<p>HI, I am a current senior in MD. I have narrowed down my two options to Towson University and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Towson is a good school, but VCU is better.</p>
<p>If i chose to attend VCU, could i later apply for in state tuition after living there for 1 year? My first year i would dorm, so that does not count. My second year however, i can find off campus housing, get a job, and pay VA taxes. I would have to be off my parent's tax returns, change my voter ID, and license to VA standards.</p>
<p>By the time of my 3rd year term, i can be eligible for in state?
Could this work?</p>
<p>You need to look up the requirement for each school. It is not likely to grant you in state status by the way you thought. Otherwise, everyone can be in state student easily. Nevertheless, you should check if there is any student exchange agreement between the states that one may get in state rate from neighboring state in some case.</p>
<p>Unlikely. You are not going to be able to count the time you are in college, regardless of whether you are living in an apartment, toward the 12 consecutive months necessary to establish residency for tuition purposes as long as your parents are elsewhere and they provide any support. That they don’t claim you as a dependent on the tax return is not enough to show you are independent. You would have to show they are not giving you any money for tuition, books, room and board, apartment costs, or personal spending; in other words you would have to show true financial independence from parents.</p>
<p>Students get instate tuition breaks because their parents support the schools by paying income tax. Living in the state while attending school does not earn you that tax break.</p>