state residency requirement

[citrusguy2010]

so i've got a minor issue that i'd love to hear other opinions about...

so i'm applying in june for fall 2012 start for medical school (hopefully) and i'm trying to figure out where best to indicate my state of residence as. my parents live in California and i went to UCLA (go bruins!) so i know i have california as a residence. i would love to end up back in CA for med school but my numbers just aren't up there to be competitive, but i do have significant ties to the med school through EC's in undergrad.

however, i am currently in graduate school in NY. my lease started in august 2010 and i'm going to be here until at least may 2012 (or later if i work here after and don't get into med school). if i get into a NY school i will have had been here for at least 1 year. currently i am working for the city of new york so i will be paying new york state taxes. and since my stats aren't the best (3.4/31), i was considering putting new york as my state of residence to get a little more favorable viewing by adcoms at the SUNY schools (since by comparison they're a little less numbers oriented than the UC's).

my questions are:

am i allowed to put NY as my state of residence?

what would happen if i'm unable to prove NY state residency if i get accepted? will they revoke my admission (all hypothetical)?

would i lose my california residency? (in other words, should i just not apply to any california schools?)

what do you suggest i do?

thanks so much in advance!

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[glasshalfMD]

so i've got a minor issue that i'd love to hear other opinions about...

so i'm applying in june for fall 2012 start for medical school (hopefully) and i'm trying to figure out where best to indicate my state of residence as. my parents live in California and i went to UCLA (go bruins!) so i know i have california as a residence. i would love to end up back in CA for med school but my numbers just aren't up there to be competitive, but i do have significant ties to the med school through EC's in undergrad.

however, i am currently in graduate school in NY. my lease started in august 2010 and i'm going to be here until at least may 2012 (or later if i work here after and don't get into med school). if i get into a NY school i will have had been here for at least 1 year. currently i am working for the city of new york so i will be paying new york state taxes. and since my stats aren't the best (3.4/31), i was considering putting new york as my state of residence to get a little more favorable viewing by adcoms at the SUNY schools (since by comparison they're a little less numbers oriented than the UC's).

my questions are:

am i allowed to put NY as my state of residence?

what would happen if i'm unable to prove NY state residency if i get accepted? will they revoke my admission (all hypothetical)?

would i lose my california residency? (in other words, should i just not apply to any california schools?)

what do you suggest i do?

thanks so much in advance!

in general, you need to live there, have a drivers license there, pay taxes there, etc. for a YEAR prior to applying to be considered a resident.

you can't be a resident of two states at once, but you can be a resident of one and claim strong ties to another. Cali school are so tough to get into, I'd advise that you stick with the CA residency just to give yourself even the slightest upper-hand. then, claim strong ties to NY for reasons x,y,z.

 

[Catalystik]

Some states require that the minimum one year of residency NOT be for educational purposes. You'll have to check NY rules/call one of the med schools/ask in the school specific forum. But if working and filing taxes qualifies you, I'd stick with NY as a state of residence (creating a strong paper trail: drivers license, car license, voters registration, copy of lease, utility bills) and maybe apply to USC too (which takes 26% OOS matriculants) and possibly Loma Linda (49%). It's not as difficult to match into a residency program in Cali as it is to get into one of their med schools, if you are decently competitive (average Steps, etc).

 

[Catalystik]

Here's a starting point : http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=7502785

 

[0919mmk]

Actually yeah, I have a similar issue. Technically, I won't have been in this state for a full year until this August, but I obviously would like to submit my AMCAS before then, and I'm not a legal resident of any other state right now (been moving around). How do med schools actually verify your legal residency status? Last time I applied, they didn't ask for any supporting documents or anything. Obviously, I'm not going to apply as a resident if I'm not legally a resident, but I'm just wondering how they check...

 

[citrusguy2010]

i remember that one of the SUNY's (downstate) had a list of things that you could choose to show to prove it.

that being said. as far as i know, they don't check that until you get accepted and have to verify for tuition. so if if i'm unable to verify at that point, would they revoke the acceptance?

i just want to make sure i don't pull something like that...

 

[citrusguy2010]

oh and thank you for all the feedback!

 

[Catalystik]

I'm not going to apply as a resident if I'm not legally a resident, but I'm just wondering how they check...

I've seen schools request all of this and more: drivers license, car registration, voters registration, copy of lease, utility bills, state tax documents, affidavit from parents.

 

[Catalystik]

as far as i know, they don't check that until you get accepted and have to verify for tuition. so if if i'm unable to verify at that point, would they revoke the acceptance?

I've seen the documents requested before acceptance was offered, but I'm sure every school has their own way. Hopefully, if it's after-offer, they just charge you more tuition rather than moving you to the OOS applicant waitlist.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

in general, you need to live there, have a drivers license there, pay taxes there, etc. for a YEAR prior to applying to be considered a resident.

you can't be a resident of two states at once, but you can be a resident of one and claim strong ties to another. Cali school are so tough to get into, I'd advise that you stick with the CA residency just to give yourself even the slightest upper-hand. then, claim strong ties to NY for reasons x,y,z.

I'd go with putting NY as your state of legal residence. You've had an apartment lease there for a while now, and for NY tuition purposes, you'll be a NY resident because at the time of class registration, you'll have been there for one full year (at least). As long as you have income tax records, lease agreement, utility bills, amongst a few other things like a driver license and voter registration, you'll be set as NY state resident.

 

[citrusguy2010]

sounds great. i just have to get my utilities notarized b/c my name isn't on them - but my roommate's is. i think i might just put down NY as my state of residence and then (like catalystik said) try to place in california for residency.

any idea how hard it is to get a state issued ID?

 

[raccoon914]

similar issue... I am currently living in New York, but plan on moving to California this summer and live there while I (re)apply this year. Since I will have been in Califronia for a year by the time I hopefully (finally) matriculate, do I list California as my state of residence?

 

[raccoon914]

any helpful responses/ideas?

 

[kansaskid]

in general, you need to live there, have a drivers license there, pay taxes there, etc. for a YEAR prior to applying to be considered a resident.

you can't be a resident of two states at once, but you can be a resident of one and claim strong ties to another. Cali school are so tough to get into, I'd advise that you stick with the CA residency just to give yourself even the slightest upper-hand. then, claim strong ties to NY for reasons x,y,z.

This is what I'd do. California as official residency, but claim strong ties to NY.
If you want to go to Cali schools this is your best bet. Even then it's tricky. I have a friend with super high stats and didn't make it the first time to Cali schools. This time around he's keeping Cali as his state, but claiming strong ties to TX where he lives now...hopefully he'll be more successful in both states! Good luck!

 

[mvenus929]

Actually yeah, I have a similar issue. Technically, I won't have been in this state for a full year until this August, but I obviously would like to submit my AMCAS before then, and I'm not a legal resident of any other state right now (been moving around). How do med schools actually verify your legal residency status? Last time I applied, they didn't ask for any supporting documents or anything. Obviously, I'm not going to apply as a resident if I'm not legally a resident, but I'm just wondering how they check...

Depends on the school. Some have a residency form as a part of the secondary if you're claiming in-state status. Others, it's more of an honor code thing until you get accepted and have to prove it for tuition purposes.