Meet Caitlin!

Caitlin Harper, College Counselor

Caitlin has built her career around a love of higher education and a passion for helping students uncover where they’ll thrive. Caitlin has always been fascinated by what makes people tick and how someone can unleash their best selves (it’s no surprise that she chose to major in psychology in college!) As a self-professed lover of personality assessments, Caitlin has developed strong expertise in how to best identify and highlight each student’s unique strengths at every step of the application journey. Armed with a wealth of color-coded spreadsheets, Caitlin's counseling style could best be described as nurturing, calming support with meticulous and methodical project management.

Caitlin’s organized, strategic approach was honed by over a decade of experience working in admissions. She began her career in higher education in the admissions office at Lewis and Clark where she had a work-study job as an undergraduate student and loved highlighting the benefits of a liberal arts education. Over the next decade, she took on increasing responsibilities within the admissions office, eventually becoming the Senior Associate Director of Admission. She has reviewed thousands of applications, visited high schools across the country, and developed strong relationships with admission officers from a wide spectrum of institutions. She has a wealth of expertise to draw upon in guiding her students, and her exceptional skills in project management and strategy means she’s always armed with a plan, back-up plan, and even a back-up back-up plan. Parents and students who work with Caitlin always feel prepared, informed, and confident that they have access to the right information at the right time to make the best decisions based on their goals and priorities. Caitlin’s students have been admitted to institutions such as Northwestern, Northeastern, Boston University, UNC Chapel Hill, California Polytechnic University: San Luis Obispo, Occidental, Fordham, and Villanova.

When Caitlin isn’t guiding students through college research or brainstorming application essays, you can find her blasting the latest Taylor Swift album, loudly cheering on the Chicago Cubs ,or visiting Disneyland (which she is convinced is actually the happiest place on earth.)

Education & Experience

Former Director of Admission Marketing & Events, Willamette University

Former Senior Associate Director of Admission, Lewis & Clark College

B.A. Psychology, Lewis & Clark College

Professional Organization Memberships:

NACAC: National Association for College Admission Counseling

PNACAC: Pacific Northwest Association for College Admission Counseling