[1] After graduating from General McLane High School in 1997,[2] McAtee studied theatre at the University of Pittsburgh's Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences,[1] Imperial College London, and Carnegie Mellon University's College of Fine Arts.

McAtee began her career appearing in stage productions Off-Broadway in New York City.

She plays Maggie Day, campaign manager to Jim Cryer (John Schneider) and David Harrington (Peter Parros).

In June 2021, McAtee was reunited with Bloomington co-star Sarah Stouffer when she guest starred in two episodes of the web series Grey Area.

[4][5] In film, McAtee has appeared in The Killing Floor (2007), Hell Ride (2008) and Iron Man (2008) before landing the leading role in the independent drama Bloomington (2010).