (they moved, i stayed in the same state to keep my residency). They still claimed me as a dependent since they paid my tuition and my bills, but i was not a resident of their new state as a result of that.

 

[Law2Doc]

This also means, unfortunately, that you don't get to become a resident by your second year of med school simply by living in the state your school's in, again, because you're primary reason for residing in the state is to pursue education. Isn't legalspeak fun?

Well, if you got a drivers license, voted, got your name on a lease, maybe earned a few bucks over the summer so that you could get your name on a local tax return, etc. in the state where your med school was, I actually would think you could make a pretty convincing case for residency, notwithstanding being a student. But again, the rules are going to vary state by state.

 

[jbrice1639]

Well, if you got a drivers license, voted, got your name on a lease, maybe earned a few bucks over the summer so that you could get your name on a local tax return, etc. in the state where your med school was, I actually would think you could make a pretty convincing case for residency, notwithstanding being a student. But again, the rules are going to vary state by state.

yeah, i totally agree...i was just laying out what i knew because you wouldn't want to get stuck in a spot where you thought you were going to get in-state tuition by your second year, and then you couldn't swing it.

i know in illinois, residency is pretty loose...i did my undergrad at u of illinois, and my parents moved to wisconsin when i was a sophomore. when they did that, i just changed my driver's license to my grandpa's house, and had my university tuition bills sent there. no one ever checked if i actually lived there (which i didn't) and i kept my in-state tuition for the rest of my undergrad. i think it would be ridiculous to be charged out-of-state tuition after paying illinois taxes for 20+years anyways, but i'm sure the compassionate registrar would have had other opinions if they'd known

 

[DrBuro]

I have not filled out AMCAS yet because I am applying next year. I was curious if there was a section where you had to claim one state's residence? By all of your definitions, I am both a resident of Massachusetts and New York. I have paid a huge load of taxes for both, have drivers licenses for both, voted in both states, etc.. Of course if I have to pick one I will pick NY, but just a curiosity.

And to the person wanting to apply as a URM...
I have already looked into it and it is a huge risk to lie about being a URM. Not only is it illegal under federal law, but there have been numerous stories on SDN about med students that have been caught trying this. No matter how far along you are in your schooling or career, the government or school can basically take everything away from you. For example, if you finish med school, finally finish your residency, then get caught.. you cannot obtain a license and your MD degree is taken away. As I said, not worth it. I have darker skin and my last name sounds kind of spanish, so I was going to say that I was mexican american.

 

[tigress]

I was a resident of SC all through college. Then when I got married and moved to Philadelphia with my husband, I became a resident of PA. So I've been a PA resident for 1.5 years. Does anybody know the PA rules, or where I can look them up? It didn't even occur to me to think about how long I've been a resident. On AMCAS it says PA. But I'm also applying to a SC school, so I'm hoping they take my previous residency into consideration.

DrBuro, I think you can only have one state of residency. Also for the person above who went to high school, college, etc. out of state, I think it would be hard to prove residency if you worked out of state.

 

[TheMightyAngus]

Ok, here's my question, you need to show that your primary residence in within the state in which you want residency, right? In my case, the state is PA. So, both of my parents live in PA, and I pay taxes in PA, but I personally haven't lived there full time since before high school. I went to boarding school out of state, went away to college, and then worked out of state for 1+ year. So, if my parents have always lived in PA, and I have always paid PA taxes, does that make my case convincing? Also, what if I am over 21? Then, I am not really a dependent anymore, so do they still take parent's state residency into account?

Pretty much your state of residency would be wherever your parents live. In your case, PA. If after graduation you worked in another state for a couple years full-time without going to school, then you could plead a case for residency in another case. But, residency for tuition purposes is very difficult to prove if you haven't been working full-time, your parents live in another state, and you rent as opposed own your house. Remember, schools want to suck as much $$$ as they can get, they make these rules very difficult for a reason.

 

[Law2Doc]

I have not filled out AMCAS yet because I am applying next year. I was curious if there was a section where you had to claim one state's residence? By all of your definitions, I am both a resident of Massachusetts and New York. I have paid a huge load of taxes for both, have drivers licenses for both, voted in both states, etc.. Of course if I have to pick one I will pick NY, but just a curiosity.

And to the person wanting to apply as a URM...
I have already looked into it and it is a huge risk to lie about being a URM. Not only is it illegal under federal law, but there have been numerous stories on SDN about med students that have been caught trying this. No matter how far along you are in your schooling or career, the government or school can basically take everything away from you. For example, if you finish med school, finally finish your residency, then get caught.. you cannot obtain a license and your MD degree is taken away. As I said, not worth it. I have darker skin and my last name sounds kind of spanish, so I was going to say that I was mexican american.

Some state schools have a 5 year residency requirement -- I'm pretty sure UMass does, and thought I read on SDN that NY is also a 5 year state. So to the extent you have a choice, make sure you actually qualify as "in state" in the state where you will be claiming residency in your apps. And it is actually illegal to hold 2 state's driver's licenses simultaneously, BTW.

 

[gujuDoc]

my question is how is ethnicity verified. i really want to apply URM even though im not.

Aw we know you'll get into some great places.

On a side note, nice avatar.

 

[tigress]

Anybody know the answer to my question about PA residency? I don't want to think I have residency here and then be screwed because I don't. Again, I've lived here for 1.5 years, will start a full-time job here, filed income tax for last year from PA (no state tax, though, and I didn't actually have to pay any federal tax), have a license here, rent an apartment here, etc. Before that I was a resident of SC for 21 years.

 

[smellydre]

anyone know about texas residency? is it a standard year or are they 5 year schools?
thanks
dre

 

[smellydre]

Also, can you submit your AMCAS as a resident of a certain state if you haven't gotten that state's residency yet but will before you start school? When do the schools check? With the primary app? Secondaries?
thanks again
dre

 

[TheMightyAngus]

my question is how is ethnicity verified. i really want to apply URM even though im not.

URM's usually meet with the minority member of the admissions committee for an interview. You can bet they'll ask you about your family heritage and how being a minority has affected your life. If you look white bread, good luck...

 

[Shredder]

URM's usually meet with the minority member of the admissions committee for an interview. You can bet they'll ask you about your family heritage and how being a minority has affected your life. If you look white bread, good luck...

no im indian and ive been mistaken for hispanic many times in my life, and my last name looks hispanic too. heritage and effect can all be fabricated, its really a high risk high reward situation. i probably wont do it, but this isnt the first time ill bring up whether anyone knows if anyone has done it successfully, id like to know

 

[aumed22]

So here's a question. I lived in Alabama for eight years before my family moved to London before my senior of high school. Stayed in London for one year, then came back to Alabama to go to school (Auburn). I have an Alabama driver's liscense, am a registered voter, registered car, and receive in-state tuition from Auburn. My folks are still in London, so technically they reside in no state. Would I be considered an Alabama resident?

 

[TheMightyAngus]

no im indian and ive been mistaken for hispanic many times in my life, and my last name looks hispanic too. heritage and effect can all be fabricated, its really a high risk high reward situation. i probably wont do it, but this isnt the first time ill bring up whether anyone knows if anyone has done it successfully, id like to know

Do you speak fluent spanish? Do you have a history of self-representing yourself as Hispanic on legal documents? Can you show any evidence if the registrar questioned it? Are you prepared to call yourself Hispanic for the rest of your professional career?

You signed an agreement on AMCAS that everything you listed was accurate. They can rescind your medical license if they found out you lied. What are you going to do if someone finds out and reports it? I know this is extreme, but it's possible.

Plus, I think claiming URM is far from high reward. You are basically self-identifying yourself as disadvantaged. Some don't like affirmative action and think that URM's are not as qualified as others. Why bring this on to yourself unnecessarily?

 

[TheMightyAngus]

So here's a question. I lived in Alabama for eight years before my family moved to London before my senior of high school. Stayed in London for one year, then came back to Alabama to go to school (Auburn). I have an Alabama driver's liscense, am a registered voter, registered car, and receive in-state tuition from Auburn. My folks are still in London, so technically they reside in no state. Would I be considered an Alabama resident?

Yes

 

[Shredder]

Do you speak fluent spanish? Do you have a history of self-representing yourself as Hispanic on legal documents? Can you show any evidence if the registrar questioned it? Are you prepared to call yourself Hispanic for the rest of your professional career?

You signed an agreement on AMCAS that everything you listed was accurate. They can rescind your medical license if they found out you lied. What are you going to do if someone finds out and reports it? I know this is extreme, but it's possible.

Plus, I think claiming URM is far from high reward. You are basically self-identifying yourself as disadvantaged. Some don't like affirmative action and think that URM's are not as qualified as others. Why bring this on to yourself unnecessarily?

i speak some spanish, nobody said all URMs are fluent. no history, no evidence. not willing to call myself hispanic. people sign things and lie all the time. but i agree with all of your points, thats the high risk part, especially the legalities and technicalities, not so much the lying and pulling it off in the short term.

nobody would know its URM after i get in. high reward is admission to all the top schools with full scholarship, no joke. if the systems going to reverse discriminate, might as well exploit the hell out of it if possible. but i dont think i will. something ive proposed before though is the creation of a ghost relative, far removed but enough to quality as URM. that could be feasible. maybe say you just uncovered your genealogy which reveals that voila, you are in fact URM albeit a small fraction.

 

[sunnyjohn]

anyone know about texas residency? is it a standard year or are they 5 year schools?
thanks
dre

It's fairly easy to establish residency in Texas. Just a year.

 

[gujuDoc]

i speak some spanish, nobody said all URMs are fluent. no history, no evidence. not willing to call myself hispanic. people sign things and lie all the time. but i agree with all of your points, thats the high risk part, especially the legalities and technicalities, not so much the lying and pulling it off in the short term.

nobody would know its URM after i get in. high reward is admission to all the top schools with full scholarship, no joke. if the systems going to reverse discriminate, might as well exploit the hell out of it if possible. but i dont think i will. something ive proposed before though is the creation of a ghost relative, far removed but enough to quality as URM. that could be feasible. maybe say you just uncovered your genealogy which reveals that voila, you are in fact URM albeit a small fraction.

Hmmmmmmm as far as scholarship goes, well you have a high shot of getting good financial aid packets just by virtues of your numbers alone. A lot of the top tier schools give people with good applications and high numbers, merit based scholarships. Just look at Mattdeopsy's md applicants profile to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

As far as risking calling yourself URM and lying. Not a risk I would take after hear stories about people getting expelled from med school due to lies on their application, or blacklisted by certain schools, etc. I was talking to a guy the other day who told me that he knew this real arrogant person that said it was ok to lie about a chemistry award in a pamsa kind of meeting.

Anyhow, someone told the dean about this. So the dean asked the guy for a copy of his award. When the guy couldn't provide proof of the award, the dean revoked his acceptance and wrote a letter to all the schools he applied to, making sure he wouldn't get accepted elsewhere either.

It is real risky and unethical.

But you being a brilliant genius with a super high MCAT and GPA, will probably have no trouble in gaining acceptances at big name universities with good amounts of scholarship monies.

 

[hardy]

Anybody know the answer to my question about PA residency?

In PA you are considered a resident for tuition (and school) purposes after living in PA for one year without attending any school. So if you went to grad school for those 1.5 years you are probably out of luck.

 

[tigress]

In PA you are considered a resident for tuition (and school) purposes after living in PA for one year without attending any school. So if you went to grad school for those 1.5 years you are probably out of luck.

hmm...well, I first moved here in January of last year. I was commuting to New York to finish college there, but I also took one course here at the time. I graduated from college in May. Then in August I started grad school, but I quit in February. I'm applying to med school now, so I'll be working for the next year before school starts. But since I live here because of marriage and not originally for school, I suppose that counts (?)

Also, if we put a certain state on AMCAS, is that state definitely considered our state of residence for schools? What I mean is, if I got into MUSC and wanted to go there, could I argue to them that I am a resident of SC, even though AMCAS says PA? I suppose that would sort of be cheating the system, because I'd get preference in PA schools when applying. So if I did decide to go to MUSC, what would I have to do to prove residency for the second year? SC is one year, but I'd be going to school. I wonder if you buy property or something if that counts. My entire family lives there, and I was a resident until I was 21, so that ought to count for something

 

[jmk]

It doesn't really matter what state you are a resident of it matters which schools consider you to be in-state. This varies from school to school. The only way to "knowl" is to contact the school (some have the info on their web sites). Unless you want to know if you are a resident of a state then the real question is "am I an in-state applicant". This is often the same thing but not always.

An example: to be a resident of Oregon you need to live here for 24 hours. To be an in-state applicant you need to live in Oregon for two full years during which you are not attending school full time.

 

[tigress]

It doesn't really matter what state you are a resident of it matters which schools consider you to be in-state. This varies from school to school. The only way to "knowl" is to contact the school (some have the info on their web sites). Unless you want to know if you are a resident of a state then the real question is "am I an in-state applicant". This is often the same thing but not always.

An example: to be a resident of Oregon you need to live here for 24 hours. To be an in-state applicant you need to live in Oregon for two full years during which you are not attending school full time.

Right, I think we're all asking about what it takes to be an in-state applicant. Hence the idea that it takes living in the state for a year not attending school, for many states.

But doesn't this mean that somebody could not be considered an in-state applicant for any state? It becomes very confusing. Many people our age have been moving around because of school and things. And once we're independent, we can't really consider our state of residency the state our parents live in. So say PA had a 2 year requirement (I don't think it does, but just for the sake of argument): I would have no state to apply in-state to, having only lived in PA for 1.5 years, some of which I was in school for, and having not lived in SC for 5 years, although I was considered a resident (w/ license, voting, etc., and on my parents' taxes) until I got married at 21.

This is a screwy system. Although I can't think of a better way to do it.

 

[Law2Doc]

Right, I think we're all asking about what it takes to be an in-state applicant. Hence the idea that it takes living in the state for a year not attending school, for many states.

But doesn't this mean that somebody could not be considered an in-state applicant for any state? It becomes very confusing. Many people our age have been moving around because of school and things. And once we're independent, we can't really consider our state of residency the state our parents live in. So say PA had a 2 year requirement (I don't think it does, but just for the sake of argument): I would have no state to apply in-state to, having only lived in PA for 1.5 years, some of which I was in school for, and having not lived in SC for 5 years, although I was considered a resident (w/ license, voting, etc., and on my parents' taxes) until I got married at 21.

This is a screwy system. Although I can't think of a better way to do it.

Yes, there are many people who do not meet the in-state requirements, especially so for states with up to 5 years non-student-related residency required. Those people coming from undergrad whose parents have stayed put for at least a few years usually have a state they can call "home". But people who have been independent and have moved in recent years, or whose parents have moved while they were a student, might end up "stateless". Then again, there are a handful of people who could make a decent case for two states and are forced to choose one, so the rules are not unidirectionally oppressive, just screwy.

 

[45408]

my question is how is ethnicity verified. i really want to apply URM even though im not.

I'm going to say I'm an African-American, and when I show up and they see I'm white, I'll tell them I meant from South Africa. There was some huge scandal about that a while ago - there was a scholarship for African-Americans, but this white South African was prohibited from applying for it. If they mean "black," they should say "black."

 

[gujuDoc]

I'm going to say I'm an African-American, and when I show up and they see I'm white, I'll tell them I meant from South Africa. There was some huge scandal about that a while ago - there was a scholarship for African-Americans, but this white South African was prohibited from applying for it. If they mean "black," they should say "black."

I knew a guy that once told me he was going to put African American since he was from South Africa even though he was as Asian Indian as they get.