Oliver Tan

Biography

I am a Bay Area native.  With my dad being a passionate mathematician himself, I was exposed to mathematics and fascinated by intricate concepts from a young age. This fascination continued throughout my childhood, and math was my favorite subject in middle school and high school. It was no surprise that I chose to major in math for college. I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and minor in computer science.

I began tutoring when I was a student at Los Altos High School and later supported my peers in college by tutoring in college. Once I graduated, I know I wanted to continue helping students. I love that I get to help students master math subjects and their SAT tests at AJ Tutoring.

Nothing is more rewarding to me than knowing I’ve supported a student in acing an assignment, exam, or class. I hope to foster an environment where students feel they can take as long as they need to understand a topic, and minimize the stress and pressure of demanding classes.

Much like with English, math is like learning a language – the best way to learn it is to do it! While you can memorize equations and formulas like you could grammatical rules, you won’t truly be familiar with a concept until you’ve applied it in a variety of scenarios. As a tutor, I guide students in solving multiple problems until they have a solid understanding of the underlying concepts.

Outside of tutoring, I spend time honing my programming skills by developing various apps. I am also a Rubik’s cube speed solver and love to travel with my family around the world.