Additional Funding???

[Kbert]

So, in the process of dying in agony, waiting to hear back from any of my schools, I've been searching for additional scholarships, grants, and basically any potential funding opportunities online.

Does anybody know of any scholarship opportunities that offer enough money to cover anything more than books for one semester, at max? I mean, it's true that every penny helps, but at a certain point it just seems like a waste to be writing essay after essay for measly $500 awards. Yay, I might be able to pay for grad school tuition in 60 essays about how Bugs Bunny is my all time role model!

And all these "Scholarship" websites seem to basically just be ways for them to advertise how I can "earn a degree online." Didn't I just put in my info saying I'm pursuing a doctorate???

And say you happen to find one, maybe for $5000 - certainly not enough to pay for stuff for real, but it would help - but it's oddly specific: "This award is for a French student who is living in Kansas, is studying Chinese literature, and has only one eyeball." Okay, so I'm exaggerating, but less than you might think.

Is anybody else as frustrated with this as I am? Does anybody have any reasonable suggestions for finding funding opportunities that aren't provided directly through departments?

[wheninhell]

I commiserate. Have you tried checking benefits provided by your/your parent's employer? A lot of companies offer small scholarships to children of employees. It feels kind of retarded/embarrassing applying for these when you're well into your twenties or thirties, but it can't hurt.