Early college high schools (ECHSs) have been proposed as a high school reform solution to improve college access and success among underserved and underrepresented students in higher education; however, little to no research has centered the experiences of Latinx/a/o students in ECHS. In response, I used critical narrative methodology to better understand students' ECHS experiences in relation to college going. Specifically, through in-depth interviews with eight students in one ECHS in south Texas, I asked: How do Latinx/a/o students describe their early college high school (ECHS) experience? And what do Latinx/a/o ECHS students' experiences reveal about the factors that facilitate or hinder their college-going process? Based on students' experiences and reflections, I identified various factors that impacted their college-going process, which I organized into three major themes. Each of these themes represents experiences I found in students' stories, starting with their experiences as they transition from middle school to ECHS (Getting In), then on their adjustment to ECHS (Getting Through), and finally on their transition out of ECHS to a higher education institution (Getting Across). I used a temporal order to (re)tell participants' ECHS experiences as a way to acknowledge the past, present, and implied future of students. Grounded in the voices and experiences of students most affected by high school reforms like ECHS, I offer recommendations for policy, practice, and future research.
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