Sam earned his MBA from the Yale University School of Management, and his BA in Philosophy & Psychology from Wesleyan University as a member of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. He grew up flying back and forth between California and Beijing, immersed in the literary classics of Harry Potter, Dragonlance, and of course, Captain Underpants. Since 2015, Sam has worked in various roles at tech, gaming, and education companies, including Cambridge Coaching and Wizards of the Coast. He is currently working as a private business consultant.
Sam has over a decade of experience as a writing tutor and a college & graduate admissions strategy coach, especially for students with multicultural backgrounds. He tends to adopt a relatable peer-mentor approach, establishing a strong personal connection with his students while providing structure, guidance, and encouragement along the way. Over the past few years, his students have made it into top-tier undergraduate and graduate programs at Harvard, Yale, UPenn, Columbia, Cornell, NYU, UChicago, and Oxford. In addition, Sam has also served as a private tutor for 300-level psychology courses, taught as a classroom instructor for the Wesleyan FEAS Outreach Program, and written extensive guides on the college admissions process.
Though his formative years were spent in the US, Sam speaks fluent Chinese (Mandarin) and conversational Japanese thanks to many years of cultural immersion. He spends a good amount of his free time fiddling around with his ukulele, having friends over for tea, and counting “Ah’s” at his local Toastmasters group. He also enjoys nerding out about fantasy novels (e.g. Terry Pratchett, Brandon Sanderson), combat sports, and various types of gaming. Sam currently lives in Seattle with his wife, cat, and chickens.
