<p>I'm just curious, but should people with a disease and low life expectancy unless they use millions of dollars in medicine mention this and thus ask for scholarship? Or will that in fact decrease chances since they may not be able to pay them back?</p>
<p>Serious responses please cause i'm asking on behalf of a friend</p>
<p>I think you and your friend need to do more reading. Scholarships are not based on such things. Most grants are based on financial need, according to the income statement and the FAFSA you fill out if you are in the US. Some Scholarships are based on grades and SAT scores.</p>
<p>There are small scholarships that are based on everthing you can think of but they will not get you through college, just help with books and such.</p>
<p>Scholarships fdo not have to be paid back. Either do grants. Only loans have to be repaid.</p>
<p>What disease? Where is your friend from? It’s all important.</p>
<p>I think he’s talking about if someone had a disease that would kill them before they could repay their loans / financial aid obligations. If he’s talking about scholarships, don’t worry; people who give out grants and scholarships know that they will never be paid back.</p>
<p>sorry, my bad. I asked this in a bit of a rush, didn’t realise how my question didn’t make sense. </p>
<p>Can I ask what would it do to his chances of getting accepted into Uni instead? I mean I’ve read about some stomach disease on this forum but it seems to be in different context cause they seem to be asking it in the sense that they are affecting his studies. </p>
<p>My friends situation is sort of messy and pretty sensitive so i’m not sure how much i should say. Currently he wants to transfer out from hong kong (so might be a different situation). The general condition is he’s completely lacking a enzyme inside him with physical symptoms and increased chances of stroke and heart attack, and the cost of the medicine here differs dramatically to that in the US which he might not afford. He’s got pretty good achievements though and is thinking of ignoring the whole condition but I dunno. I just want to know whether he should even mention it in his apps cause the whole things pretty complicated.</p>
<p>Hong Kong?! Which school?</p>
<p>I can’t think of any reason to mention his disease. In fact, given how difficult it is for internationals to get aid to U.S. colleges, if it’s a disease requiring special care or that may shorten his lifespan, those are reasons not to mention it.</p>
<p>Honestly, do not mention it. It’s sad that although they should see the character, all they will see is the unlikely chances he’ll graduate. Schools want to graduate their students in four years because they are ranked by it and public institutions get money for it. So no, don’t mention it. They will see that he probably won’t graduate and the likeliness that he’ll be taking time off (so even LESS of a chance he’ll graduate in four years) are great. Plus, as an international student he has lowest admittance priority already.</p>
<p>Your friend needs to research his condition and the cost of medication/treatment in the US. He needs to find out how much medication he can bring into the US with him (sometimes possible, sometimes not) each year. It may not be worth it to him to try to transfer if he is not going to be able to receive the same quality of care in a different location.</p>
<p>Yes, right now he’s dreaming about coming to the US to school, but he has to be realistic about his individual situation. Basing college choice on access to health care, is not much different from basing it on access to good jobs for a spouse, or for schools/daycare for a student’s children. Lots of students have to make choices like this every single year.</p>