Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, Garcia first started performing at the age of 10 when she auditioned for a local theater production and landed the lead. While she caught the bug immediately, her parents put school first, and she continued to feed her passion by acting in local plays.
While in high school, Garcia was discovered by Nickelodeon, and she commuted from Florida to Montreal, Canada to star for two seasons in the television series Are You Afraid of the Dark? After graduating from high school, she spent a year attending Florida State University, but Hollywood was calling. She moved to Los Angeles and on the day she arrived, landed a role in the television movie Holy Joe.
Soon after, Garcia was cast in a recurring role on the acclaimed drama series Party of Five, playing Claudia's (Lacy Chabert) friend at boarding school. She also had a memorable recurring role on Freaks and Geeks, playing Vicki Appleby, the popular freshman cheerleader who spent "7 minutes in heaven" with the ultimate geek Bill (Martin Starr). She made an indelible impression with a guest-starring role on Boston Public in an episode that saw her character caught giving oral sex in the school hallway to sway a student election. She has also appeared on Family Law, Providence, Dawson's Creek and Opposite Sex. Garcia also starred as Reba McEntire's daughter Cheyenne, a teenage wife and brand new mother on the hit comedy series Reba.
On the big screen, Garcia was seen in the feature comedy sequel American Pie 2 and played a high school cheerleader afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome in the comedy spoof Not Another Teen Movie. She has also appeared in the cable series From the Earth to the Moon and the television movie Love's Deadly Triangle: The Texas Cadet Murder.