NY in-state residency for application (not tuition) purposes

[achillina]

Hi,
I currently live in NJ but I want to move out of state for med school, preferably somewhere a little far but anywhere will do really... It is almost February 2009 and I plan to apply in June 2009. A friend of mine suggested that it'd be a good idea for me to change my residency to New York since most med schools give preferences to in-state residents (and I don't plan to stay in NJ anyway). Is this a possibility? If yes, does anyone know what I need to do to be considered an in-state resident?

I'm thinking if I apply using my NY address in the AMCAS application, how will these schools know that I just moved to NY not long before? (background check?)

I need to leave NJ state for personal reasons. Although I also consider a lot of medical school attributes such as its small size, diversity, research, and available activities and beauty of the town, I mostly want it to not be in NJ. So any input that could help me achieve this goal is really appreciated.

A little about me if this would help: I'm a Finance graduate, 3.98 GPA, have some leadership, volunteer and research activities, taking the MCAT in April '09 and can't be more sure that medicine is for me.

Thanks everyone beforehand!

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[Dr Roboto]

most med schools give preferences to in-state residents

Private schools have no preferences. And with state schools, it's debatable.

If yes, does anyone know what I need to do to be considered an in-state resident?

My state school requested a year's worth of proof of state residency: utility bills, tax return, etc. You should check with each school. As far as I know, only state schools make the distinction between in-state and out-of-state for tuition purposes.

I'm thinking if I apply using my NY address in the AMCAS application, how will these schools know that I just moved to NY not long before? (background check?)

I remember several secondary apps asked for all my places of residence and the length of time there.

 

[student1799]

Hi,
I currently live in NJ but I want to move out of state for med school, preferably somewhere a little far but anywhere will do really... It is almost February 2009 and I plan to apply in June 2009. A friend of mine suggested that it'd be a good idea for me to change my residency to New York since most med schools give preferences to in-state residents (and I don't plan to stay in NJ anyway). Is this a possibility? If yes, does anyone know what I need to do to be considered an in-state resident?

I'm thinking if I apply using my NY address in the AMCAS application, how will these schools know that I just moved to NY not long before? (background check?)

I need to leave NJ state for personal reasons. Although I also consider a lot of medical school attributes such as its small size, diversity, research, and available activities and beauty of the town, I mostly want it to not be in NJ. So any input that could help me achieve this goal is really appreciated.

A little about me if this would help: I'm a Finance graduate, 3.98 GPA, have some leadership, volunteer and research activities, taking the MCAT in April '09 and can't be more sure that medicine is for me.

Thanks everyone beforehand!

OP, with absolutely no slight intended, I think you're out of your mind. I am a lifelong resident of NY, and I would gladly trade places with you right now, because you're WAY better off than I am in terms of state residency.

You currently live in a state with 2 med schools (RWJ and NJMS) which show extremely strong preference for in-state applicants, yet you would like to move to a state that shows only modest preference for in-state applicants and admits a significant number of OOS and even international students. (And that's at the PUBLIC med schools, which are only 4 out of the 12 med schools in NY.) So by moving from NJ to NY, you'd be throwing away something valuable and getting very little in return.

Let me illustrate it for you with some numbers. (These all come from USNews, which got them from the schools in question. They do not match the MSAR, because they reflect ACCEPTANCES as opposed to students who actually matriculate.) In '07, RWJ got 3551 apps: 1211 IS and 2340 OOS. They accepted 289 IS (24% of those who applied), but only 65 OOS (3%). NJMS got 4680 apps, 1210 IS and 3470 OOS. They didn't report acceptance data to USNews, but if we assume the same ratio of acceptances/matriculated students as RWJ has, we would estimate that NJMS accepted about 333 IS students (27%), and 41 OOS (1%). In other words, OOS students might as well not apply in NJ, because your state really loves its own.

In NY, on the other hand, each of the 4 SUNYs admits OOS students, although at a lower rate than IS students. Plus, your chances even as an IS student are statistically lower at each SUNY school than they are at each NJ school. And unless you want to live in upstate NY (Syracuse or Buffalo), where 2 of the 4 SUNYs are located, you have only 2 SUNYs to apply to, so your chances of getting in as IS in NY are still much less than in NJ. Here are the acceptance rates for each SUNY: Stony Brook 12% IS, 3% OOS; Downstate (estimated) 16% IS, 3% OOS; Upstate 11% IS, 7% OOS; Buffalo 14% IS, 4% OOS. The stats of accepted students at the NY and NJ state schools seem almost identical, so they're even on that front.

Regarding the PRIVATE med schools in NY, they're all super-competitive and don't appear to care very much where the students are from, so it won't make a difference where you live when you apply.

So, when you consider the above info, wouldn't it make more sense to stay where you are and apply to med school as an NJ resident, in order to have your state schools as a "backup plan"? Your GPA is very high, but you don't know your MCAT score yet, and it's always good to have more options. If you get into school in NY, you can always move. I don't know the residency requirements for the first year, but I know for a fact that if you start out as OOS in NY, you automatically become IS from the second year on, so it wouldn't cost you much in terms of extra tuition if you enrolled at a SUNY as OOS.

Do yourself a favor and stay put. You're really much better off.

 

[WhizoMD]

you seem to have a pretty solid app (pending mcat scores), you shouldn't need residency status to get into any of the schools in NY where residency even matters (3 schools).

 

[achillina]

Thanks all! Yea, I rethought my options, I'm not going to bother with changing residency and instead concentrate on my MCAT. I want to start a study group here in NJ if anyone is interested, please let me know. Thanks again!