Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes Forum

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williemayshayes

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Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by williemayshayes » Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:16 pm

Hello all,

I'm sorry if there has alredy been a thread discussing this. I've been lurking in these forums for a long while, and I diligently searched the forums for a legitimate question asked along these lines and I could not find it.

One of my primary concerns with respect to attending law school will be the issue of state residency. I'm currently an Ohio resident and will be graduating from Ohio State, having lived here my whole life.

For law school, I'd really love to move to the Southern United States. NC and TX are the two states I'm pretty much narrowed down as possible destinations, for reasons ranging from the presence of family to the allure of the regions in question. UT Austin and UNC Chapel Hill are two of my favorite schools not named Ohio State (UNC due to a near-obsessive love of college hoops and an interest in going there ever since high school, and UTA due to multiple cousins going there and family in the area). From what I understand, it is not easy being newly classified as a resident of those two states.

I graduate in the spring of this coming year (June '11 to be exact), and plan to take a year off to do something ranging from getting the most entry level law firm job I can find, to full-time community service (Americorps State, Habitat for Humanity, etc. - stuff that allows me to work hourly on the side).

Could doing the above IN the state wherein I seek to obtain residency be a good way to go about demonstrating the "domiciliary intent" to be classified as a resident? If so, what hurdles can/should I cross before I put in an application?

If not, what can I do?

Thank you very much.

Regards,
Williemayshayes, The Ohio State University '11

P.s. I do have contingency plans should UNC or UT not work out...UH and SMU both interest me in TX, while I like Wake Forest a lot in NC (a school which according to LSN is extremely friendly to splitters).
Last edited by williemayshayes on Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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D-ROCCA

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by D-ROCCA » Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:20 pm

I'd help you, but you go to Ohio State.

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beachbum

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by beachbum » Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:26 pm

http://www.top-law-schools.com/law-scho ... dency.html

Working in the state before going to school there is generally a good thing if you're trying to gain residency.

williemayshayes

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by williemayshayes » Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:43 pm

beachbum wrote:http://www.top-law-schools.com/law-scho ... dency.html

Working in the state before going to school there is generally a good thing if you're trying to gain residency.
I read through those.

It caught my eye when it said that one might need to move even earlier than 12 months, due to residency decisions being made upon consideration of applications, which would take place for me in like December of '10, considering that I plan on applying early.

Would you say then that it's a good idea to take two years off instead of one? Or a year and a half before applying, in terms more relevant to my application? Or will demonstration of a concrete plan to continue to remain in the state (say, an obligation of service, rental lease, or employment contract) from the date of my application up through the time I would begin law school get me around that?

Or, if anyone has successfully changed their residency in the time between their graduation from undergrad and the time they applied to law school, can you share how you got to that point?

Yet another question (this is going to be a familiar theme with me, as my concerns seem to not have been encountered or addressed by about 99% of people I've talked to) - is the Habitat/Americorps qualify as "work" in that state? Logic says yes, considering that Americorps' stipends and end-of-service award are taxable (most importantly, taxable at the state level)...but one never knows just how strict they indeed are with these things.

Thanks.

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Merr

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by Merr » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:54 pm

North Carolina is a somewhat difficult state to gain residency for tuition purposes.

You have to not only make North Carolina your legal residence for 12 months, but you also have to prove that you intend to make North Carolina your permanent home. This requirement makes gaining residency more unpredictable.

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mcdonrb

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by mcdonrb » Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:11 pm

I went to UT as an undergrad, and I was a resident then, but have since moved out of state. I put in a call to whoever is responsible for residency at the Graduate level and was informed that you could get residency at Texas if you owned property in Texas. I'd never heard of this before, but it may be worth checking up on. I don't know what such an undertaking would cost, but I'm sure you could find some worthless piece of land somewhere to sit on until you graduate.

williemayshayes

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by williemayshayes » Thu Jul 22, 2010 11:10 pm

mcdonrb wrote:I went to UT as an undergrad, and I was a resident then, but have since moved out of state. I put in a call to whoever is responsible for residency at the Graduate level and was informed that you could get residency at Texas if you owned property in Texas. I'd never heard of this before, but it may be worth checking up on. I don't know what such an undertaking would cost, but I'm sure you could find some worthless piece of land somewhere to sit on until you graduate.
That won't be necessary for me in TX...I have family there with whom I can live for free/dirt cheap. They live in College Station, so I could try to get an entry-level administrative gig at Texas A&M (where my uncle is the chairperson of Aero Engineering dept) or stack up on retail/customer-service and related hourly work. Or better yet, a full time Americorps gig if I can get one in the area...with my housing problem resolved, and a very easy path to the much-coveted "domicile".

I am probably going to just call the NC registrar's office and ask them straight up once my LSATs come in. I have a great interest in going into Gov't and think tank type work (I'm also strongly considering a JD/MPA or MPP dual). Big Law is not exactly a goal of mine. That said, in the Carolinas, UNC is definitely the place for me due to their affinity for pushing their graduates into such areas (Wake Forest is a good fall back but sadly their relative lack of affinity for non-traditional legal fields is a turnoff). UT-Austin is a similar story in the Lone Star State (while SMU and UH play the role of Wake in this scenario).

However, since I am a low GPA splitter (at the current rate, will be somewhere between 3.1 and 3.2), UT seems like they'll be a lot less friendly to me than Carolina would (I could get a sweeeet deal there, money wise, on top of dirt-cheap tuition for in-staters). However, just as much as getting into UT is a roll of the dice, being able to get on my feet in NC to the point that I can actually get and claim residency is an equally monumental question mark. I'd have to get into an Americorps position just to make it down there.

The dilemma in a nutshell - good-to-great shot at residency in TX, versus unfriendly chances of acceptance at UT due to unfriendliness to low-GPA splitters (even with 170+ LSAT, apparently)...or good-to-great shot at a fantastic financial deal to attend Carolina Law, versus unfriendly chances of successfully obtaining residency. Truth be told, I'd prefer Carolina for less money, due to aforementioned career interests and the highly manageable nature of projected debt loads if I go to UNC as an in-stater. Which is why I have so many questions about NC residency.

Sorry for the novel y'all...and if this should be in "What Are My Chances", MODS...please move it there.
Last edited by williemayshayes on Thu Jul 22, 2010 11:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

colemf

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by colemf » Thu Jul 22, 2010 11:17 pm

As someone who gained TX residency I can tell you the only way to get residency in TX is to marry in or own/start a business, if you want UT, plan on spending all three years paying out-of state tuition.

ScaredWorkedBored

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by ScaredWorkedBored » Thu Jul 22, 2010 11:34 pm

Absent actually having a 170+ LSAT in-hand, you're being way too optimistic about your chances at either of these schools. 3.1ish GPA is very low.

These schools will both aggressively grill you about your residency because of the very large advantages they assign to residents. You pretty much, well, should be a real resident.

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williemayshayes

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by williemayshayes » Thu Jul 22, 2010 11:48 pm

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:Absent actually having a 170+ LSAT in-hand, you're being way too optimistic about your chances at either of these schools. 3.1ish GPA is very low.
Goes without saying. Believe me when I say, that is what drives me...to be that irresistible splitter :lol:
ScaredWorkedBored wrote:These schools will both aggressively grill you about your residency because of the very large advantages they assign to residents. You pretty much, well, should be a real resident.
Which is the entire reason I started this thread. Any ideas? I've aggressively read through Registrar FAQ's which give relatively uniform responses, read state laws regarding the matter...and they're all pretty uniform. "Be in the state for 12 months, domicile/domiciliary intent, pay taxes, register driver's license, be tax-independent, gainful employment" and the whole nine yards. It goes without saying that I need to not look like a carpetbagger. I was hoping to get a feel for the nature of the separation between "college carpetbagger" and "prospective permanent resident".
Last edited by williemayshayes on Thu Jul 22, 2010 11:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Southernlaw57

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by Southernlaw57 » Thu Jul 22, 2010 11:53 pm

Check out UGA. If you are a splitter with an LSAT in the 167/168+range you will probably get in-state tuition for your first year even with that GPA. After that, it appears to be pretty easy to qualify for in-state status for your second and third years.

I know you said you were interested in just NC and TX, but Georgia isn't so bad a place. Atlanta is an awesome city, as are Athens and Savannah.

I'd also shoot an application to Bama. I got what almost amounted to a full-ride there as a 3.1/169 splitter.

williemayshayes

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by williemayshayes » Thu Jul 22, 2010 11:59 pm

Southernlaw57 wrote:Check out UGA. If you are a splitter with an LSAT in the 167/168+range you will probably get in-state tuition for your first year even with that GPA. After that, it appears to be pretty easy to qualify for in-state status for your second and third years.
UGA is also a school I like. And what exactly do you mean "probably get instate tuition for your first year"? I'm gonna guess that you meant to say, scholarship which drives the cost to about the in-state level.
Southernlaw57 wrote:I'd also shoot an application to Bama. I got what almost amounted to a full-ride there as a 3.1/169 splitter.
As an out-of-stater I'm assuming? This would be pretty sweet if true, because I can still take a shot at my dream scenarios of UNC or UT and if it doesn't work out, pack my things and hop on I-20 over to Tuscaloosa.
Last edited by williemayshayes on Fri Jul 23, 2010 12:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

Southernlaw57

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by Southernlaw57 » Fri Jul 23, 2010 12:03 am

williemayshayes wrote:
Southernlaw57 wrote:Check out UGA. If you are a splitter with an LSAT in the 167/168+range you will probably get in-state tuition for your first year even with that GPA. After that, it appears to be pretty easy to qualify for in-state status for your second and third years.
UGA is also a school I like. And what exactly do you mean "probably get instate tuition for your first year"?

I know you said you were interested in just NC and TX, but Georgia isn't so bad a place. Atlanta is an awesome city, as are Athens and Savannah.
Southernlaw57 wrote:I'd also shoot an application to Bama. I got what almost amounted to a full-ride there as a 3.1/169 splitter.
As an out-of-stater?
I meant that they will probably give you an In-state Tuition Equalization Scholarship that waives the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition for the first year.

And yes, I was an out-of-state applicant to Bama.

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Merr

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by Merr » Fri Jul 23, 2010 5:51 pm

williemayshayes wrote:
Which is the entire reason I started this thread. Any ideas? I've aggressively read through Registrar FAQ's which give relatively uniform responses, read state laws regarding the matter...and they're all pretty uniform. "Be in the state for 12 months, domicile/domiciliary intent, pay taxes, register driver's license, be tax-independent, gainful employment" and the whole nine yards. It goes without saying that I need to not look like a carpetbagger. I was hoping to get a feel for the nature of the separation between "college carpetbagger" and "prospective permanent resident".
For North Carolina, the main distinction is if you have lived here three years or longer you can fill out the short form for residency.

Short of that I do not know of any shortcuts to residency. Another thing to consider about UNC is that they tend to weight GPA fairly heavily.
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =5&t=35133

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nahgems

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by nahgems » Fri Jul 23, 2010 6:12 pm

Anyone have any info on PA? It isn't one of the states that was discussed on the TLS info page.

williemayshayes

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by williemayshayes » Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:10 pm

Does anyone feel like spending a year of service with an Americorps-partner agency in a particular state will make a good case for being classified as a resident of that state?

The rationale here, for what its worth, is that IMO being a part of an Americorps effort could mean being "employed", given that the monthly stipends and the educational award are taxable at all levels, plus the yearlong presence afforded by most Americorps efforts allow one to establish ample proof of an income-earning presence in the state such as driver's license, voting precinct, legal address, etc.

Thoughts?

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Re: Obtaining residency in a state for tuition purposes

Post by IpleadtheFiF » Fri Nov 08, 2013 3:57 pm

Merr wrote:
williemayshayes wrote:
Which is the entire reason I started this thread. Any ideas? I've aggressively read through Registrar FAQ's which give relatively uniform responses, read state laws regarding the matter...and they're all pretty uniform. "Be in the state for 12 months, domicile/domiciliary intent, pay taxes, register driver's license, be tax-independent, gainful employment" and the whole nine yards. It goes without saying that I need to not look like a carpetbagger. I was hoping to get a feel for the nature of the separation between "college carpetbagger" and "prospective permanent resident".
For North Carolina, the main distinction is if you have lived here three years or longer you can fill out the short form for residency.

Short of that I do not know of any shortcuts to residency. Another thing to consider about UNC is that they tend to weight GPA fairly heavily.
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =5&t=35133
I know this thread is ancient but a UNC adcomm personally called BS on this info. The length of time to qualify for residency is one year.

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