Brandywine Alumni Spotlight: Andrew Hoff, class of 2023

MEDIA, Pa. — Penn State alumnus Andrew Hoff, class of 2023, is thriving in his job at a Big Four accounting firm.

Hoff began his Penn State journey at Brandywine in 2019 with a major in finance and a minor in economics. After two years, he transitioned to University Park where he completed his bachelor’s degree. He chose to spend his first two years of college at Brandywine to save on expenses and to play collegiate baseball.

“I originally wanted to do all four years at University Park, but it didn’t make sense financially to do that, so I opted to stay home for two years and commute to Brandywine. I saved a lot of money on my education doing that,” he said.

“Once I figured out I was going to Brandywine, I reached out to Vinny Gallo, the head baseball coach, to see if I could play for the baseball team, and when he saw me play, he said I could join the team.”

While on the Brandywine baseball team, Hoff was a right-handed pitcher. As the only season he played was interrupted by the pandemic, he didn’t have the opportunity to pitch many innings, but one of his fondest memories at Brandywine was going with his team to Florida for spring training.

“Although my season was cut short by the pandemic, one of my favorite memories at Brandywine was from my time on the baseball team. Right before the lockdown, the team went down to Florida for spring training, and it was a really fun experience. We all stayed in a few houses down there, and I had a great time bonding with my teammates,” he said.

Hoff transitioned to University Park in 2021 and was accepted into the Schreyer Honors College. He also was part of the Nittany Lion Consulting Group, Penn State’s student-run consulting organization. During his fourth year at Penn State, he also delivered a TED Talk through TEDxPSU about his experience as a 2+2 student.

He said that his time at Penn State, both at University Park and Brandywine, allowed him to explore what he wanted to do with his life.

“Penn State, on a broad level, gave me the opportunity to explore what I wanted to do, to apply myself to whatever I wanted, to whatever extent I desired. I felt like I had a lot of agency in my college career with the things I wanted to pursue and what I wanted to learn about. It really prepared me well for life,” he said.

Upon graduating from Penn State, Hoff went to work as a strategy analyst and consultant at Deloitte, a Big Four accounting firm. In his role, he gets hired by other companies to help them solve business problems. He said he wanted to work at Deloitte because of its help with graduate school and his interest in consulting.

“Deloitte has a program called GSAP, which stands for the Graduate School Admissions Program. After three years, if you qualify, the company will sponsor you to go to graduate school. That was a huge perk. I was also interested in any kind of experience I could get as a consultant,” he said.

“What I enjoy most about my job is that it feels challenging in the sense that I’m learning new things. I feel like it prompts a lot of growth as a professional and as a person because of its challenging nature.”

When asked what advice he would give to Penn State students, Hoff said students should be thoughtful about how they invest their time.

“Be conscious about how you use your time in college because once you graduate, you’ll have less opportunity to influence the path for your life,” he said. “It’s really important to apply yourself as best as you can to whatever you’re interested in doing.”