By Natalie Blythe
VIEW Managing Editor

GRAND BLANC — For 37 years, former Grand Blanc Community Schools educator Marilyn S. Bandurski helped students find the “best-fit” college. Once she retired, students and their families came to her for help, prompting Bandurski to start Career College Connect, LLC, an educational consulting service that helps families select, apply and prepare for college that “best fits” the student’s personal, educational and professional goals.

Bandurski said that while at Grand Blanc she served as the medical occupations director, co-op coordinator and helped design internships for students.

“I had a very positive reaction from parents to what I was doing,” she said. “Once I retired, I received requests from others and parents in the community.” With the influx of requests, Bandurski said she went to California last spring for certification in college admissions and assessments. In addition to a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, she also holds a master’s degree in career occupational education and an educational specialist degree in career education administration.

With her new business, Bandurski said it’s all about the student and his/her college choices.

“Finding the ‘best-fit’ college is one way to ensure you optimize the investment in your child’s college education,” she said. “Finding the right college for your child can be as important as the education itself. Yet, most families find it a daunting and time-consuming process.”

To aid students find the “best fit,” Bandurski offers personal and career assessment where she identifies the personality traits of the student to determine the “best fit” career choices. From there, she offers career exploration, developing a customized plan to evaluate and determine the profession.

Through college exploration, Bandurski helps the student develop a detailed plan for evaluating and determining the “best fit” colleges and then helps the student develop a plan and guide him/her through the college admissions process. “Things have changed so much, and the competition is unbelievable,” she said.

Finally, Bandurski offers high school-to-college transition, which provides education of “critical success factors for a smooth transition to college.”

Besides offering independent consulting, Bandurski also was invited into Grand Blanc High School by Supt. Michael Newton for class presentations with a junior honors English class.

“I’m getting more and more students and families,” she said. While the ideal time to meet with a student is in January of his/her junior year, Bandurski said she is working with some families with freshmen.

“It’s a K-12 process, but it seriously needs to start around middle school,” she said. “If students do not have the proper classes and atmosphere to be admitted into college, then they are not prepared for their senior year.”

While finding the “best fit” college can ease a student’s mind, it can also help lessen the impact on a family’s bank account.

“The College Board recently reported that the average cost to send your child to a college for four years ranges from $63,000 to $150,000, depending on public or private,” Bandurski said.

“However, these costs are underestimated by the fact that 50-70 percent of college students today change majors and/or college mid-stream, which can further increase the overall cost for their college education by as much as 30-50 percent.

Parent and students are increasingly concerned about not only how to finance their education, but how to keep costs from escalating out of their reach.”

For details, visit www.coachc3.com, call 810-694-8656 or e-mail mbandurskicoach@aol.com.

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