Jennisattva

The cost of education going down. No question.

You're welcome!

1. Read this book, and this book. Ben Kaplan has a lot of great advice to offer. The book is a little out of date, but the advice is timeless.

2. Get involved in your classes. Get to know the teacher. Participate in class. This helps you get awesome recommendation letters which are often more valuable than good essays.

3. Approach scholarships like job applications. Make a binder to organize the ones you applied for, the letters and essays you sent...and keep them for later! Sometimes you can re-use them for similar scholarships.

4. Fastweb.com is a good resource, but it's not the only one. You can find scholarships from your school, your community...even your bank in some cases.

5. Volunteer. The most eligible recipients do some kind of volunteer work, whether it's for a big organization or a struggling student in your class. I tutored Kenyan students in Biology (they had a hard time with the terms) and volunteered for Outside In, a homeless shelter in Portland, OR. It wasn't even very time-consuming.

Thank you for doing this, you're doing everyone else who suffers from this disorder an amazing service.

If you had to choose 5 things that everyone should know about this disorder, what would they be?

Also, if someone suspects they may have CRPS, what should they know about dealing with their providers?

I might be able to help. First, a few questions for you:

1. How old are you?
2. Which college do you attend, and what is your area of study?
3. Is this your first time going to college?
4. Have your parents gone to college?
5. Where have you looked so far?

There are literally dozens upon dozens of reasons scholarships are awarded, and race/religion/economic situation are only a few of them. Based on what you've shared already, start by volunteering a few hours a week. If you need help choosing an organization to volunteer for, I can help with that too.

It's never too late to try to do better. Are you a returning student after dropping out? If so, you might include your transcript, but highlight your GPA since returning to college. People understand mistakes. Honestly, I'm more likely to feel connected to a student who has learned from their mistakes than one whose application suggests they've never made one.

Also, volunteer for a non-profit, or the school itself. It doesn't need to be much time at all, but giving back to the community looks way better than a relatively arbitrary grading system. Also, recommendation letters are pretty powerful too. If you have teachers/professors that you've gotten to know well, ask! Most people are honored to write one for you.

If they're too busy, (in my experience they've always been happy to make the time, but just in case...) write one yourself and ask them to sign it if they agree with it. It's perfectly acceptable.

Edit: There are a lot of scholarships for returning students, or ones based on merit outside the classroom, such as volunteer work. Scholarship winning is less about what you've done, and more about making the judge feel like you'll do good things with the money they award.