<p>My son was recently accepted to UVA, He has outstanding credentials - straight A's, 1510 SAT, high school valedictorian, 4 year letter in soccer and track, community service, etc. etc. He also received a likely letter from UVA last month. Is it possible for an out of state student to get in state tuition rates and does anyone have any ideas on how best to proceed?</p>
<p>My guess is no. You have to be paying taxes to VA to receive IS tuition, not just be a stellar student. Maybe he should apply to scholarships?</p>
<p>U.Va</a>. Office of Admission > Admission Information > Virginia Domicile</p>
<p>*Q: How long must I be domiciled in Virginia before I can be considered "in-state"? *
A: A student, parent(s) or spouse must be domiciled in Virginia for at least twelve continuous months immediately preceding the first day of classes. This means the student parent(s) or spouse must actually reside in Virginia during this period while simultaneously demonstrating their intent to be domiciled in Virginia. Intent is demonstrated by, among other things, paying resident taxes to Virginia, obtaining a Virginia driver's license, car & voter registrations.</p>
<p>** Q: Can I establish "in-state" status while I am a student? **
A: If you are a dependent and your parent(s) or spouse moves to Virginia while you are in school and fulfills the requirements of domicile, you should petition for a change of status effective 12 months after the move. If you entered classified as an out-of-state student, you must present clear and convincing evidence to rebut the presumption that you are residing in the State primarily to attend school. Residence or physical presence in Virginia primarily to attend the University does not entitle you to in-state tuition rates.</p>
<p>the general rule of thumb is that you have to prove that you didn't move to a specific state primarily for college purposes.</p>
<p>So now that I look back on the question, I'm not sure if you're looking to get IS tuition immediately or just eventually. If immediately, then the answer is no. If eventually, the answer is a sorta-yes (see above). I know some people take the "I have a job here now-route" and establish residency sometime after their first year.</p>
<p>Not possible. The office of admissions at UVA offers no merit scholarships, for whatever reason.</p>
<p>If you live in DC, you can pay in state tuition, but other than that, you or your independent child needs to establish domicile and pay taxes in VA. Seems fair to me! By the way, my daughter is in state and has equally stellar credentials, so don't assume that all OSS students are somehow of a higher caliber than in state students.</p>
<p>Many instate kids have high SAT's, GPA's and great EC's. Sometimes a common misconception among out of state kids and parents is that the out of state kids are all or mostly superior. Many instate kids could have been competitive at any number of schools but chose UVa for many reasons(great cost included). As a Virginia taxpayer for many years,
I also agree that instate tuition should be reserved for instate kids!</p>
<p>I don't think there was any assumption in the OP's post that OOS kids were better than IS. S/he was just asking about the possibility of paying IS tuitions. Chill!</p>
<p>Well, listing her son's credentials and not giving any other reason as to why they should be eligible for in state tuition leads to what other conclusion? I certainly apologize if I jumped the wrong conclusion, but I'm not sure how else to read the original question.</p>
<p>My D received in-state tuition at the University of New Mexico last fall due to outstanding high school grades and acceptance into the honors program. She is from MA.
Some schools DO offer that.</p>
<p>Sunshadow--I had never heard of that practice. Perhaps I did jump to the wrong conclusion after reading the OP. Anyhow, I don't think UVa needs to do that because as many have said the IS pool is pretty competitive and many feel that the OS tuition is a bargain.</p>
<p>I agree. I think it was an added incentive to lure out of state kids to a lesser-known undergrad school. I could be wrong, but I believe UMASS Amherst and a few others do it as well.</p>
<p>My guess is the schools that give "IS tuition" to OOS kids arn't really changing the bill per say, but instead giving them loads of money to make it instate. I don't really know of any schools that advertise this, but I know some schools will give out merit aid to balance the rate out to IS rates.</p>
<p>sevmom:</p>
<p>some publics DO give a "scholarship" for OOS kids which essentially waived the OOS portion of the fees. And, such "scholarships" can be competitive.</p>
<p>bluebayou,I understand that. Virginia , however, does not even give merit or tuition breaks to instate students, let alone ,out of state. Just has not needed to. Are California, Michigan,etc. similar? Many Virginia families try to position themselves very early on ( private school, public magnet schools,etc) just to get into the Virginia public schools such as UVa .Virginians are lucky. I am not originally from Virginia(but here now over 20 years) and it took me awhile to realize the strenghth of Va. schools and how much it means to get into schools like UVa and William and Mary for Virginia residents. Lots of these instate kids at UVa would be looking at free rides elsewhere at other schools or paying some at elite privates instead. Now that there is no ED at UVa anymore, some instate kids who would have just gone ED in the past, may now apply to schools more expensive (like Harvard,etc) since alot of privates like Harvard,etc. have recently changed their financial picture.</p>