Our Team
Thomas Shen
Co-Founder
Thomas (Yaoling) Shen is an associate at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel and independent college application consultant. Thomas is a Beijing native and graduate of Beijing No. 4 High School. He was admitted to Yale, UC Berkeley, Northwestern, and Notre Dame with scholarships. Thomas double majored in History and Economics and graduated Yale cum laude. Thomas has helped a number of Chinese applicants in the past, and enjoys the mentoring and bonding that often continue after the college applications. Previous students have been admitted to Yale, Brown, and Notre Dame among other prestigious colleges.
Stefan Jones
Co-Founder
Stefanos (Stefan) Jones is an American academic and teacher. Stefan did his early schooling at the Ecole Active Bilingue Monceau in Paris and Lakeside School in Seattle, and received his B.A. in Philosophy with distinction from Yale University. As a dual EU-US citizen, Stefan loves to work with international students. In addition to his work at Akros, Stefan is a PhD candidate at the Committee for Social Thought at the University of Chicago. In 2020-2021, he will be a guest researcher in ancient philosophy at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. Stefan is also an avid amateur pianist.
James Wedgwood
Tutor
James Wedgwood is an American educator and intellectual jack-of-all-trades from Seattle, Washington. James graduated summa cum laude from Yale in 2020 with a double major in Mathematics and Comparative Literature and has taught a variety of subjects including environmental science, ethics, Spanish, and math. An avid writer, James is particularly interested in helping his students develop their writing abilities, whether it’s in pursuit of the perfect college essay or just for fun. In addition to teaching this fall, James is dividing his time between internships in campaign finance, political data, and immigration law.