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Katerina Baruffi

B.A. Theatre, minor Theology

Boston College

kbaruffi@esmprep.com

Services

Academic Mentorship

Test Prep

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”

Plutarch

Kat has taught the humanities, test prep, and writing for over 10 years to students of all ages. After joining ESM Prep, she became a college essay coach before accepting the position as Director of Writing. In this role, Kat actively oversees the essay coaching team and continues to work with students directly on college application essays, ensuring that all students feel empowered and authentic in their applications. Her students have gone on to attend Notre Dame, Stanford, UCLA, and Northwestern, to name a few.


Kat’s extensive background in theater informs her approach to mentorship. While the material isn’t always fun, that doesn’t mean sessions can’t be! She’s been known to write Taylor Swift-themed test prep questions and create Jeopardy-style writing exercises to infuse lessons with levity and encourage students’ creativity. Above all, as a goal-oriented, empathetic mentor, Kat emphasizes a “game plan” for students so that they can approach challenges confidently and self-sufficiently.


As a former resident of New York, Taiwan, Illinois, Boston, and now Los Angeles, Kat enjoys exploring and connecting to the local scene. When she’s not teaching, Kat can probably be found cheering on her team, the Angel City Football Club, at the Banc of California Stadium, or taking her dog, Obi, for long walks around the LA “river”.

Testimonials

“According to my son the best part of working with Kat is that 'she helps me get my school work done and makes it fun.' He loves her games and 9-year-old approved examples and illustrations. From my perspective as a parent, Kat is the full package - knowledge base, personality, logistics, communication - check, check, check, check. Most importantly, my son views working with her positively. It is never a fight - even after a full day of school. My greatest hope is that he loves learning, and she brings that out in him. Katerina would excel in any number of careers but she certainly has a calling in working with kids and in education.”


“Kat has been an incredible mentor, teacher, guru, and the most influential person in my daughter's life since the first day she met Kat. Kat inspired my daughter to read and write stories, be curious, ask questions, learn presentational skills and acting skills, use critical thinking, be positive and enthusiastic about academic challenges. Kat became my 'trusted advisor' when I needed her help to translate academic 'dry' concepts into 'life applied' examples to awake my daughter's curiosity and help her become a successful, curious, and a very happy student. We have been very fortunate to work with Kat for the last past couple of years and look forward to continue working with Kat, acquiring academic and soft skills while having tons of fun during these 'learning adventures with Kat!'"

Joe Jaszewski

University of California, Davis

B.A. American Studies

Services Offered

College Counseling

Joined ESM in

John Neville

Stanford University

B.S. Mathematical and Computational Science

University of Oxford

M.S. Financial Economics

Services Offered

Test Prep

Joined ESM in

2019

Matthew LaBar

California State University, Long Beach

B.A. Mathematics, B.A. English

Services Offered

Academic Mentorship

Test Prep

Joined ESM in

2014

Rebecca Houser

University of Pennsylvania

BA Communications

Services Offered

College Counseling

Joined ESM in

2022

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