John Garbi
Columbia University
University of Cambridge
Available Wednesday
Starting at 10:00 AM UTC
Questions?
You can start chatting with John before you get started.
I have advised high school students on admissions to elite colleges through my various mentorship roles, including as a teaching assistant at the Rosetta Institute for Biomedical Research summer camp for high schoolers. I was lucky enough to have attended the Kent School, a boarding school where I had access to immense resources for the college application process. Having had this experience, I am eager to pass on what I learned to students, giving the best chance possible of attending one of their chosen universities. Outside of my college admissions work, I am primarily driven by intellectual curiosity. I'm currently completing my Master's degree in Cognitive Science and Philosophy, hoping to pursue a career in academic research. In my free time, I compose music, play the piano and the organ, run, and make art!
Work with John
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Why do I coach?
I deeply enjoy helping students to realize their full potential. This is especially important in the competitive world of college admissions. Many students would greatly benefit from insider knowledge regarding the admissions process, the cultures of various elite American colleges, and the rigorous college admissions preparation that I myself benefited from. I'm here for you through the entire process: from asking for recommendations, to taking standardized tests, and especially for crafting your essays. Getting to know you through helping with your essays is my favorite part!
Work Experience
College Advisor & Teaching Assistant
Rosetta Institute for Biomedical Research
May 2026 - July 2026
I advised students, including international students, on the college admissions process and how to maximize their chances of selection by a committee.
Davachi Lab Research Assistant
Columbia University in the City of New York
January 2025 - Present
Stimuli and experimental design, behavioral data collection, data analysis
Philosophy Researcher
Columbia University in the City of New York
May 2024 - September 2024
● Supervisor: Professor Juliette Vazard (Former Columbia Philosophy Department faculty) ● Research Focus: Investigated the explanatory benefits of Ruth Millikan's attribution of mental representations with truth-conditions to honeybees and magnetotactic bacteria in scientific studies of their behavior
Moderator
Meade Anderson Philosophy Forum
January 2024 - Present
● Co-Moderate a weekly philosophy discussion group, creating topic summaries and curating readings to engage attendees from across Columbia College. Collaborative Leadership, Communication and +3 skills
Member
Effective Altruism
October 2022 - February 2023
Undergraduate Research Assistant
University of Cambridge
May 2022 - August 2022
I assisted in the research of Professor Canales-Johnson at the Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Lab. I expect to have my name on the final paper. My work involved: 1) using fMRI and CT scans to localize electrodes implanted in patients' brains. 2) adapting and running MATLAB scripts analyzing intracranial EEG data from a previous study on Macaques to the present one on humans 3) producing and organizing plots describing information-theoretic quantities under different experimental and analysis conditions MATLAB, EEG and +4 skills
Education
Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris
MSc, Cognitive Science & Philosophy
2026 - 2028
Columbia University
BA, Cognitive Science and Philosophy
2021 - 2026
GPA: 4.02 Meade Anderson Philosophy Forum Executive Board, Co-Moderator, and Conference Organiser Davachi Lab Research Assistant Honors Thesis in Philosophy
Kent School
High School Diploma
2018 - 2021
Grade: Cum Laude Leadership Roles: 1) Elected Senior Council Member 2) Improvisational Acting Club Head 3) Spectrum Head 4) Philosophy Club Head 5) St. Joseph's Chapel Organist Leadership and Teamwork
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