College Counseling | Gateway Schools

College Counseling Program

Gateway's college counseling program, led by two full-time college counselors, helps to ensure that all students successfully navigate the college preparation and admissions process.

The goal of college is instilled in each Gateway High School student from the start when the entire freshman class takes a trip to visit UC Berkeley on their first day of school. Freshman and sophomore students also gain insight into the college process during advisory when juniors and seniors share their college counseling class work with them.

In the spring of their junior year, students take the first part of a college counseling course where they explore careers, majors, different colleges, and prepare for the SAT. During their senior year, students take the second part of the college counseling course where they are guided through the admission process, essay writing, financial aid, and scholarship opportunities.

College Counseling Program Highlights

In 2017, 97% of our graduates matriculated to college, 73% of whom will be attending a four year school.
Nearly 40% of Gateway graduates are the first in their family to go to college.
In a recent survey of Gateway alumni, 91% felt prepared of very prepared for the rigors of college.
Gateway’s College Counseling Program was honored as a model of school reform excellence, having achieved measurable results for traditionally underserved students, by the Rossier School of Education at University of Southern California in 2006.

Gateway's College Matriculation

Gateway High School graduates have attended a broad range of colleges across the country, including fantastic public universities such as UC Berkeley and UCLA, Historically Black Colleges and Universities such as Tuskegee and Hampton Universities, and private colleges such as Bryn Mawr College, Colby College, and School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Meet Gateway's College Counselors

Ms. Jenna Marx

Jenna has a Bachelors in Community Studies from UCSC and a Masters in Counseling Psychology from USF. She is a lifelong Bay Area resident who grew up in Belmont in the peninsula and has been in San Francisco since 2010. She has worked with youth in various roles and environments including as a writing coach and mentor, a music instructor, a substitute teacher, an after-school program teacher, and in community settings while organizing youth-focused music and arts events. For fun she plays guitar and sings in punk and indie bands, and in the summers she works for the organization Bay Area Girls Rock Camp.

Mr. Joel Rangel

Joel Rangel is the Director of College Counseling here at Gateway High School. He earned his bachelor's degree in Spanish from UC Berkeley and earned his master's from Stanford University School of Education. Joel began his career in education his freshman year in college and has dedicated much of that time helping students pursue higher education opportunities. He joined Gateway in the fall of 2005 and has most enjoyed seeing how much students grow over the course of their junior and senior years, as well as being involved in an important period of their lives. Outside of Gateway, Joel enjoys reading, tinkering, cycling, and spending time with family.