Physics & Math Tutor | Barnard College Honors Graduate | Calculus

Ana P.

ACT Math

I help students stop dreading the ACT math section and start feeling like they've got it under control — which, with the right preparation, they do. My background: Mathematics and Physics at Barnard College of Columbia University (magna cum laude, 4.01 GPA), so the content (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, functions) isn't just familiar, it's territory I know cold. But knowing the material is only half the job. The other half is knowing how to explain it, which is something I developed over two years tutoring one-on-one at Barnard's Math and Physics Help Rooms. My tutoring experience has taught me to spot quickly where a student's understanding actually breaks down, rather than re-teaching everything from scratch. ACT math rewards strategy and confidence as much as raw content knowledge, and that's where I focus with students: not just getting to the right answer, but building preparation that makes the math section feel manageable instead of like a threat.

Calculus

I completed a double major in Mathematics and Physics at Barnard College of Columbia University, graduating magna cum laude with a 4.01 GPA, with coursework spanning Calculus I through Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, and Differential Equations. For two years I tutored 15+ students one-on-one in Calculus I through III through Barnard's Math Help Room, adapting my explanations to each student's background and learning style. I also supported calculus-heavy problem solving as Head Tutor of the Physics Help Room, where students frequently needed help bridging the gap between mathematical technique and physical intuition. My approach focuses on building physically meaningful understanding of the underlying concepts — limits, rates of change, accumulation — so that students can tackle problems they haven't seen before with confidence.

Computer Science

At Columbia University, I completed coursework in Introduction to Programming in Java, Data Structures and Algorithms in Java, Computer Science Theory, and a Quantum Simulation and Computing Lab, giving me a strong foundation across both practical programming and theoretical computer science. My research experience has deepened my applied programming skills significantly. As a Machine Learning Researcher in Barnard's Very High Energy Astrophysics Group, I built end-to-end data pipelines in Python and PyTorch processing over three million simulation events, and as a Computational Researcher at NYU's Center for Soft Matter Research, I developed statistical modeling scripts and reproducible analysis workflows in Python. I am comfortable tutoring students in introductory and intermediate programming in Java and Python, data structures and algorithms, CS theory including automata and complexity, and computational thinking more broadly. My approach is hands-on and patient. I focus on helping students build genuine programming intuition rather than just memorizing syntax, so they can debug confidently and write clean code on their own.

Discrete Math

I completed a double major in Mathematics and Physics at Barnard College of Columbia University, graduating magna cum laude with a 4.01 GPA, including proof-based coursework in Discrete Mathematics, Modern Algebra I and II, Random Matrix Theory, and Real Analysis. This background gives me a strong foundation in the logical reasoning, proof-writing, and abstract structures that discrete math demands. For two years, I tutored 15+ students in Calculus I through III through Barnard's Math Help Room and served as Head Tutor of the Physics Help Room, tailoring my explanations to each student's background. My approach focuses on building genuine understanding of why a proof or method works, so students can apply that reasoning to new problems with confidence.

Linear Algebra

I completed a double major in Mathematics and Physics at Barnard College of Columbia University, graduating magna cum laude with a 4.01 GPA, with coursework spanning Calculus I through Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, and Differential Equations. For two years I tutored 15+ students one-on-one in Calculus I through III through Barnard's Math Help Room, adapting my explanations to each student's background and learning style. I also supported linear algebra problem solving as Head Tutor of the Physics Help Room, where students frequently needed help bridging the gap between mathematical technique and physical intuition. My approach focuses on building physically meaningful understanding of the underlying concepts — vectors, scalars, vectorspaces, and linear mappings — so that students can tackle problems they haven't seen before with confidence.

Logic

I completed a double major in Mathematics and Physics at Barnard College of Columbia University, graduating magna cum laude with a 4.01 GPA, including proof-based coursework in Discrete Mathematics, Modern Algebra I and II, and Real Analysis, all of which center on formal logical reasoning, valid argument structure, and rigorous proof-writing. This background gives me a strong foundation in the propositional and predicate logic, quantifiers, and proof techniques that a logic course demands. For two years, I tutored 15+ students in Calculus I through III through Barnard's Math Help Room and served as Head Tutor of the Physics Help Room, tailoring my explanations to each student's background. My approach focuses on building genuine understanding of why an argument or proof is valid, so students learn to construct and evaluate logical reasoning on their own.

Physics

I majored in Physics at Barnard College of Columbia University, graduating magna cum laude with a 4.01 GPA, and took coursework spanning mechanics, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and mathematical methods, so whatever physics course you're in, I've been there and then some. For two years I served as Head Tutor of Barnard's Physics Help Room, leading a team of eight tutors and working directly with students across four introductory courses. One of the things I'm most proud of is helping students who walked in convinced they were "just not a physics person" walk out actually believing they could do it. A lot of my students were premed, taking introductory physics as a requirement and dreading every minute of it, and a big part of my job was rebuilding their confidence from the ground up while making sure they genuinely understood the material. MCAT physics rewards conceptual understanding over memorization, and I love helping premed students see that physics isn't something to survive but something they can genuinely get good at, whether that means working through Newton's laws for the first time or tackling circuits and waves in MCAT prep. I also have hands-on research experience in astrophysics and biophysics, which gives me a real appreciation for how physics works beyond the textbook and helps me show students why the material matters, not just how to solve the problem on the page.

Quantum Physics

I majored in Physics at Barnard College of Columbia University, graduating magna cum laude with a 4.01 GPA, and completed advanced coursework in Quantum Mechanics I & II, Quantum Simulation & Computing, Statistical Mechanics, and the mathematical methods that underpin modern quantum theory. For two years I served as Head Tutor of Barnard's Physics Help Room, leading a team of eight tutors and helping more than 100 students develop strong problem-solving skills and confidence in physics. Although I primarily taught introductory courses, my advanced coursework and research background allow me to break down challenging quantum concepts into intuitive, accessible ideas while maintaining mathematical rigor. Whether you're encountering wavefunctions for the first time or working through operators, angular momentum, or perturbation theory, I focus on helping students understand both the mathematics and the physical intuition behind the subject.

SAT Math

800 Score on SAT MATH (2019)

Thermodynamics

I completed a double major in Mathematics and Physics at Barnard College of Columbia University, graduating magna cum laude with a 4.01 GPA, with coursework in Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics alongside Quantum Mechanics and Electromagnetism. My research specialty in biophysics and complex systems has given me hands-on experience applying thermodynamic principles, entropy, free energy, and statistical ensembles, to real physical systems beyond the textbook. For two years, I tutored 70+ students in introductory and intermediate physics, including premedical students who needed to connect thermodynamic concepts to physiological and chemical processes. My approach focuses on building physical intuition for abstract concepts like entropy and equilibrium, so students understand not just the equations, but what they actually describe.