State of Residency

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Waiting4Drexel

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Hi,

I was wondering if someone could explain what makes someone in-state vs. out-of-state. Here is my particular situation:

I've lived in NY all my life, went to HS and college there. However, my parents just moved from NY to VA last week. Also, for the past year I have been living in Baltimore MD working as a NIH Post-bacc IRTA research fellow, and I will be here for the next upcoming academic year as well. This fellowship is a temporary position, and is either a 1 or 2 year program.

So where do I have in-state residency? I'd prefer to work the system so that I am in-state in either VA or NY, since MD only has 2 med schools (and I don't particularly like my chances at Johns Hopkins or U of M).

Could someone explain this to me? Thanks!

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Do you file taxes independently or dependently from your parents? If dependent, you can pull off a NY residency but more than likely VA (if you are moving with your parents). If independently, probably MD.

A big part of this is where you filed state taxes and under what address.

From the information you've provided, it sounds like you're a dependent of your parents, so I would consider you a VA resident. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
While some of these rules are similar, quite a few are very different. You should check the websites or email the admissions officer for specific schools to get the relevant guidelines. Best to ask them - since they will be the ones making the decision.
 
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zach1201 said:
Do you file taxes independently or dependently from your parents? If dependent, you can pull off a NY residency but more than likely VA (if you are moving with your parents). If independently, probably MD.

A big part of this is where you filed state taxes and under what address.

From the information you've provided, it sounds like you're a dependent of your parents, so I would consider you a VA resident. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Hey Zach,
Thanks for the response. I actually filed my taxes independently from my parents. However, I wasn't required to pay state taxes. Do you think this makes me a MD resident? I hope not! :)
 
You are required to pay taxes in-state (in some form) and again, from what I can gather, it seems like your parents claim you as a dependent. The big quesiton is in what state do you file federal taxes. I would use that as state-residency.

Another factor that I'm forgetting to mention is that each state school has different criteria for considering residency. Call each admission office and inquire about your situation.

Hope this has been helpful.
 
Waiting4Drexel said:
Hey Zach,
Thanks for the response. I actually filed my taxes independently from my parents. However, I wasn't required to pay state taxes. Do you think this makes me a MD resident? I hope not! :)

I worked research for all last year in Missouri, I filed MO taxes but as a non-resident of Missouri and a resident of Utah so I could still claim utah residency. I would recommend doing something like this if you are working in the state you dont want to be a resident in. but i agree with everyone else, look up the residency rules at each fo the schools. it varies.
 
I went to undergrad in NY, but still held MD residency even though I was paying NY state taxes too. However because my last filing in NY was for 2004, I couldn't get NY residency status this year with Buffalo. Otherwise, all I would have needed to do was get a new license and register my car in NY.

If your parents haven't claimed you as a dependent on their last two tax filings, by the time you matriculate you will not have lived in NY for over two years and will not have filed NY taxes for 2005 and 2006, so I think it's unlikely that you can claim in-state status for NY.

What did you put on your AMCAS app?
 
If you're having trouble, you can always call someone at the individual state's department of education. Some states are incredibly easy to become in-state in (like FL -- all you have to have is a power or phone bill showing you rent or own property) whereas others make you jump through all kinds of hoops
 
For many places it also depends on which state you have your drivers license in.
 
sentry said:
If you're having trouble, you can always call someone at the individual state's department of education. Some states are incredibly easy to become in-state in (like FL -- all you have to have is a power or phone bill showing you rent or own property) whereas others make you jump through all kinds of hoops


I am trying to establish residency in florida currently. My entire extended family has moved down to the St. Pete area with the exception of my parents and they are as well as soon as their buisness contract expires in 8 years, so i would also like to perm. move down there as well. My current problem is that i grew up in pa, did my fresh and soph yrs at UCLA and did jr and will do senior yrs at PENN so i still have my pa residency. I am trying to figure out how to establish residency in FL during my senior yr so i would have a better chance to be able to attend a Florida school and hopefull if possible get in-state tuition. If you or anyone else has any info on if this is possible let me know. Like i said before, i know tons of people down there that would be willing to help me establish it. Also does anyone know if you can establish residency while in UG in that state because i would be willing to transfer if i absolutly had to and if i could still find a school that would let me in for the fall???????????BTW if it makes a diff on FAFSA i am classified as an independant but my parents claim me as a dependant on tax return.(which i could change if needed)
 
cbennett said:
I am trying to establish residency in florida currently. My entire extended family has moved down to the St. Pete area with the exception of my parents and they are as well as soon as their buisness contract expires in 8 years, so i would also like to perm. move down there as well. My current problem is that i grew up in pa, did my fresh and soph yrs at UCLA and did jr and will do senior yrs at PENN so i still have my pa residency. I am trying to figure out how to establish residency in FL during my senior yr so i would have a better chance to be able to attend a Florida school and hopefull if possible get in-state tuition. If you or anyone else has any info on if this is possible let me know. Like i said before, i know tons of people down there that would be willing to help me establish it. Also does anyone know if you can establish residency while in UG in that state because i would be willing to transfer if i absolutly had to and if i could still find a school that would let me in for the fall???????????BTW if it makes a diff on FAFSA i am classified as an independant but my parents claim me as a dependant on tax return.(which i could change if needed)


My parents moved to Florida and since I am still dependent I am a resident....it was a matter of them living here for at least a year and paying taxes. A lot of this stuff should be looked at by individual school though. Being a resident of a state does not always make you in-state by the school's eyes....sometimes you have to do a bit more.
 
Colorado has a whole bunch of qualifications to be in-state, but generally if you or your parents own property in the state, you have a driver's license issues in the state, and you file taxes in that state, you'll be considered in state. As others have mentioned, it varies from state to state, though. If your parent is in the military (and you are under 23), you automatically get residency for the state that they are stationed in, I think.
 
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