Blog & Podcasts

Data Dive: International Applicants to Top Law Schools

International students face unique challenges in the U.S. law school admissions process. This article presents an analysis of how top law schools treat international applicants, using data from the past three cycles, and explains what's new for 2024-25!

Implications of Executive Branch Order Targeting College Accrediting Bodies, Including the American Bar Association’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to The Bar

Podcast: Following a Law School Applicant Through the 2024-2025 Cycle (Part 3, Decisions & Wrap-Up)

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, we have our third and final interview with "John," who we've followed throughout his law school admissions cycle for 2024-2025.

Law School and Higher Education Rankings Thoughts

I've been asked too many times to count to comment on the U.S. News 2025 law school rankings release a few days ago.

2024-2025 Law School Admissions Cycle Progress

As of March 20, 2025, nearly 7,000 offers of admission remain at the top 100 law schools, including 2,500 from top 20 schools. While we don't have definitive data yet, these figures provide a snapshot of the cycle’s progress.

Know Your Law School Seat Deposit Deadlines

Updated with 2025 seat deposit deadlines for all ABA-accredited law schools.

Podcast: Five Categories of Law School Admissions Interview Questions & How to Answer Them

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Anna Hicks-Jaco is joined by Karen Buttenbaum, one of Spivey's most experienced consultants and a former Director of Admissions at Harvard Law School, to talk about law school admissions interviews.

Statement on the February 14, 2025 “OCR Dear Colleague letter” sent by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights

Which Law Schools have Early Decision/Early Action Transfer Programs?

Here's a list of law schools that have early decision or early action transfer programs.

Podcast: Following a Law School Applicant Through the 2024-2025 Cycle (Part 2, Interviews & Waiting for Decisions)

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, we catch up with the applicant who we're following throughout this cycle. We talk about rejection, decisions he has (or hasn't) received, interviews he's done, typos in applications, and more. Stick around until the end for one last update on his cycle!

Start with the End in Mind: Preparing for 1L Exams from Day One

So much of your success in 1L is tethered to your performance on the final exam. It makes good sense to focus on those exams as early as possible. Here are our best tips.

10 Deceptively Tricky Law School Application Questions & How to Answer Them

There are some seemingly simple questions on law school applications that still have a tendency to confuse applicants. As former admissions officers, we hope to help you understand and feel confident answering them.

Podcast: The Law School Waitlist—Deep Dive with Former Admissions Officers

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Anna Hicks-Jaco has a discussion with two Spivey consultants all about the waitlist process.

Podcast: Mid-Cycle Pep Talk & 2024-2025 Update from Mike Spivey

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike gives a brief update and pep talk for current law school applicants during the 2024-2025 admissions cycle.

Real Data on When Law School Admissions Decisions Come Out

Admissions officers are settling into a winter of reading, and the file review process is really just beginning to get into full swing for most of them. So when will decisions be coming out?

Predicted 2025-2026 U.S. News Law School Rankings

We now have sufficient data to predict the 2025-2026 U.S. News law school rankings with a high degree of accuracy. Here's the full list, this year in groups.

Podcast: A Look at the New ABA 509 Law School Data with Kyle McEntee

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike has a conversation with Kyle McEntee, LSAC's Senior Director of Prelaw Engagement and the founder of Law School Transparency, centering around the newly released 2024 ABA 509 disclosures and how applicants should consider the data therein.

New Law School Admissions Data from the 2024 ABA-Required 509 Disclosures: Thoughts & Analysis

This week, the American Bar Association published this year's required 509 disclosures—standardized data on admissions, enrollment, scholarships, faculty, and more. We took a look at that data, and here are our early takeaways.

Podcast: "Why X" Essay Deep Dive: Advice from Former Law School Admissions Officers

In this episode, Anna Hicks-Jaco has a conversation with two Spivey consultants and former law school admissions deans on "Why X" essays—advice, best practices, common mistakes, misconceptions, and more.

Podcast: The Future of Legal Education, AI, & Admissions with Dean Megan Carpenter

In this episode, Mike has a conversation with Dean Megan Carpenter on the highlights and challenges of being a dean, the future of law school and innovation in legal education, generative artificial intelligence, and her best law school admissions advice (plus, what res ipsa loquitur means).