Mattie Engel is a Systems Manager and Senior Counselor at College Solutions. She grew up in Maui and received the Yale Book Award in secondary school, recognizing outstanding high school juniors for their character, leadership, scholarship, and intellectual promise. Although the accolade encourages students to apply to Yale, she did not do so. She fell in love with Pitzer College’s commitment to social justice after attending an information session at her high school, and four years later, she earned her Bachelor’s in English & World Literature: Creative Writing. While at Pitzer (one of the Claremont colleges), Mattie worked as a tour guide and found that she loved helping students find their college fit in the same way she found hers in high school.
After graduating, Mattie went on to work as an Admission Counselor for Pitzer. This set off a 10-year career in college admissions, where she read and evaluated more than 15,000 applications. Her time in admissions was dedicated to helping build diverse and talented classes as the head of the Diversity Fly-In Program and culminated at Colorado College with primary recruitment in New York, Southeast Asia, India, and Latin America. A passionate traveler, she has been to 22 countries and counting.
Students working with Mattie can expect a detail-oriented, highly organized, and empathetic counselor who will encourage them to push themselves to their highest potential. In her free time, Mattie is decoding Taylor Swift lyrics, doing yoga, and spending quality time with her husband, son, and two feisty cats.
