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Hi,

On the Rutgers app, there is a question about where I would live if I was admitted and attended.

I know NJ state residency is easy to obtain, and the truth is, I'm hoping to get accepted, sign a 12 month lease (for their housing or for a regular apartment), and live near the school.

Does the school want to hear that (even though I'd ideally pay a lower state tuition), or should I say something else indicating that I may be willing to pay the higher tuition and not establish residency? Should I go as far as ind acting that I would establish state residency - is that what they are looking for and want and could it help, or could putting that and not paying higher tuition as a current out of state student hurt? Thanks.

Anyone have any info? Thanks so much.

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I'm not sure if I should including applying to become a state resident. Either way I will live in state, but I'm not sure whether saying I will apply for state residency can help or hurt me (if they want state residents or want non-state higher tuition students).

Just put the truth. In the email they send when they admit you they mention to contact them about how to get residency. They aren't secretly trying to weed out people who will pay out of state rate, trust me. I've been talking to one of the admissions deans on and off about it for months.

It's a state school. They look favorably upon state residents beforehand, or those who will contribute to the state of NJ after they graduate. What they really don't want to hear is you want to come in, live a year, get 25k in tuition breaks, and move to NYC, which it sounds like you are trying to do.

Should I not say that I would be trying to establish state residency? If I say that I may try to live in NJ now and possibly live and work there in my future, would that seem like a lie, since most people probably say it (even though it's the truth for me)?

Should I just say I would live in NJ in campus or local apartments, but not mention the residency? Thanks.

Tell me why you would mention it at all. Rutgers knows it's a regional school. It also knows it's going to place fairly well in its region (I've been told they place well due to their alumni network and the strong brand name in NJ that is Rutgers)

If you go to Rutgers, they assume you are going to work in Newark or the area. If you go to Rutgers, NYC law firms are going to assume you wanted to work in NJ or the area.

There are some good firms in NJ, and if you are looking to work in the tri-state area, sure, work in NJ. Looking at the ABA data. looks as if 221 of the 235 bar takers took the NJ state bar.

So it looks like nearly all Rutgers-Newark grads work in NJ, which means they will probably live in NJ too.

So are you really going to try and bust out of NJ, and work in NYC right away?

I don't even remember this question and I was admitted in the first wave. Just answer it truthfully.

And I'm not trying to be mean, but it just sounds like you are one of those people that are like:

"I got a bad GPA and a decent LSAT. I'm going to go to a tier 2 school, work real hard, and transfer to a t14 school."

Sure, there are these people that it does work, but usually need to be in the top 5% (which I'm pretty sure Rutgers doesn't even rank classes)

So if you want to work in NYC, go to St. Johns or Hofstra.