Ms. Brandon's College Talk

This blog will post about subjects relating to applying for, and getting accepted to college! The plan is to keep it interactive by supplementing the time between subject posts with opportunities to ask questions, interviews with folks working in college access, colleges, or universities, or event current college students, and fun facts or tips and tricks!

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PHHS Seniors! Did you miss out on today’s Alumni Panel?! Don’t worry! I sat down with some of our alumni and did a quick podcast so you can still get some great advice.

Special thanks to all the alum who donated their time to PHHS and our students! We appreciate you and are so, so, so proud!

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Scholarships!

Hey seniors!

You’ve made it through your piles of applications and the FAFSA, so what’s left for the holiday break? (If you haven’t done either of the things just mentioned, do those now!) Paying for college! 

Paying? For college? Expensive college? yay. Here’s an idea though, what if you could get money to pay for college that you didn’t have to pay back? You can, and they’re called scholarships and grants. Grants will usually come from an institution or a government agency and will be based off of information gathered from your FAFSA (that’s why it’s SO IMPORTANT that you fill it out). Because a lot of those are automatic, we’re going to focus on scholarships!

Did you know around $100 million worth of scholarships are left untouched a year?! That’s a lot of cash, and the biggest reason that pile of cash is just sitting around all sad and feeling sorry for itself is because students are not applying (Flynn, 2015). How much of a bummer is that? Applying for a scholarship might feel like a lot of work in the moment, but what job can you work for two hours and make $5,000 for talking about skateboarding? You can’t, but you can apply for the Patrick Kerr Skateboard Scholarship. Oh yeah, there’s a scholarship for that. There’s even a scholarship for if you like drawing ducks. In fact, there are tons of scholarships for all sorts of things. Here’s a list of some wacky things you can get money for: making your prom outfit out of Duck Tape, tasting candy, if you’ve been a golf caddie for two years or more, being tall, and so many more! There are merit scholarships, sport scholarships, band scholarships, and even scholarships for if you’ve worked at certain places like Taco Bell or McDonald's.

These are not the only places to find scholarships though. Check your local community foundation, the colleges and universities you’re applying to, and safe scholarship search sites. Check the list of links below to see if you can find some scholarships and start applying TODAY!

Scholarship Opportunities:

Community Foundation of Southeast MI

myscholly.com

goodcall.com

MI Student Aid

raise.me

CollegeBoard Scholarship Search

More Scholarship resources here.

Flynn, K. (2015, September 1). Surprising Facts About Scholarships. Retrieved December 01, 2017, from http://www.savingforcollege.com/articles/surprising-facts-about-scholarships-836

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College Adviser: Introductions

Hello!

My name is Ms. Brandon and I am the 2017-2018 College Adviser at Port Huron High School. I originally grew up just north of Port Huron in Lexington, and then ventured across the state to attend college at Western Michigan University. I stayed there for six years and received two degrees as a Bronco. The first was a bachelor’s in anthropology. The second, a master’s degree in Educational Leadership: Higher Education and Student Affairs.

I’ve spent the last two years living, breathing, and sleeping helping skills, college and university policy, law, logistics, and history. I also worked at two different types of schools through a graduate assistantship and internships. I was fortunate enough to work with amazing folks at both Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo Valley Community College in: Orientation, International Education and Internships, Student Engagement, Campus Programming, and Leadership. It was an amazing experience, and now I am excited to use what I have learned to help you get to where you want to be.

The reason I wanted to serve with AmeriCorps and Michigan College Access Network (MCAN) through AdviseMI is directly related to what I want to do in the field of higher education. Student access is something very important to me, because I have seen friends and family struggle with getting to, paying for, and staying in college. By serving in this position I will get a better understanding of what the needs of students truly are. I believe research holds the key to unlock many doors for students who are struggling once they are in college, but research is often published some time after a study done. Students shouldn’t have to wait to have the services they need, and by working with and serving at PHHS I’ll be able to transition back into higher education knowing what needs should be addressed. Then I can work to make those needs known and to provide resources for students as soon as they set foot on campus. 

This blog, however, will be completely focused on providing resources to you! Whether it’s FAFSA how to’s, application checklists, links to resources, or whatever else we can think of, this blog will be one place to find it all. I also have an anonymous question section, where you can ask me questions about college. Once a week I will compile the questions I have received and answer them in a Mini-Post. I’ll also put links up on the Facebook. 

I look forward to meeting you all this year!

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible”!” - Audrey Hepburn

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Mini Post: College Q’s

Thanks for sending in your college questions! Let’s get those answered.

1.) When can I start my FAFSA?

* The FAFSA officially opens on October 1st, and that is when you can start filling it out. There are some really helpful steps you can take before October 1st to make the whole process easier. First, you and a parent (if you do not know who to list as a parent come see me and we will figure it out!) should create an FSA ID (use the link at the end of this post!) and password. Write it down! It is a pain to recover a forgotten FSA ID and password. It’s also important to gather the right materials.

Here’s a list of what you will need, it is taken directly from studentaid.ed.gov:

Your Social Security number (it’s important that you enter it correctly on the FAFSA form!)

Your parents’ Social Security numbers if you are a dependent student

Your driver’s license number if you have one

Your Alien Registration number if you are not a U.S. citizen

Federal tax information or tax returns including IRS W-2 information, for you (and your spouse, if you are married), and for your parents if you are a dependent student:

IRS 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ

Foreign tax return and/or

Tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or Palau

Records of your untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income, and veterans noneducation benefits, for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student

Information on cash; savings and checking account balances; investments, including stocks and bonds and real estate but not including the home in which you live; and business and farm assets for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student.

It seems like a lot, and it is, but once you have these gathered you can put them in a folder and hold onto them in case you need them again. That way you’re all set for filling out the FAFSA in October!

Link to FSA ID How To:

(https://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/attachments/050415FSAIDReplaceHowToCreateFSAIDGuideATTACH.pdf)

2.) Am I going to have $100,000 in loans?

* That is a great question! College is not cheap, but there are a lot of ways it can be made affordable. The first is to fill out the FAFSA. Why? A lot of scholarships require the FAFSA to be completed for students to receive them. Apply for scholarships, grants, work study, and save your money. It might not seem like a lot at first, but a few small scholarships can really add up to be a big financial help. There is a Scholarship Crate in the Student Services office and we already are starting to put scholarships in! Come in and start to fill some out!

These are some great questions! Keep an eye out for an introduction post coming this weekend.

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Welcome!

I’m so glad you found your way to this blog! Posts won’t really kick off until mid-August, but I promise I am busy creating material and brainstorming ideas to get you as much information in the least boring way possible. If there are any topics you want to see covered , let me know in a comment or use the “Ask Me College Q’s” page!

I’m excited to begin working for you as your college adviser!

- Ms. Brandon