College Planning & Resource Guide

It's never too early to start planning for college!  This guide is intended to provide you with resources to explore and things to do now so that you CAN go to the college of your choice.

1. Explore the careers that you identified through the Explore test and Career Cruising.  Here are some websites where you can do that:
   
   The Career Cruising website (where you did your EDP is a great place to start) - http://www.careercruising.com/default.aspx
   
   The Career OneStop website has lots of videos to look at so that you can learn about careers from people who do them - http://acinet.org/videos/COS_videos_by_cluster.asp?id=,27&nodeid=28
   
   The Bureau of Labor Statistics had a section just for kids to learn about careers.  You can find it at this website - http://www.bls.gov/k12/   
    
2. Visit college websites and begin to get an idea of what the colleges are like.  Look for answers to these questions:
        --Where is this college?
        --What kind of ACT score do I need to be admitted?
        --What kind of Grade Point Average (GPA) will I need?
        --Do they offer the major that I want?
        --How much will it cost and can my parents afford this?
        --Is there financial aid available at this school?
        --What high school classes does this college require?
        --What is life like on this campus?
   
   You can find information on colleges on these websites:
   
   The Career Cruising website will give you a lot of information about colleges.  Use your login and password to get all the information you need.  You can find the website here - http://www.careercruising.com/default.aspx
   
   Want to find information on Michigan colleges and universities?  Find it here on the Michigan College Guide - http://www.michigancollegeguide.com/index.php
    
3. There are some important things you need to do now.
        --Develop good study habits.
        --Plan to take classes that will prepare you for college when you are in high school.
        --Keep track of your grade point average.  The higher it is the more likely you are to be admitted to the college you want.
        --Get involved in extra-curricular activities (clubs, sports, volunteer to help others, etc.) and keep track of them.  Colleges look for this when considering your application.
        --Ask for help when you don't understand something you are learning in school.
        --Talk to your counselor in middle school and high school to be sure you are on the right track to get to the college you choose.