Adam Hoff

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.

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 reasonable time, but it is up to you to get it done. If you work with him, I would suggest you get things done as early as possible as his clients bombard him near deadlines, and the essays are so time and thought intensive that they take lengthy revisions to get done. My essays were fantastic because of him, and then I learned a bit more on current students, alumni, etc. for wrapping up my resume/rec samples (although he does help with those!). Would certainly recommend Adam – but any user should come in knowing what working style to expect (which Adam is transparent about from the start).

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

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.

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. He understands the unique (and common) DNA of each top university and takes the guessing game out of approaching open-ended essay prompts by providing specific strategy guidelines, goals, examples, and brainstorming feedback. Once you understand the path to take on your essays, I think Adam stands out most for his ability to turn your “statement” into a “story”. In other words, how to capture the interest of the admissions officer and pull them on to your side so that they’re rooting for your acceptance. It’s a highly customized and personal experience that I think is unique to Adam. Adam will help you iterate and revise as many times as necessary to make your essay the absolute finest it can be. He has an incredible ability to take what you’re trying to say and make it more clear, more concise, and more engaging for the admissions committee. I can’t emphasize that enough. Once you’re accepted to interview, Adam will provide interview preparation guidance as well as mock interviews with pros from the Amerasia network. Mock interviews are absolutely critical to preparing for the toughest questions and getting feedback on whether you sound as great as you think you might. (I did not at first). With Adam’s help, I enrolled at Harvard. Thanks, Adam.

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 a cohesive story. I immediately wanted to tackle specific essay prompts once I hired Adam, but Adam works with each client to ensure that you have thought clearly about why you are applying to business school in the first place. This critical step is an often overlooked. Adam worked with me tirelessly to make sure that I highlighted the most important parts of my story that aligned with each school’s particular DNA. Moreover, Adam (1) is brutally honest and (2) conducts most of his consulting services via e-mail. At first, I was a little concerned about this but Adam is a VERY professional and you have to trust the process. This prevents you as the applicant from trying to provide verbal color in your application to Adam over the phone. Adam therefore is able to read your essay as an admissions officer would and makes sure your story is incredibly polished before it reaches the desk of any AdCom (however, if you need to talk to Adam over the phone, he will get on the phone with you – don’t worry! I specifically recall talking to Adam on Thanksgiving morning). Without a doubt, Adam made my applications better by order of magnitudes, and I was extremely excited when I was admitted into a top 5 program, especially as a candidate from an over-subscribed background. Hire Adam – you will not regret it.

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!