Fantastic experience working with Drew Hoff

Strengths:

Structure, guidance, tailored insight.

Would make the product better:

Little to nothing.

The first time I spoke to Drew Hoff on our intro call, he completely stood apart from his competition, and I knew I wanted to work with him. 

Due my professional and family obligations, my plan was to apply to just one competitive nearby program (Berkeley Haas). I led with that, and Drew could not have given me a more encouraging response. He talked about his specific prior experiences working with successful applicants to the program, and told me about his various connections to the school from over the years. 

In contrast to every other consultant I interviewed, he was able to offer an engagement framework that was limited in scope to my single focused application, and I really appreciated that bespoke flexibility. When you strip away all the bureaucracy and fluff, leaving just the raw value of an extremely insightful, strategic, and tactical advisor, you have Drew Hoff. 

Drew took time to understand my unique professional path, and he empowered me tell my story in a way that was directly aligned to the Haas culture. He was always clear and confident in his guidance, and provided actionable, constructive feedback. I felt like he was a coach or even a mentor, bringing out the best in me, pushing me to see opportunity where I thought there was only weakness.  

Throughout the process, Drew was always highly professional, and easy to communicate with. He delivered a degree of structure and rigor that increased my confidence. I knew I was actually putting my best foot forward. Through iteration, we evolved my primary essays into authentically confident expressions of who I am. My application overall grew into a cohesive and compelling narrative, clearly expressing why the program would be a mutual fit.

When my initial exam scores were a little lower than we'd hoped, Drew gave me the extra nudge to give it another try. I could tell he genuinely believed I could do a little better, and if I hadn't known that was the case, I probably wouldn’t have taken the exam the second time. Of course, Drew turned out to be right once again, and I am very glad I took his advice because my score improved materially on the second attempt.

In summary, Drew gave me everything I was looking for in an admissions consultant and more. I believe I got excellent value from working with him and cannot recommend him highly enough.