1560 SAT | Columbia PhD Chemical Engineering | NASA Researcher

Sachintha A.

Hi! My name's Sachintha and I'm a chemical engineering MS/PhD candidate at Columbia University with a 4.0 GPA. I have extensive experience tutoring high school students in SAT preparation, mathematics, and STEM subjects, working with students across a wide range of ability levels — from those building foundational skills to high achievers targeting competitive college admissions. I've also mentored students in small-group settings, which has taught me how to adapt the same core concept to different learning styles in real time rather than relying on a single fixed explanation.

Outside of tutoring, I'm actively involved in advanced research, including aerospace and space-systems work connected to CubeSat missions and NASA-affiliated programs, alongside biochemical engineering research at the bench level. That background sharpens how I teach: working through unsolved technical problems daily means I'm used to breaking dense material into pieces that actually make sense, rather than reciting a memorized explanation. When a student asks "why does this work," I can usually answer from direct experience applying the concept, not just from a textbook.

My approach is personalized and strategy-driven. I start by identifying each student's specific strengths, weaknesses, and test-taking patterns — where they're losing time, where they're guessing instead of reasoning, where a concept is genuinely shaky versus just under-practiced — and I build a plan around that diagnosis rather than a generic curriculum. For SAT prep, that includes breaking down question types by category, teaching efficient elimination strategies, and building durable mental frameworks for both math and reading sections so students can handle unfamiliar questions, not just ones they've drilled before. I track progress across sessions so both the student and I can see concretely where we've moved the needle. I'm excited to work with you!