Christine Defenbaugh

Seattle, WA
TEACHES

GMAT

EDUCATION
  • NYU-Tisch
  • Columbia (JD)
BIO

Christine studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory and graduated from NYU-Tisch with a BFA in acting in 2002. When she realized that experimental cross-gender Shakespearean productions that draw on Grotowski’s principles weren’t likely to pay the rent, or even for her yoga classes, she tried on a few different hats before thinking law school had a nice ring to it.

After scoring a perfect 180 on her LSAT, Christine attended Columbia Law School, where she discovered an unexpected fascination with tax law. She worked as a tax associate at a large Manhattan law firm for a few years before once again flouting the rules of the NYU-Columbia rivalry. She returned to NYU for her Tax LLM, which is currently in progress, and set a goal to master the intricacies of the GMAT. She subsequently secured a 780 score.

Christine has been teaching test prep for over a decade, helping students to demystify the language and structure of standardized tests. She holds to the philosophy that learning the GMAT or the LSAT is much like learning to play a musical instrument: you must slow down to get faster, you must tune your ear to dissonance, and you’re going to get some calluses along the way.

Despite her love of tax law, Christine is seriously considering abandoning the practice of law altogether to become a chocolatier or pastry chef. Attending her classes may subject you to unplanned, but delicious, experiments.

What students are saying

“Christine is really animated and engaging. She keeps class lively and always has energy.”

What students are saying

“Christine is entertaining, really good at catering to people of different skill sets, patient, and extremely bright.”

What students are saying

“Christine did an excellent job of showing multiple ways to do each problem.”