The Counselor's Corner

The Senior year is often the most stressful - both for parents and students. But, it can also be exciting! Planning and organization can make the difference between a stressful year and an exciting one. I'm hoping this newsletter will be helpful. If you'd like to make an appointment with me to discuss your specific situation or to answer specific questions, please email me at smith@byron.k12.mi.us.

• Applying to Colleges - October is a great time to apply to colleges. This is College Application Month and many colleges have waived their application fees. This website has the most up-to-date information for Michigan colleges.
• Requesting Letters of Recommendation - Get at least two (from teachers or employers). Even if you don't use them for college applications, you may need them for scholarship applications and you will need them for your senior exit project. I have a worksheet on my website that will make it easier for recommenders to write one for you - click here.
• Start researching scholarships - There are scholarships for colleges and trade schools. The best outside resources are BigFuture and Fastweb. I will also keep a running list of scholarships on my website - while there aren't any there right now, there will be several local ones once those come across my desk.
• Financial Aid - The 2025/26 FAFSA should be released December 1. While we are waiting for that, you should be creating FSA IDs if you don't already have one. Both a parent (both parents if married, filing separately) and the student need to have one. It takes a couple of days for it to be finalized in the system so you definitely want to do that ahead of time. Here is the website for that.
• Create a pros and cons list - This can be for comparing colleges or for comparing different careers. Here is a website that talks about what to look for and what questions to ask yourself.
• Pros and cons - between different post-secondary options - click here
• Pros and cons - between different college options - click here

If you are interested in starting an apprenticeship after high school, the State of Michigan has a great website that will help you get started with that. Click here to go directly to the site. If you are interested in other areas of the country, the federal government also has its own website.

We also learned, on our recent trip to LCC West, that there are people at the community college level that can help students navigate this process as well. For example, LCC has a 13 month lineman program that gets students started on that path.

These are for 2 year or 4 year colleges or university AS WELL AS trade schools! Please read the information on their website.

There are virtual information sessions about the community college guarantee, MAS eligibility requirements, award amounts, action items and additional resources. Click here to register for one of those.

If you have ideas for future newsletters, please email me at smith@byron.k12.mi.us.