Regional Admissions Counselors

Caltech admissions counselors are assigned to different regions of the United States and the world. We welcome your inquiries.

To contact your counselor:

1. Search or scroll through the table below to find the counselor assigned to your location.
2. Find your counselor's contact information and bio further down on this page.

Admissions Counselors

Ashley M. Pallie, Director of Undergraduate Admissions

Email: ugadmissions@caltech.edu

Ashley was born in New York and grew up in Southern California. A first-generation college student, Ashley attended Scripps College in Claremont, CA, where she earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and music. She then worked in the Admissions Office, intending to stay for only a couple of years before becoming professor; however, Ashley discovered a passion for strategic thinking and the importance of equity and access in higher education and decided to make admissions a career. After 6 years at Scripps, Ashley went down the street to work at Pomona College as the Director of Recruitment for 7 years. Along the way, Ashley attended the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management where she earned a MBA with a focus in marketing and management. She is excited to share the incredible community of Caltech with students from around the world. In her free time, Ashley enjoys exploring L.A. with her husband, toddler, and baby; she is also obsessed with Marvel Comic Universe and believes that Endgame was the best cinematic experience of her life.

Johanna Araujo, Senior Associate Director

Email: jaraujo@caltech.edu

Johanna returns to Caltech after almost three years of living in Las Vegas, NV where she worked for the Nepantla Program at Nevada State College. She was born in El Salvador and raised in Los Angeles. Johanna was a first-generation college student at Pasadena City College, then transferred to U.C.L.A., and graduated with a bachelor's degree in American Literature and Culture and a minor in African-American Studies. She later went on to receive a master's degree from the University of Redlands in Higher Education. Johanna habla español, sees higher education as a transformative tool for social justice and equity, and once had a dog named Moo.

Jann Lacoss, Ph.D., Associate Director

Email: jlacoss@caltech.edu

Jann joined Caltech after several years at the University of Virginia's Teaching Resource Center. She holds a Ph.D. in Slavic folklore from the University of Virginia, an M.A. in Russian literature from New York University, and a B.A. in general studies from Ferrum College. She has taught Russian language, literature, and folklore, studies children's folklore, and has crocheted pi to about 30 decimal points. Jann is responsible for the international application cycle and the transfer and 3/2 admission cycles, she heads travel management and is the liaison for the RSI, Intel, Westinghouse, and Olympiad programs.

Karla Arriaga, Senior Assistant Director

Email: karriaga@caltech.edu

Karla was born in Mexico City and grew up in Southern California. She attended California State University Fullerton where she obtained a B.S. in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. After graduation, she worked as a STEM-Grant Coordinator at a local community college, sparking her passion for working with underrepresented students and encouraging them to pursue higher education in STEM. Prior to Caltech, Karla held admissions positions at UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis. Karla enjoys travel adventures and once backpacked for two months in Southeast Asia. Karla is Caltech's manager of student blogs and social media, Frosh Lunch coordinator, and admitted student phone and postcard campaign manager.

Tessa Tweet, Assistant Director

Email: tessat@caltech.edu

Tessa was born and raised in the Seattle area and moved to Southern California to attend Pitzer College in Claremont. She graduated with a B.A. in Anthropology, where she focused on museums and material culture and studied abroad in the Amazon region of Brazil. After interning at The Getty Foundation, Tessa worked at the Huntington Library (just down the street from Caltech) in the Education Division. Tessa loves exploring Los Angeles museums and galleries and is always looking for a new exhibition to visit on the weekend.

Admissions Counselor, TBD

Email: ugadmissions@caltech.edu

Operations Staff

Scott Jung, Associate Director for Operations

Email: sjung@caltech.edu

A native of Southern California, Scott attended UCLA, where he received his bachelor's degree in economics. He has been working in the Admissions Office for over 10 years.

Marta Chang, Admissions Coordinator

Email: martae@caltech.edu

Marta has worked at Caltech since 1999. Taking a short break from admissions, she spent a year in the applied math department. She has studied computer science and has a diverse work background.

Christine Waldor, Admissions Coordinator

Email: waldor@caltech.edu

Christine has worked in the Admissions Office since 2001. Prior to her time at Caltech, she worked in the financial sector as well as in the admissions office at Whittier College, where she graduated with a B.A. in English.

Tiffanie Love, Receptionist

Email: tlove@caltech.edu

Tiffanie is a native of Pasadena and attended John Muir High School. She is currently in school studying psychology.