official resident in two states?

[dispatcher]

i have a different sort of dilemma regarding my official state of residence...

I went to school out of state (in PA), graduated 2008 (my parents filed with me as a dependent last year), and have spent the last year working, though not exactly full time still in PA. I'm registered to vote, have my driver's license, etc back in my home state, and hope to make it back there one day. I filed my 2008 taxes in PA as a nonresident worker. My parents won't claim me as a dependent for 2009. I'm not sure of the two which is considered my official legal residence. i even worry that neither would claim me.

I'm applying both DO and MD. For DO, I'd really like to claim my home state as my legal residence. But for the AMCAS, I'd really like to claim my current address as my legal residence. I have a weird feeling about double dipping like that, and think it could get awfully sticky....any suggestions?

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[Mattabet]

From what you've listed, it sounds like you're not a resident of PA, but rather the home state. There are cases where stuff works such that you might be able to choose between two states for your residency, but you do have to choose. And all your documentation seems to point toward the 'home state' as your state of residency; it's the documentation that the forces that be will be concerned with in making the determination.

Look at it this way, if you were to say you're a resident of PA, it'd raise a few eyebrows if you voted, drove, and filed taxes as a resident of another state. Where you go to school doesn't enter into the determination (oddly enough).

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

I've ties to 2 states and looked into the rules -- they're somewhat school specific. One MD school said they'd consider the address you listed on your Aamcas application to be your homestate if it were a close call. My current state (Colorado) has somewhat soft rules which I think are typical -- which state did you file taxes in? for how many years? If you're a dependant, which state do your parents live in? Where is your car registered? Which state issued your driver's license? Where do you rent/own property? Where are you registered to vote? Where is your employer located?

But some schools (for me in my new state for a number of years) still consider me instate for the former state because my parents live there now, and have for many years. So I'd check the school's rules on this.

 

[bowlin123]

i have a different sort of dilemma regarding my official state of residence...

I went to school out of state (in PA), graduated 2008 (my parents filed with me as a dependent last year), and have spent the last year working, though not exactly full time still in PA. I'm registered to vote, have my driver's license, etc back in my home state, and hope to make it back there one day. I filed my 2008 taxes in PA as a nonresident worker. My parents won't claim me as a dependent for 2009. I'm not sure of the two which is considered my official legal residence. i even worry that neither would claim me.

I'm applying both DO and MD. For DO, I'd really like to claim my home state as my legal residence. But for the AMCAS, I'd really like to claim my current address as my legal residence. I have a weird feeling about double dipping like that, and think it could get awfully sticky....any suggestions?

wow, what a coincidence! I have the same problem/question: being a dependent last year, graduated in a NY school, filed tax last year in NY, driver's license in NY(drive a car registered in PA); however, I have since moved to PA and have a full-time job here. I filed this year's tax in PA and have houses in both NY and PA, but I am putting NY as my home state (permanent address in NY, but prefer address in PA). I, too, hope that NY will still claim me as its resident.

 

[njbmd]

i have a different sort of dilemma regarding my official state of residence...

I went to school out of state (in PA), graduated 2008 (my parents filed with me as a dependent last year), and have spent the last year working, though not exactly full time still in PA. I'm registered to vote, have my driver's license, etc back in my home state, and hope to make it back there one day. I filed my 2008 taxes in PA as a nonresident worker. My parents won't claim me as a dependent for 2009. I'm not sure of the two which is considered my official legal residence. i even worry that neither would claim me.

I'm applying both DO and MD. For DO, I'd really like to claim my home state as my legal residence. But for the AMCAS, I'd really like to claim my current address as my legal residence. I have a weird feeling about double dipping like that, and think it could get awfully sticky....any suggestions?

Where you vote is where you are a resident. You can't claim both as you are a nonresident where you filed taxes but where you vote is your legal residence. If you voted absentee, you are a displaced resident who filed an absentee ballot.

 

[LizzyM]

Where you vote is where you are a resident. You can't claim both as you are a nonresident where you filed taxes but where you vote is your legal residence. If you voted absentee, you are a displaced resident who filed an absentee ballot.

On the other hand, you can be registered to vote in a state but not be considered an "in-state" resident for the purposes of medical school admission. Massachusetts is rather strict in this regard so as not to give preference to current undergrads who came from out-of-state to attend one of Massachusetts' many institutions of higher learning but who have no other ties to the state.

 

[bowlin123]

Where you vote is where you are a resident. You can't claim both as you are a nonresident where you filed taxes but where you vote is your legal residence. If you voted absentee, you are a displaced resident who filed an absentee ballot.

But I was never registered to vote, because I just got my citizenship. So can I still claim NY as my state? but during interviews/secondaries with PA school that I can tell them that I have worked in PA for 2 years and filed tax here.

 

[pietachok]

It is possible to be a resident in 2 states, b/c the states' rules may not agree with each other. The rules for residency in every state can be clearly located online and often through links of the public schools' websites.

You can be a resident of different states for AMCAS & AACOMAS, as long as you aren't violating the rules for residency. Of course you can only have one state of residence for either app.

Read the rules for both states. Then figure out which one you best belong to. For many states, college students who come from out of state and are not financially independent of their parents are NOT a resident...even if you tricked the system or did something wrong and ended up with I.D. from that state or voted in that state, etc.

 

[Transmogrifier]

I think a common requirement for residency of a state is "Not be a resident of another state." I think you probably have to pick one in the end if it ends up that you're eligible for both somehow. And remember there are different rules for residency with regards to education, voting, and taxes, respectively.

 

[bowlin123]

I went online to check out the resident requirements for both PA and NY. Somehow, I satisfied all their requirements.

 

[LizzyM]

I went online to check out the resident requirements for both PA and NY. Somehow, I satisfied all their requirements.

Satisfying the requirements for residency for the purposes of preference in admission or tuition is not exactly the same as being a resident of that state but it is what counts in this conversation. Good luck!