Speaking from experience, I personally refuse getting on SSI and I qualify and the reason is because when they see that you are actually trying to find employment or even going back to school during the long application process, they decline you. Simply put, if they see you trying to find any kind of employment (temp agencies, regular jobs, or even working with DRS) or looking to attend college, they assume that you are able bodied and don't need them.

Even if you do get approved, unless you are middle aged or elderly and have been working your whole life, all you can really obtain is SSI (not SSDI) and SSI pays a measily $730ish a month plus medical which is hardly enough to live on. Not to mention, the application process takes months or sometimes even years, and is utterly dehumanizing thanks to all of the doctors visits they make you do expecting you to constantly tell them why you can't work or about your disabilities.

Not to mention that they expect you to put your life completely on hold and not try to find employment or go to school on your own for months or years on end while you wait for their unbearably slow process to finish. They don't even care if you are at risk of being homeless and need an income ASAP to survive. If you want your precious SSI you had better be willing to sleep on the streets while the application process goes through... screw that.

Sorry but I have zero trust in the mental health system so asking me to put my entire faith in them while living on the streets ain't gonna happen. I would sooner become a criminal.

So yeah, I would say just get a grant and go to school or college. Grants and loans can also help you pay for student housing if needed as well. That's what I may end up doing instead of dealing with the B.S that is corporate America... seriously **** capitalism.