UC Davis Residency Question

[Minnerbelle]

So I'm in this situation where I don't know which state to claim residency... any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I would say that technically I'm a Mass resident. I went to college for all 4 years in MA, and I'll have been working in MA after graduation for 2 years. I'm not a citizen so I don't have voter registration, but I will have had a permanent home address in MA for the last 2 years. I paid 2008 MA state tax.

However, I'm turning 24 this summer which means that I'll be financially independent, and Davis has told me that in the event that I'm financially independent, I qualify for in-state tuition at Davis since I went to all 4 years of high school in CA. I also have a CA driver's license.

I've called up the admissions office to ask if my being considered as an in-stater for tuition purposes also means that I can be considered in-state for admission purposes. They said they don't know, and that only the residency office is able to make that call. So I call the residency officer (who was the person who told me that I qualified for in-state tuition in the first place), and I was told that they have no idea because all they deal with is tuition. They told me to call admissions and ask. So I called admissions again and explained the whole thing again, and also that the residency officer told me that it was their call. Guess what, they still tell me that they don't know, and that they can't make that decision... GAHHHH!

Financially, attending in-state for Davis would be the best option. It's $10K/year cheaper than attending in-state for Tufts. However, I can only claim residency in one state, and I don't want to commit to CA if I'm not actually going to be considered a resident for admissions. My chances of getting accepted IS at Tufts is far better than getting accepted OOS at UC Davis...

I really don't know what to do... help!

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[lazyjayn]

Unless you're a US permanent resident (green card) or citizen, I don't think you can get in-state tuition *anywhere*. Though if someone knows differently, I'd be interested to hear it. You'd also be really limited in where you can apply- unless you're from canada- I think they have a work around for canadian aplicants re: the int'l thing, but not for tuition.

-j.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Unless you're a US permanent resident (green card) or citizen, I don't think you can get in-state tuition *anywhere*. Though if someone knows differently, I'd be interested to hear it. You'd also be really limited in where you can apply- unless you're from canada- I think they have a work around for canadian aplicants re: the int'l thing, but not for tuition.

-j.

Sorry I wasn't being clear. I'm not a citizen but am a US permanent resident (so I can still get in-state tuition, but still can't vote or do jury duty or join the army).

 

[starlene45]

sorry, hijacking for a minute here...

it's interesting to me that a perm resident can't voluntarily join the army... i'm assuming you're female? i assume this because my husband is from the uk and right after he got his green card, he got his selective service (think that's what it was called) notice. after reading the letter, my understanding is that in the event that world war III hits and the us army reinstates the draft, they can/will draft him if need be.

just seems weird to force perm resident males to be available for drafting but refuse voluntary service to perm residents of either gender?

does anyone with a military background have a different understanding of the selective service?

back to your regularly scheduled debate.... of which it kind of sounds to me like you qualify more as a MA resident than a CA one, especially if you've been using your MA address as your permanent address for more than a year.

good luck though, it's definitely an awkward situation, and Davis can be difficult to get a straight answer out of!!!!!

 

[lazyjayn]

Ok, in that case-

I'd be leery of davis simply because, with the budget drama and whatnot, they are likely to close that loophole soon. They're cutting everywhere they can, and I would not be at all surprised to see the "hs grad in-state tuition" thing go the way of the dodo.

but you might as well try to apply as instate at both, and find out.

I would assume, by the way, that you would apply through the instate pool in CA, because otherwise they wouldn't think to give you IS tuition- It would be a nightmare getting reclassified, too. More work for them = less likely option in my mind.

-j.

 

[jglovicz]

A friend of mine went out of state to college but maintained her CA residence...UC Davis made her jump through hoops in order for her to be considered in state, but I would be sure you have something in writing confirming (from the school) your state of residence for tuition purposes before you apply. Good luck!

 

[nyanko]

I would assume, by the way, that you would apply through the instate pool in CA, because otherwise they wouldn't think to give you IS tuition- It would be a nightmare getting reclassified, too. More work for them = less likely option in my mind.

I don't think there is really a "pool" of in-staters vs out-of-staters that you apply through. Your state of residency is determined preliminarily by what you put down in VMCAS for UC Davis (not sure if other schools have different options on their supplementals that go into more detail). I think in VMCAS they ask how long you've lived at your current address and in your current state and what you claim as your residency. I guess if there were a discrepancy of some sort they'd let you know, but I'm not really sure. I actually wasn't 100% certain whether they considered me in-state for admissions purposes until the post-mortem when I asked, honestly (they did).

(I'd moved to CA about a month before submitting the VMCAS app in 2007, and got charged in-state tuition to begin my MS in Fall 2008)

 

[Minnerbelle]

Thanks everyone for your input! Even though 10K+ a year is a huge difference (plus maybe even 6K more if Tufts stops subsidizing MA resident tuition), I really don't want to jeopardize my chances of getting into at least either of the schools because of some ridiculous residency issue. I know my residency for MA is pretty solid, so I'm starting to think that maybe I should just stay put with it and forget Davis altogether (unless I can get a straight up answer from Davis in writing, which I highly doubt).

As far as I know, it's a big no no to apply to two schools claiming residency in 2 different states for each application, so that's not really an option.

it's interesting to me that a perm resident can't voluntarily join the army... i'm assuming you're female? i assume this because my husband is from the uk and right after he got his green card, he got his selective service (think that's what it was called) notice. after reading the letter, my understanding is that in the event that world war III hits and the us army reinstates the draft, they can/will draft him if need be.

just seems weird to force perm resident males to be available for drafting but refuse voluntary service to perm residents of either gender?

As for the army thing... yes I'm female which is why I don't have to register for the draft thing. I have an older brother who did. The reason why only perm resident males have to be registered for a hypothetical draft I believe is because women currently can't be drafted (though i'm pretty sure that wasn't what you were asking).

I'm not sure this is why, but I believe the reason why perm residents can't put in voluntary service is because it can be a conflict of interest. If you're still a citizen of another country, supposedly your allegience is still to your country of origin; therefore, you shouldn't be entrusted with matters of national security ??? I have no idea...

I think the idea is that if you're that gung ho about serving in the army, then you should really put in that application for citizenship. I know that can take a while... but I know in certain cases the army will help expedite your citizenship process if you're going to serve.

As for the draft... I think it's more like the gov't forsees a short supply of people in the armed forces in the event of a WWIII, and decided that it would be unfair for the able bodied male permanent residents to get off without getting drafted.

I guess being able to serve voluntarily is a priviledge, whereas the draft is quite the opposite.

 

[Trilt]

Actually, my father was in the Marines for 6 years before he had to change his residency. Until then, my whole family were Canadian permanent residents. Also, it was only because he was going into a higher security occupation (truth: play with bombs. )

So I think it depends upon what role you're playing in the military.

 

[GellaBella]

As far as I know, it's a big no no to apply to two schools claiming residency in 2 different states for each application, so that's not really an option.

I definitely think it would be wise to pick only one state of residency and stick to it. It sounds to me like you have an option of which state to pick,..although the fact that you graduated from high school in CA and still hold a California drivers license does seem to indicate to me that you are still a CA resident. I graduated from high school in MA, went to college in NJ in 2004 and have been working in NJ since then. However I still have a MA drivers license and so am actually a MA resident regardless of the fact that I file both a MA and NJ state taxes.

I think that filing 'in state' for two seperate states on professional school apps would be a big problem...if somehow the schools found out it would be a major blow to you because of the ethics behind it. It sounds like you know that already but I'm just pointing it out for others who might consider something similar.

 

[spark52]

I also agree you're a California resident.
I went to HS is California then college in MD, work in MD (paying MD taxes), grad school in MD, and now will be working in NY (paying NY taxes) for a year and hopefully I'll get into UCD for next fall eek. Anyway, I'll be 24 this summer too, and I was concerned so I had my parents ask their lawyer. He told them that I will be considered in-state since I went to HS in California 🙂 So I think you're fine.