<p>You might check other “residency” threads here on CC. The bottom line: never, ever, ever, ever “fib” or “lie” because it is extremely easy to catch the tuition thieves (and “thief” and “liar” are the right names). </p>
<p>When your high school transcript hits the Admissions office, it will have your TX zip code. Right there is a huge flag that you don’t live in CA. There are many, many ways to figure out where a student spent high school (even before Facebook). </p>
<p>And a student who lies about residency can be booted from the college on an honor violation – or the diploma “held” until the student pays up all that out of state tuition that should have been paid in the first place. It can get ugly, fast. </p>
<p>We get students (and parents) all the time here who are curious if they can use a vacation home or Grandma’s cabin for residency purposes. It seems easy – but it is also easy to bust (as in when you supply the financial aid office with a copy of your tax returns or your parents tax returns and the address is a) not from CA or b) blacked out.
Either one would raise serious questions (also that tax deduction for some home state detail). </p>
<p>Be generous about your friend. Some colleges will waive OOS fees for a talented athlete or high scoring student. Maybe your friend got a legitimate waiver. </p>
<p>But you bring up a good point. You know all about your pal. So do all her friends and her sweetheart. If anyone ever gets furious with her, don’t you think a great revenge would be for the Ex to pick up the phone and call her college’s billing office? </p>
<p>Never lie about who you are or where you are from. Be honest. Be smart, hardworking and talented – and see if you can get an upfront waiver.</p>
<p>I would have told you to do it but you’d obviously be caught as the poster above mentioned.</p>
<p>They do check but most of the time, they suspend you until you compensate the remaining extra cost, including putting a hold on transcripts, financial aid, scholarships, etc.</p>
<p>younglookingmom…grad student funding, residency requirements, ETC are very different from undergrad. Thanks for clarifying.</p>
<p>My son could also have gotten instate residency concurrent with his grad school studies at an OOS school IF he had changed his car registration, registered to vote, etc. He didn’t but he could have. Different rules for grad students. Undergrads as his same school could NOT do this.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for clearing this up for me! My friend is really smart so there is a high chance that she did get a tuition waiver and just chose not to share the news.</p>
<p>youliveandlearn, yes, I think you are right. The majority of people are honest people. For you not assuming any wrong-doing of your friend shows that you have a good heart. Good luck!</p>
<p>IF you family is planning to move back to CA and IF you really want to go to school there, then take a gap year and establish residency as a family, THEN apply as a resident. I have a friend who moved to CA from abroad, for work. They were non-citizens, but got green cards and the DD attended a top UC, it all happened very quickly, a year or so.</p>
<p>If you are truly planning to change your lives to be Californians, then perhaps it is worth a gap year?</p>
<p>That sounds like a good idea, but I don’t think it would work for me. My mom most likely won’t even consider the possibility of me taking a gap year even if I spend that year doing something beneficial.</p>