state of residence

[PBandJ]

Hi guys. I sure hope someone in here who has moved at some point in their lives can help me with this issue. OK, so I am currently living & working in MA...I graduated in May 2005, started my work in July 2005, and I have been living here since then. My parents (both PA residents) filed me as a dependent on their taxes last year because I was still their dependent in college, but I have been independent since then (and I plan to file my own taxes this year). I switched my drivers' license to MA in February last year.

So my question is...for tax purposes, med school, and FAFSA purposes, am I an MA resident, a PA resident, or some sort of transient? If so, what do I need to do to be considered an MA resident? I understand that I will probably need to file taxes both places, but if anyone knows more about this, I'd appreciate anything you can tell me!

I appreciate the help!

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[NontradICUdoc]

Hi guys. I sure hope someone in here who has moved at some point in their lives can help me with this issue. OK, so I am currently living & working in MA...I graduated in May 2005, started my work in July 2005, and I have been living here since then. My parents (both PA residents) filed me as a dependent on their taxes last year because I was still their dependent in college, but I have been independent since then (and I plan to file my own taxes this year). I switched my drivers' license to MA in February last year.

So my question is...for tax purposes, med school, and FAFSA purposes, am I an MA resident, a PA resident, or some sort of transient? If so, what do I need to do to be considered an MA resident? I understand that I will probably need to file taxes both places, but if anyone knows more about this, I'd appreciate anything you can tell me!

I appreciate the help!

That question can be answered simply. Where are you registered to vote? This is what determines your residency.

If you are still registered to vote in PA, then you are a PA resident. If you are registered to vote in MA then you are a MA resident.

 

[PBandJ]

That question can be answered simply. Where are you registered to vote? This is what determines your residency.

If you are still registered to vote in PA, then you are a PA resident. If you are registered to vote in MA then you are a MA resident.

I'm registered to vote in MA...I switched that in February at the same time I changed my license. But what if I wasn't registered at all? It's not illegal to not register to vote, right? I guess I'm just confused about how my voter registration determines my state of residence, and if there's any way to verify that.

Sorry if this is a silly question!

 

[Jacq]

That question can be answered simply. Where are you registered to vote? This is what determines your residency.

If you are still registered to vote in PA, then you are a PA resident. If you are registered to vote in MA then you are a MA resident.

Not exactly, according to UMass Med school...their requirement for residency is 5 years:

Applicants must declare Massachusetts as their state of legal residence on their AMCAS application. Anyone seeking to enroll in the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine who has not graduated from a Massachusetts High School is required to provide proof of continuous residency for a period of not less than five years immediately prior to enrollment. Applicants must be a United States citizen or have permanent resident status.

Residents and non-residents of Massachusetts are eligible for admission to the joint PhD/MD Program through the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Medicine. Applicants must also be United States citizens or have permanent resident status.

The foremost is that your federal and state income tax forms (or your parents' if they still claim you as a dependent) reflect that you file as a Massachusetts resident

 

[Wizard of Oz]

That question can be answered simply. Where are you registered to vote? This is what determines your residency.

If you are still registered to vote in PA, then you are a PA resident. If you are registered to vote in MA then you are a MA resident.

This might be true up there, but in my part of the country, you don't become a state resident until you've spent a full year in a state without going over half time as a student. You should be a MA resident if you haven't been in college.

This sounds fishy to me because what would stop you from registering to vote a week before classes start after moving from another part of the country? Thirty minutes of your day to knock off $20K in tuition per year sounds like a great trade-off.

In the midwest, if your residency status is hazy, then they force you to provide supporting documents (driver's license, voter registry, proof of property ownership, vehicle registry, yada yada), but that's after you've been admitted.

For FAFSA, you're recording it so that state schools who get the FAFSA know whether to consider oos or in-state tuition rates when determining your eligibility, so you'll want to use the school's rules. If you try to double-dip, you'll be in a world of hurt.

For med schools, stay put. Don't confuse your residency status in the middle of an application status or you won't be considered a resident anywhere. You can only declare one state on AMCAS.

Best of luck. MA is the only state where the medical school application stacks routinely hover at 9,000 apps. Move to Mississippi to improve your chances.

 

[Wizard of Oz]

Not exactly, according to UMass Med school...their requirement for residency is 5 years:

Applicants must declare Massachusetts as their state of legal residence on their AMCAS application. Anyone seeking to enroll in the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine who has not graduated from a Massachusetts High School is required to provide proof of continuous residency for a period of not less than five years immediately prior to enrollment. Applicants must be a United States citizen or have permanent resident status.

Residents and non-residents of Massachusetts are eligible for admission to the joint PhD/MD Program through the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Medicine. Applicants must also be United States citizens or have permanent resident status.

The foremost is that your federal and state income tax forms (or your parents' if they still claim you as a dependent) reflect that you file as a Massachusetts resident

Whoa that's hard-core! I guess at least the five years can count while you're in college by those rules. Must be to keep all of those private school kids from claiming MA.

 

[PBandJ]

This might be true up there, but in my part of the country, you don't become a state resident until you've spent a full year in a state without going over half time as a student. You should be a MA resident if you haven't been in college.

This sounds fishy to me because what would stop you from registering to vote a week before classes start after moving from another part of the country? Thirty minutes of your day to knock off $20K in tuition per year sounds like a great trade-off.

In the midwest, if your residency status is hazy, then they force you to provide supporting documents (driver's license, voter registry, proof of property ownership, vehicle registry, yada yada), but that's after you've been admitted.

For FAFSA, you're recording it so that state schools who get the FAFSA know whether to consider oos or in-state tuition rates when determining your eligibility, so you'll want to use the school's rules. If you try to double-dip, you'll be in a world of hurt.

For med schools, stay put. Don't confuse your residency status in the middle of an application status or you won't be considered a resident anywhere. You can only declare one state on AMCAS.

Best of luck. MA is the only state where the medical school application stacks routinely hover at 9,000 apps. Move to Mississippi to improve your chances.

thanks! too bad i'm in the middle of all this stuff as an applicant right now.

I had no idea that UMass's residency requirements were so strict. I definitely wouldn't qualify, but I didn't apply there anyway.

Anywho, thanks for the help guys.

 

[lilnoelle]

I think in general the state makes the rules on who is considered a resident and who is not. Different states are vastly different concerning their "residency for tuition purposes" rules. I've heard that some states just require a state drivers license and proof that you live there and pay state taxes. I've heard horror stories from other individuals (in stringent) states where the person who makes such decisions would call the individual at home to check up on them and see if they were there. Some states allow you to become a resident after enrolling in a university for a period of time (maybe a year) so a med student could be OOS one year and then in state 3 years. Other states will not consider changing your residency once enrolled and even go to the point of making anyone who did not attend high school in that state work overtime to be considered a resident. I.e. not only prove you've lived in the state, pay state income and property taxes, but that you intend to stay in the state permanently.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Yeah, MA is the most hardcore, I think, with their residency requirements. I believe UMASS is still really hard to get into, too. PA gives very little advantage to instate residents because they don't have a true state school -- you get some preference at PSU, Temple and I think Jefferson and Drexel, but it's not huge. I would suspect that if you moved back to PA and switched your license and voter registration, you would be able to successfully claim PA residency, but it might not be that advantageous.

With most states, the requirement is one year of living in the state without the primary purpose of being a student. In some states, they require that you work during that time, but they don't in others. In OR, for example, you just have to live there -- I moved there in August but didn't start working until December, but I became eligible for instate tuition the next August, not the next December. In OK and TX, I think there's some work requirement, but I'm not sure. OK also has this weird provision where they say you become a resident automatically if you move to the state for the purpose of being a professional. So if you get a job here and move for here that, I guess your kids would get automatic instate tuition.

NJ is the most lenient state. You can get instate tuition at the UMDNJ schools just by getting a NJ drivers license and either buying property or signing a one-year lease in NJ.

Anyway, following that ramble -- it's really state specific, but in almost every state, moving there and working for a year is good enough. Unfortunately, MA makes it a little harder.

 

[PBandJ]

NJ is the most lenient state. You can get instate tuition at the UMDNJ schools just by getting a NJ drivers license and either buying property or signing a one-year lease in NJ.

Interesting!

 

[Wizard of Oz]

Coming from Big 12 country (KS and OK being the too I have experience with the most), there is a difference in determining the following:

1. legal state of residence
2. state of residence for taxes
3. state of residence for tuition
4. state of residence for "are you really going to stick around here to practice?"

Since the region is so desperate for primary care docs in plentiful rural/underserved sections, all four are often necessary for smooth admissions.

Another thing to point out--the documents referenced above serve as a portfolio to support your claim but in and of themselves do not constitute proof. Residency status is subjectively determined by a panel with no available appeal.

Now the interesting thing is that I've seen a person graduate HS here, establish domicile elsewhere, and then come back here to continue higher education and not have to face the firing squad. Perception is everything.

A few years ago, I had heard that Tennessee (at least the policy I read was for UT undergrad) was saying that you just had to be there for two weeks. I can't find the reference anymore, so I think such no longer applies.

If you want the best bang for your buck, Texas looks like the best buy with tuition/fees at 12K as well as reasonable admissions standards for in-staters and a mix of schools to choose from that seem to offer different flavors. I attempted to squeeze through their rules by taking a community college job there, the theory being that Texas teachers are automatically residents, but I estimated my chances of success at less than 40% so I bailed.

Beware that TMDSAS and AMCAS talk to each other to prevent double-dipping.

Many schools will use what you tell AMCAS as whether or not to give you resident status for admission but still may make you prove it to get the tuition at the cheap rate.

You also can't pull a fast one and say, "Oh I was confused when I filled out AMCAS, I'm really a resident of YOUR state." Tried that one too.

A lesser reason as to why I call myself "Wizard" is that I have tried almost every trick available to bend rules, but like the Wizard of Oz in the movie, I have found that there was no real magic.