Our Team

Alan was born in Guangdong, China and later attended a boarding school in Pennsylvania, United States. He went on to study Psychology and Neuroscience at UCSD, before completing a Master’s degree in Urban Planning at Columbia University. His early experience includes work at the United Nations, where he gained exposure to international policy, social development, and cross-cultural collaboration. Shaped by an interdisciplinary academic background and global training, Alan is highly socially aware and particularly interested in guiding students toward meaningful social initiatives. He values projects that connect intellectual inquiry with real-world impact and enjoys mentoring students who seek to engage thoughtfully with their communities.

Alan has worked with more than 100 ARCH students from international and local schools worldwide, including Hong Kong, mainland China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. He is currently in his fourth application cycle at ARCH and has consistently supported students placed into the top US universities including Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, UPenn, Cornell, JHU, Northwestern, UChicago, Duke, and more.  

Across these cycles, Alan has advised students with diverse academic profiles and extracurricular backgrounds, managing applications to highly selective universities and competitive programs. His experience spans profile building, academic interest exploration, standardized testing strategy, school list development, application execution, and final decision-making, with close coordination among students, families, and schools. 

At ARCH, Alan’s philosophy emphasizes organic, student-specific development rather than formulaic positioning. He believes each student’s path should grow from authentic interests, academic strengths, and lived experiences, refined into a clear and differentiated narrative.  

He works with students to set inspiring yet realistic goals for personal and academic development, using the admissions process as a framework for maturity, self-awareness, and decision-making. A core part of his approach is guiding students to identify and sharpen their individual edge: how they grow, contribute, and distinguish themselves within their own school context. 

Alan is an avid soccer fan and a longtime supporter of Manchester United, often spending weekends watching matches. Beyond sports, he is a dedicated reader who has a personal library of more than 5,000 books.