Chris White recalls his application and acceptance to college as occurring almost by accident. “I was the first in my family to go to college,” Mr. White said. “When I think of my high school experience, going to high school in Sweetwater Union, where I did not receive college counseling support, I often say I kind of accidentally ended up at the University of San Diego. It shouldn’t happen that way, right? I’m driven every day, understanding and reminding myself that the resources that students have and need both from first generation backgrounds and continuing generation backgrounds–the counseling support they require is very much needed.”
Mr. White went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in counseling from USD. He became USD’s Assistant Director of Admissions, where he led the university’s multicultural outreach initiatives and Educational Opportunity admissions processes. Mr. White joined High Tech High in the fall of 2002 as its first director of college counseling.
Today, Mr. White, or “Chris” as he is known around campus, is the director of college counseling at High Tech High Mesa. There, he has helped guide HTHM’s first graduating class. The 91 seniors set the bar high, as nearly all plan to attend college next year. They are headed to schools such as UCLA, UC Berkeley, Vanderbilt, Northeastern, and Stanford. Five students are headed to Chris’ alma mater of USD. The student who will be attending Vanderbilt is a first generation student who received a full tuition scholarship.
HTHM parents noted that the level of success was no accident. Lisa Meuser said the college advising support her son received was “crucial.”
“He came to the school not necessarily knowing whether college was right for him,” Meuser recalled. “Through talks with his teachers, through conversations with other students, and certainly through Chris White and his team, my son decided that college was right for him.”
Her son, Zach, will be attending Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.
“He took our college visits much more seriously, he took our family conversations and extended family conversations much more seriously,” Meuser said. “He did have his eye toward attending college because of the books we read, the college campuses that we toured. …It opened up possibilities and opened up more opportunities where perhaps before they had been closed down to him, in his mind. So this was an enormous flowering, if you will, of his ideas about himself and his place in the world.”
HTHM Director, Dr. Brett Peterson, noted that all six HTH high school campuses have dedicated college advisers, offering personalized support in everything from how to write application essays to navigating the complexities of affording college. This is a major difference from traditional public high schools, where counselors typically have upwards of 400 students and are not commonly specialists in college advising.
Dr. Peterson noted that HTH’s small, personalized approach yields tremendous results in admitting students to some of the nation’s finest universities. “What’s more,” he added, “our students receive exceptional, personalized guidance, resulting in the perfect match between student and college.”
Mr. White has served as a voice for charter schools in various organizations that influence the college admissions process such as being a member of the Board of Directors for The Common Application, serving on the Western Regional Advisory Council for The Collegeboard, and sitting on National Advisory Boards for college/career management systems: Naviance and Scoir.
“The complexity continues to evolve and the landscape of admissions is continuing to change,” Mr. White noted. “I get to focus here at the High Tech High network, and all of our other college counselors get to focus, and really maintain our roles as college advisors where we are constantly up to date on what the trends are–shifting with them, and bringing that information to our students and families.”
Currently, seniors are in the final stretch of their K-12 education. The transition to life after high school can be daunting. To help ensure its seniors are as prepared as possible, HTHM recently held a senior transition program called “Know Before You Go.” It starts with being aware of the important steps that colleges require of students to ensure successful enrollment, transition to dorm and college life, and the everyday skills needed for a healthy start to young adulthood.
Workshops included:
Launched in 2018-19, High Tech High Mesa is an independent public charter school serving over 400 students in grades 9-12. It is the sixth high school in the HTH network.
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