Wheeler High School Guidance Office

We will be taking junior and senior students to visit the Construction and Skilled Trades Day event at the Porter County Expo Center on November 18, 2025 from 10 am until noon. Fifteen trades and apprenticeship programs will be represented. Mock worksites and hands on activities will be on site so students can see what the trade requires. This is a good way to see what a trade is all about, ask questions, and find out what the application process is. Sign up here!

https://forms.gle/TmWaF4SU9hdhd1k36

Purdue University Northwest will be here on site on October 29, 2025. Senior students can apply and get an admissions decision all in the same day! The application fee is waived on this day. Please sign up below if you'd like to meet with our PNW admissions counselor. Sign up here! https://forms.gle/cfYcwjb9Borrm67t5

Want to know more about Purdue University Northwest?

Check out the variety of majors available at PNW here: https://www.pnw.edu/academics-research/

PNW has a VERY active student life! You can see what is available here: https://www.pnw.edu/student-life/

Do you want to play competitive sports in college? PNW has a thriving athletic program! https://pnwathletics.com/

Class of 2026, if you have enlisted or plan to enlist in the military please fill out this survey.

https://forms.gle/DHb7hcSzebW5yqRX6

We would love to get you an invitation to the UTMS Veteran's Day program so we can honor your plans to serve!

Do you have questions about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for your senior student? Filling out the FAFSA will allow your student to be considered for student loans, grants, and scholarships from college financial aid departments. The application is open and has a final state deadline of April 15. We are hosting a representative from INvestEd, a free expert resource in financial aid, who will give a presentation about the FAFSA process and answer specific questions you might have. The 2026-2027 FAFSA application will use your income tax information from 2024.

Students should be sure to attend WITH YOUR PARENTS. Don't just send your parents! Bring your school issued chromebook if you'd like to ask specific questions about your FAFSA so you can get on our school Wifi.

Students have to fill out part of the FAFSA themselves and will need to create their own login.

If you'd like to get ahead of the game you can create parent and student FSA IDs here:

https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch

If you can't make our Financial Aid Night, there is another opportunity to get your questions answered! College Goal Sunday is November 9 from 2 - 4 pm in person. It is hosted at locations across the state.

More info is available here: https://www.collegegoalsunday.org/information/

The closest locations in our area are:

Ivy Tech Valparaiso 3100 Ivy Tech Drive, Valparaiso, IN 46383

Ivy Tech Crown Point 9900 Connecticut Dr, Crown Point, IN 46307

IUN 3400 Broadway, Gary, IN 46408

PNW Hammond 2200 169th St, Hammond, IN 46324 – Student Union and Library Building 200

PNW Westville 1401 S US Hwy 421, Westville, IN 46391 – Technology Building, Room 219

• Colleges award merit scholarships based off of your transcript and test scores when you apply. You are considered automatically for these scholarships. Most colleges have a scholarship consideration deadline of November 1.
• Once you have been offered admission to a college then you can search the financial aid page on the college’s website for other scholarship opportunities. Some are related to majors.
• National Scholarship Searches: You can use any of these but I would only use 1 or 2 of these since they pull from the same pool of scholarships. There’s a list at this link 10 Sites to Kick Off Your Scholarship Search | Paying for College
• College Board Opportunity Scholarships: Deadline February of your senior year https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/bigfuture-scholarships
• Local scholarships that are advertised through our school are posted in the Class of 2026 Canvas page and on the Guidance Board in main hall. It’s a little slow in the fall but there will be more January through March.

Share your college admission offers, military signings, post high school career offers, and apprenticeship acceptance here!

https://forms.gle/B8Ku8GudbtVnChYw8

Are you interested in taking career focused classes with the Porter Country Career & Technical Center? Current sophomores and juniors: The Porter County Career & Technical Center CTE Program Applications for the 2026-2027 school year will open on November 3, 2025. The priority deadline to be considered for your first choice program is February 2, 2026. You can browse programs here: https://pccte.org/programs/

Open Houses will be held December 2, 2025 and January 22, 2026, 5:30 pm to 7 pm. More details will be shared when we get closer to the open house dates but mark your calendars! Students and parents should plan on visiting if a student is applying!!!

Tutoring will run from 2:45–3:15 PM, with scheduling based on their availability. Volunteers can earn service hours and receive a letter of recommendation. There is a call out meeting on October 20, 2025 at 2:45 pm in the middle school commons. It will be a short meeting! Contact Mr. Hanaway with questions at ahanaway@union.k12.in.us

Join the Band app to get announcements, events, and schedule for tutoring!

https://band.us/n/a2a6b8N6Q03fI

WeBuildNWI.com is a resource for students interested in union trade careers. This website links to all the union apprenticeship programs so you can check out application dates and deadlines, union trade descriptions, and program requirements. Did you know many of the apprenticeship programs offer an associate's degree from Ivy Tech in partnership with your training?? You can walk out of your apprenticeship program as a trained union worker WITH a degree!

Step 1: Apply

Large universities such as Ball State, IU Bloomington, Butler, Purdue West Lafayette, etc have an early admission deadline of November 1. This is the deadline you want to meet if you would like to have the best chance of being offered admission to the program of your choice and to be considered for school based merit scholarships based on your GPA and test scores. Some programs could have earlier deadlines so be sure to check on your college websites.

Local colleges such as PNW and IUN have a deadline of December 1 to be considered for school based merit scholarships but be sure to check the college websites!

The Common Application is the only application that Purdue University West Lafayette will accept but most colleges have the option of using the Common Application OR their own school based application. School based applications are often shorter and less complicated. The Common Application makes sense if you are a student who is applying to several schools who use it AND/OR Purdue West Lafayette that requires it but the school based application might make more sense for you if the Common Application won't save you time.

Be sure to pay the application fee. Larger schools are usually around $65. Students on free/reduced lunch should ask their counselor for a fee waiver application.

Step 2: Check to see if your school requires letters of recommendation. Be sure to ask recommenders early to give them enough time to write a great letter! It is helpful for them to have something to look at from you that describes you in a nutshell. You can use this the Wheeler High School College Recommendation Guide We have paper copies in the Guidance Office.

Step 3:

Send your SAT score reports if you are including them in your application package. Many schools are now test optional. Purdue West Lafayette still requires test scores. You have to log into your account at www.collegeboard.org to send your scores officially. Click on the send scores tab in your score report dashboard. The cost is $15 per score report if you are ordering scores after the 9 day window from your test date. You get 4 score reports for free if ordered during test registration or within 9 days from the date you tested. Students who receive free/reduced lunch qualify for a fee waiver. Student on free/reduced lunch should see their counselor if the College Board website is showing a fee to send score reports.

Step 4: Send your transcripts. If you are using the Common Application the transcript is sent from the counselor as a PDF attachment with your school report so no action is needed on your end.

If you are using the school based application then you will need to order your transcript from Parchment. The invitation to register for your Parchment account is in your Wheeler High School email.

Colleges will take about 7-10 Business days to update your application status to show they have your materials once you have sent them in. Check your application portals and/or call to check on your application package 7 - 10 Business days after submission to ensure that the college has everything they need from you.

Student athletes who are interested in playing their sport in college must register with the athletic eligibility association that governs that school. NCAA would like their prospective athletes registered by the end of junior year at the latest. NAIA is more flexible with registration. Many students wait until they are sure they are playing for an NAIA school before they register.

NCAA: Register Cost $100 The NCAA has very specific academic eligibility requirements based on what division you plan to play in. Please see the Academic Eligibility Brochure

NAIA: Register Cost $100 Students with a 2.3 GPA are eligible or must meet 2 of these 3 requirements:

• 2.0 GPA
• Class rank top 50%
• 970 SAT score or 18 ACT score

Your student can submit athletic interest forms or prospective athlete questionnaires to colleges they would like to play for. This gets your students name out to the coaches for the programs.

You can find these forms by visiting the college's athletic page and entering Prospective Athlete or Interest Form in the search bar. These forms can sometimes be hard to find so reach out if you have trouble!

Exploring Engineering at Purdue October 20, 2025 Program for high school juniors, seniors, and their parents

Introduce Engineering Day at Purdue February 21, 2026 Program for 9th & 10th grade students interested in careers in Engineering

Purdue University Youth Programs

Purdue Summer Courses for High School Students Application opens in December

Boiler Vet Camp

Seminar for Top Engineering Prospects (STEP) Purdue This program is for the summer between junior and senior year. Application will open in January

Saturday Morning Astrophysics from Purdue Learn about astrophysics topics from home!

Purdue University Northwest Summer Camps This list will update in the spring

IUN Arts on Campus IUN hosts art shows and theatre productions. Upcoming events are listed here

Valparaiso University Summer Camps Camps for youth and high school students