Question regarding state residency for application purposes

Did you grow up in Wisconsin? If not how many years have you lived in wisconsin?

Proceed with care. You would not be liable for Minnesota state taxes on income earned in Minnesota if you actually live in Wisconsin but if you are claiming to live in Wisconsin (and paying Wisconsin income taxes ) but really living in Minnesota, well that could cause some problems.

You should either commute or go all in and move to Minnesota. If you move, you'll need a MN drivers license, voter registration (if you are a citizen), and file taxes.

I'm not familiar with MN and WI with regard to preferences for in-state applicants. It may not be as dire as you think.

Even if you move to minnesota, being an original cheesehead will make you a good candidate for the University of wisconsin. It's not an either or thing.

Goro said:

Even if you move to minnesota, being an original cheesehead will make you a good candidate for the University of wisconsin. It's not an either or thing.

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I think it's worth noting that, by law, University of Wisconsin must have 70% of it's class made up of Wisconsin residents.

DOCOC15 said:

I think it's worth noting that, by law, University of Wisconsin must have 70% of it's class made up of Wisconsin residents.

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Do you know how they determine that, though?

A lot consider "historical residency" (as in, you grew up in the state / graduated high school in the state) in addition to "current legal residency" for these purposes. The goal of quotas are usually to pick physicians with a tie to the state likely to practice in the state after graduation, to support the people who pay taxes to support the medical schools.

A P said:

Hi,

I am in a tough predicament and I'm not entirely sure how to approach it. I am a 27 year old Wisconsin resident and I'm planning to apply to medical school in the 2025 cycle (a little over a year from now). I just accepted a job in Minnesota that is a really great opportunity, however I am concerned that relocating would make me lose my residency status in Wisconsin. I 'could' live in Wisconsin and commute 45 mins-1hr to work which would be less than ideal, but better than losing ties to Wisconsin. I have looked through statutes and emailed the registrar at U of Wisconsin and they said that because my parents are bona fide WI residents, for tuition purposes I would be categorized as a WI resident, but I'm not sure what this means for medical schools and instate biases. I have seen that I likely need rental agreements/ tax returns to categorize as a WI resident since I am an "independent adult over age 26", and not sure if I could say I'm a WI resident as I would have lived over a year in MN prior to applying. Has anyone experienced/ dealt with this before? Thank you for help in advance, I'm at my wits end trying to figure this out.

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Can’t you keep your Wisconsin state licenses? I still have mine and have not switched to the current state just cause of this. I dont pay Wisconsin state taxes since they’re state is nice with filing and i dont may any income from Wisconsin.

As also Goro has mentioned the qualifications to make to be instate would be covered if your parents are still living there, graduated a Wisconsin high school and college. Don’t quote me but i also went through this dilemma just Incase.

LizzyM said:

Proceed with care. You would not be liable for Minnesota state taxes on income earned in Minnesota if you actually live in Wisconsin but if you are claiming to live in Wisconsin (and paying Wisconsin income taxes ) but really living in Minnesota, well that could cause some problems.

You should either commute or go all in and move to Minnesota. If you move, you'll need a MN drivers license, voter registration (if you are a citizen), and file taxes.

I'm not familiar with MN and WI with regard to preferences for in-state applicants. It may not be as dire as you think.

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Sorry, this tax information is incorrect. The Minnesota/Wisconsin tax reciprocity tax deal ended in 2010. As a result, if you live in Wisconsin and work in Minnesota, you will pay tax to Minnesota on your Minnesota wages and you will be ostensibly taxed on those wages by Wisconsin as well. However, you will get a credit on your Wisconsin return for the taxes you paid to Minnesota on the wage income. The net result is that you will just get taxed by Minnesota on your wage income and get taxed by Wisconsin on all income except wages.

Whether you should change your state of residency for the purpose of gaining a med school admission advantage is a tough question. In the last cycle the average MCAT score among Wisconsin matriculants was 511.8 while the Minnesota average was 511.3. The total matriculant average was 511.7. From that perspective it looks a little easier if you're a Minnesota resident.

On the other hand, the University of Minnesota med school has 241 seats, while the U of Wisconsin has 171 seats and 50% of the seats at MCW (which has long standing political ties to the state) amounts to 132 seats for effectively 303 seats somewhat biased to Wisconsin.

Furthermore, in the last cycle Minnesota had 975 applicants while Wisconsin only had 787 applicants. So, instate seats per instate applicant looks much better if you are a Wisconsin applicant.

I suspect that the lower average MCAT score among Minnesota matriculants stems from higher household income in Minnesota. Applying to medical school can be quite expensive if you have to apply to lots of schools. Minnesota household income in 2021 was about 15% higher than Wisconsin household income. There is a lot more money in the Twin Cities than in any city in Wisconsin. I would bet my last dollar that applications per applicant are much higher in Minnesota. Higher Minnesota personal incomes won't help you.

If I were in your shoes, I would get the cheapest apartment you can find in Hudson or River Falls and commute into the Twin Cities. Otherwise, you may lose your instate advantage in Wisconsin and look like a carpetbagger in Minnesota. Don't forget to buy good quality snow tires.

Goro said:

Even if you move to minnesota, being an original cheesehead will make you a good candidate for the University of wisconsin. It's not an either or thing.

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Unless you become a Vikings fan. Then all bets are off.

RunnerDad said:

Unless you become a Vikings fan. Then all bets are off

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Beats being a bears fan…

The registrar here at UW is the one who determines residency, SMPH just follows what the registrar says. If the registrar says you qualify for IS tuition then you will be in the IS applicant pool for the medical school. You can also be a resident of more than one state so it might be possible to apply instate for both Minnesota and Wisconsin.

per the secondary residency section, "If you identify as a Wisconsin resident, the Office of the Registrar will confirm your residency status before your application is reviewed. You will be asked to provide supporting information. Only the information that you submit as part of this secondary application is used. The state of legal residence that you reported on your AMCAS application is not considered. Laws and rules used by other states and universities do not apply. It is possible that you could be considered a resident of more than one state. This does not disqualify you from being a Wisconsin resident."