State Schools- If you are stateless

[Jainraisig]

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I was wondering if anyone else has or continues have problems with state residency. What happened? Did anyone appeal their non-resident status decision?
I am a NC resident in name only. I have a NC drivers license, registered to vote, permanent address, etc. However, I have lived outside of the state for school for the past 10 years (boarding school, college, grad, post-bac- Im not just a slow learner). But I have been a full time student the entire time.

Anyway, besides my sob story, my question is how is this fair? Can an American citizen be stateless? Why am I treated as a second-class person because I didnt grow up, live and die on the same patch of earth? States rights suck and I, and Im sure others, have fallen through the cracks.

I would like to know what yall have done (see I must be from NC, or at least the south, to use yall) or if you have any suggestions or tricks to beat this stupid system.
Thanks.

 

[gujuDoc]

I was wondering if anyone else has or continues have problems with state residency. What happened? Did anyone appeal their non-resident status decision?
I am a NC resident in name only. I have a NC drivers license, registered to vote, permanent address, etc. However, I have lived outside of the state for school for the past 10 years (boarding school, college, grad, post-bac- Im not just a slow learner). But I have been a full time student the entire time.

Anyway, besides my sob story, my question is how is this fair? Can an American citizen be stateless? Why am I treated as a second-class person because I didnt grow up, live and die on the same patch of earth? States rights suck and I, and Im sure others, have fallen through the cracks.

I would like to know what yall have done (see I must be from NC, or at least the south, to use yall) or if you have any suggestions or tricks to beat this stupid system.
Thanks.

I thought your permanent address would qualify you to call NC your state because you were out of the state for educational purposes and should be classified in other states as a nonresident. Unless I'm missing something. have you talked with the schools about this matter???

 

[morriske]

I thought your permanent address would qualify you to call NC your state because you were out of the state for educational purposes and should be classified in other states as a nonresident. Unless I'm missing something. have you talked with the schools about this matter???

It depends on the school. I believe MSU and Wayne would consider me in-state but not U of M. I'm originally from NY and still have NY liscense but I'm not considered in-state by the SUNY schools. Call the schools that you are interested in. Good luck

 

[maestro1625]

yeah, NC tends to be a bitch about thier residency requirements, mainly due to the fact that thier med schools are dirt cheap.

 

[Januine]

I know Wisconsin makes you fill out some governmental state registration form. Does anyone know if CA do the same?

OP, I'm in the same position as you are, lived outside the country for most of the past years. But I have a permanent address there. Do you think that would be enough to qualify? Californian residents, any comments? Thanks.

 

[XildUpNawth]

I've definitely whined about this on SDN before, but what the heck.

I was born and raised in Florida, went to public high school, college, and grad school there, and my whole family still lives there. I moved to Boston so my husband (also from Florida) could work on his PhD (fully funded), and now I'm stateless. Massachusetts wants 5 years of legal residence for UMass, and Florida requires nothing more than 12 months physical and "permanent" residence.

Mass also grants permanent residence status to anyone who attends 4 years and graduates from a Mass high school. So basically, if you attend high school here and never look back, setting up residence in say, Florida, for 12 months, you can choose whether you want to be a Mass or a Florida resident when you apply to medical school. However, my four years of living in Mass and paying state income tax, which you would conceivably not have done if you were just a high school student here, is not enough.

Great system.

 

[Orthodoc40]

I've definitely whined about this on SDN before, but what the heck.

I was born and raised in Florida, went to public high school, college, and grad school there, and my whole family still lives there. I moved to Boston so my husband (also from Florida) could work on his PhD (fully funded), and now I'm stateless. Massachusetts wants 5 years of legal residence for UMass, and Florida requires nothing more than 12 months physical and "permanent" residence.

Mass also grants permanent residence status to anyone who attends 4 years and graduates from a Mass high school. So basically, if you attend high school here and never look back, setting up residence in say, Florida, for 12 months, you can choose whether you want to be a Mass or a Florida resident when you apply to medical school. However, my four years of living in Mass and paying state income tax, which you would conceivably not have done if you were just a high school student here, is not enough.

Great system.

Well, you only have 1 more year to qualify for MA, but that year might be better spent in FL since there are more state schools and they are a little easier to get into than UMass, for the most part.

 

[Jainraisig]

XildupNorth- I think I have heard you comment on this before. I am in a similar situation (also in MA for school and working but not for 5 years). Its absolutely ridiculous.
Thanks for y'alls responses.
I have talked to both public schools in NC (ECU and UNC) about this matter. Both gave me some heinous long residence form to fill out.
When I talked to the residence person at Carolina, she said that the main reason she declared me a non-resident was because of my lack of a continuous physical presence in the state in the past year. Um, I'm in school lady!
I am going to pursue this matter further and possibly appeal (depending on the amount of torture/time/money that process involves). I have yet to get a final decision from ECU about my residence but I doubt I will be lucky there when I wasn't at UNC.
Thanks for your comments.

 

[XildUpNawth]

Well, you only have 1 more year to qualify for MA, but that year might be better spent in FL since there are more state schools and they are a little easier to get into than UMass, for the most part.

Yeah, you're right about Florida, except that my husband has to be in Mass until he finishes his PhD, and I'm way more willing to move away from him to actually start med school than to establish residency before I even know if I'll be accepted in the intended state. And I kinda feel like I've given enough to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts without giving them another year of my life too.

 

[PandP]

Hey, you all should apply to the PA schools, they don't like PA residents, but they love out-of-staters. Yeah, that whole state residency thing sucks. I hope you guys can get something worked out.

 

[MedStudentWanna]

Yeah, you're right about Florida, except that my husband has to be in Mass until he finishes his PhD, and I'm way more willing to move away from him to actually start med school than to establish residency before I even know if I'll be accepted in the intended state. And I kinda feel like I've given enough to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts without giving them another year of my life too.

How much longer does he have until he gets his PhD? What's the PhD in by the way? I'm just curious...and nosy. LOL

 

[XildUpNawth]

How much longer does he have until he gets his PhD? What's the PhD in by the way? I'm just curious...and nosy. LOL

Well, since apparently I am lacking that little voice that tells you not to post personal info on the net, I will answer that. He is working on a PhD in oceanography, and he should finish in the spring of '08. However, as PhD programs are notorious for taking longer than expected, that's just an estimate.

 

[MedStudentWanna]

Well, since apparently I am lacking that little voice that tells you not to post personal info on the net, I will answer that. He is working on a PhD in oceanography, and he should finish in the spring of '08. However, as PhD programs are notorious for taking longer than expected, that's just an estimate.

That's great! Best of luck to you both!

 

[MasterMD]

where do you file your taxes? it generally boils down to who's getting your money... its all about funding. good luck to both of you!

 

[XildUpNawth]

where do you file your taxes? it generally boils down to who's getting your money... its all about funding. good luck to both of you!

Massachusetts, but only for 4 years.

 

[freetheyaz]

I am in the same Massachusetts boat as you. I moved here from CT to work in a hospital doing research, giving up my CT residency (lived there 22 years). After 3 years here, I am not considered a MA resident, and cannot attend UMASS at all. Apparently, that is state legislature, and there is no appeals process. Either live here 5 years, or graduate high school here.

Stupid me, I gave up my CT residency. Three years ago, I interviewed at UCONN and was mid-waitlist. I am now 3 years older, with 3 more years of research experience, and a higher MCAT. UCONN told me they will put me "on-hold" even after I explained that I lived in CT my whole life! It is not fair at all.

At least I have 4 interviews so far at private/other state schools. I will be paying through the ______(insert external orafice here), but at least they want me! Sucks to be stateless...floating in a vacuum, paying 4x as much as anyone else.

 

[XildUpNawth]

I am in the same Massachusetts boat as you. I moved here from CT to work in a hospital doing research, giving up my CT residency (lived there 22 years). After 3 years here, I am not considered a MA resident, and cannot attend UMASS at all. Apparently, that is state legislature, and there is no appeals process. Either live here 5 years, or graduate high school here.

You should write to your MA state legislators. I did, and got no response, but maybe if more than one person writes about it they will do something. I can email you the letter I used if you're interested. My parents' rep in Florida was actually really interested and offered to do anything he can on my behalf. Just one more way that Mass has made me feel insignificant. And they wonder why their population growth is negative.