Lien Van Geel is a Former Admissions Officer at Columbia University, where she read applications and served on admissions committees. She holds a PhD in Classics from Columbia, along with an MPhil and MA in Classics from Columbia and a BA in Classics and English from Mississippi State University.
At Columbia, Lien also taught classical languages and literature, classical civilization, reception, and comparative literature, and supervised independent research projects for students seeking admission to U.S. universities or transferring between institutions. She went on to hold a postdoctoral fellowship at Ghent University in her native Belgium and currently serves as a Visiting Professor of Latin and Roman History at Northeast Normal University.
Drawing on her admissions committee experience and academic background in the humanities, Lien brings particular expertise working with international students and student-athletes, informed by her own experience as a former Division I varsity tennis player. She particularly enjoys helping students find their unique voice, identify their strengths, and develop a clear direction in the application process, believing that a thoughtful process builds skills in self-reflection, communication, research, and decision-making that serve students well beyond the admissions cycle.
