Adam Hoff

Amerasia Consulting Group

United States

Consultant Bio

Adam Hoff is a Principal of the Amerasia Consulting Group and the architect of the firm’s renowned school-specific Strategy Memos. His approach to admissions consulting is informed by a career spent in every possible admissions capacity. As a former Associate Director of Admissions at his alma mater, Pepperdine University, Adam came to understand the strategic, psychological, and financial pressures that admissions officers face in building a class. In addition to running an admissions committee, managing scholarships, and organizing recruiting efforts, Adam also reviewed over 1,000 files each year and knows exactly what applicants must accomplish when they get their five minutes to shine.

Taking a brief break from the admissions world, Adam attended the University of Chicago Law School, where he graduated in 2007 after spending three years specializing in entrepreneurship law before taking an Associate Position with Sidley Austin, one of the 10 largest law firms in the world. After working primarily with hedge funds and on M&A deals, Adam left the practice of the law once and for all and became the Director of Admissions Consulting for Veritas Prep, where he spent nearly three years rolling out services and ultimately coming to know every top MBA program intimately.

After being hired to write a feature film (Adam is a member of the WGA and currently has multiple feature film and television projects in development), Adam returned to admissions when he joined Amerasia Consulting Group. It was there that Adam created a unique, multi-dimensional approach to consulting that drew upon all areas of his career – admissions officer, attorney, director of admissions consulting, and screenwriter – in order to produce essays that were perfectly structured and customized to the DNA of each individual program. He has worked with over 100 clients in the past four years and, as a Principal in the business, has created seminal strategies for specific schools and essay types.

Company Information

Three things make Amerasia different.

1. Quality. Paul Lanzillotti started this with plans to just take 10-15 clients each round and have a nice life without needing a “real job.” Well, it turns out that A) this is a real job (if you do it seriously and do it well) and B) doing it well means there’s no way you can stay that small. The word gets out too quickly. Within a year he asked me to join him and a year after that we were calling people we trusted – like my brother and a few others – and offering them “too good to be true” deals to join us. All of our clients come to us because they hear good things; we literally do not have a marketing budget. We are just good at this.

2. A Contextual Approach. We believe that you have to start with a deep understanding of the audience, which means knowing the DNA of each school, so that you can write directly to the person reading your file. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all plans or a lot of copying and pasting, which is reflected in our prices. Each school is its own undertaking and enterprise and we treat it as such.

3. We’re Boutique. We don’t have a lot of gimmicks and weird sales techniques, but we can be very flexible in crafting something that works for each person. We have a system that works and we won’t abandon our philosophies, but if there is a bell or a whistle out there that you are drawn to, let us know and we can try to work that into the process.

Location: United States

Email: ahoff@amerasiaconsulting.com

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P&Q Consultant Reviews

  • Great Thought Partner, Highly Recommend
    5 years ago
    I would highly recommend Adam Hoff at Amerasia. I found him to be a true partner throughout the application process, and his feedback/work is top notch. He is not only very knowledgeable about what each of the schools is looking for (or not looking for), but he is quite honest and upfront with you. He is especially helpful with the essays and will push you to make them as strong as possible. It seems like he has a real vested interest in each person he works with. He is used year after year by all the pre-MBAs that go through my private equity program, and with great results.
    Class of 2021 Admit
    All reviews are independently verified by Poets&Quants staff.
  • A+ Consultant For The Right Candidate Personality
    5 years ago
    Let me start by saying Adam was an excellent, excellent consultant and provided strong service. However, it should be noted that Adam is not (nor should he be) in the business of hand-holding, time management, deadline checking, recommendation writing, etc. Adam has one focus and one focus only (as it should be) - nailing your story and essays. Some people really desire a consultant who will meet with you 3 times a week, hold calls, walk you through every last piece, etc...if that is what you desire, look elsewhere. If you are a self-starter with the independence and ambition to set your own schedule, communicate your needs effectively, etc. then Adam is your guy. He will always turn around comments with incredible insight in a ...
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    Class of 2021 Admit
    All reviews are independently verified by Poets&Quants staff.
  • A true partner and mentor
    8 years ago
    Adam made me believe in myself and my capabilities to successfully get admitted to B school at a time when many consultants were claiming that my unique background would not be well-perceived by B schools and that I should aim for lower tier schools. He helped me to truly understand how to sell myself and my story - to understand what my true strengths are and ultimately that´s how I made it into the same schools that others said I could not hope to get admitted to. Adam truly strengthened and elevated me, and I have him to thank for so much! I absolutely recommend working with Adam
    Class of 2016 Anonymous
    All reviews are independently verified by Poets&Quants staff.
  • Highly recommend - fantastic partner
    8 years ago
    Adam was fantastic to work with. He is honest, hard working, personable, and invests himself in the process and in you. It was great to have him for support and guidance through every step of the application process - from brainstorming the essays to interviews to waitlist guidance. I highly recommend Adam, especially if you are aiming for the elite schools.
    Class of 2018 Anonymous
    All reviews are independently verified by Poets&Quants staff.
  • Interested in Harvard? Talk to Adam.
    8 years ago
    The bottom line first: If you want your absolute best shot at getting into the school of your choice, you want to talk to Adam. I had introductory calls with several consultants before Adam and was immediately impressed by Adam’s energy and enthusiasm for getting me admitted. One of the things that’s impressive about Adam is that he’ll have an open conversation with you about which schools make sense for you to apply to given your resume. In other words, if he agrees to work with you for a particular school, he thinks there’s a chance you’ll be admitted and he’ll do everything possible to get you there. I can attest that the skill sets inherent to his multi-faceted background stand-out during the consultation process. ...
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    Class of 2017 Anonymous
    All reviews are independently verified by Poets&Quants staff.
  • Highly Enthusiastic Consultant - Strongly Recommend
    8 years ago
    I would strongly recommend that any prospective applicant considering applying to business school talk to Adam. Adam is a no non-sense consultant who invests heavily in the success of his clients. I first heard of Adam through my former roommate and immediately noticed why Adam is so special compared to other admissions consultants. Adam genuinely listened during our first call - about my story, concerns, aspirations and goals compared to other consultants who tried to put me into an admissions category. Adam's firm is a boutique consultancy firm and will only work with you on a particular application if he thinks you have a real shot. There are no games with Adam and no pointless work. Adam was integral in helping turn my applications into ...
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    Class of 2018 Anonymous
    All reviews are independently verified by Poets&Quants staff.
  • Strongly recommend Adam!
    8 years ago
    Adam was a huge factor in my successful admission to HBS. I had a fantastic experience working with Adam. He had excellent domain expertise, great insight into individual programs, and really creative ideas on how to manage my application. In addition, he was responsive, open to my thoughts and ideas, and very professional. I felt like Adam set me up to lead my application process, with him serving as my constant support. I would definitely work with him again!
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