Katterin White Salazar is a Former Admissions Officer who spent more than two years as Assistant Director of Admission for Access and Diversity Initiatives at Carnegie Mellon, where she reviewed over 1,000 applications across the School of Computer Science, Information Systems, the College of Engineering, the School of Science, and the Mellon College of Science, and played a direct role in shaping class enrollment decisions. She earned her BA in economics at Carnegie Mellon and returned to its Tepper School of Business for an MBA and a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management. She is now a senior product manager at Amazon, where she leads a worldwide sustainability program.
In admissions, Katterin built partnerships with more than 300 high schools and educational organizations nationwide to identify and recruit high-achieving students from underrepresented backgrounds, and she delivered information sessions to audiences of over 300 prospective students and families across the US and Canada. She counseled students and families individually on their goals, financial aid questions, academic fit, and campus life. She also served as Coordinator of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement at Carnegie Mellon, advising service-oriented student travel groups and supervising a team of student civic engagement coordinators. Separately, she has spent four years as a volunteer mentor with Minds Matter, providing one-on-one counseling to high school students on everything from course selection and summer program planning to college essays and application strategy.
Because Katterin has sat on the deciding side of the table, she knows how an application reads to a committee weighing institutional priorities against an individual student’s fit, and she coaches students to make that fit legible rather than merely impressive. As a Former Admissions Officer, her work keeps her close to the day-to-day realities of the process, from course selection through final drafts. Fluent in both Spanish and English, she is passionate about helping each student uncover their unique story and find their best-fit school.
