UT Austin: residency?

[tortola23]

I've been living in Austin for the past sixth months, and therefore I can claim that I am a Texas resident. I'll be filing taxes independently of my parents for the first time in April 2011.

BUT. Does anyone know whether it would be to my advantage to remain an out-of-state resident by remaining dependent on my parents? I didn't go to school in Texas, so I assume the department would consider me an out-of-state student, but I'm not sure what to do here. Obviously I want to be in-state if that might help me, out-of-state if that would be advantageous.

Any ideas?

[tortola23]

(And do you guys think this would affect my admissions decision at all?)

Edited November 20, 2010 by tortola23

[LJK]

I don't *know* the answer to this question, but my guess would be that being able to claim residency would be, if anything, a benefit rather than a negative, but mostly if you were being offered funding. I believe somewhere in the forum (I couldn't find the thread, sorry) it has been said that the UT schools can't give tuition waviers, that it is against Texas state law. Therefore, if tuition is being paid for you it would be coming out of the department coffers. This is how tuition payment works at my current institution though it is not in TX. You costing less than another student who does not have Texas residency might tip a scale, but I would think it would only matter in the case where it came down to you and another equally qualified student. The lower cost would only be for a short time since they would likely want graduate students to establish residency as quickly as possible.

So to sum up, I don't think it will matter all that much, but I would claim residency.

[bigdgp]

I can't imagine that it would have anything to do with your admissions decision. I would claim residency because it is cheaper and you may be able start paying in-state tuition by next year.

[anonacademic]

Do whatever is cheapest right now. Speaking generally, I think state schools usually require their funded PhDs to become state residents within the first semester in order to have tuition waived; it doesn't matter if a student isn't a state resident as long as he or she becomes one within a specified time frame. I don't believe state residency would affect their decision whatsoever.