Fox Fact: Foxes can retract their claws as cats do, have vertical pupils (like cats) which allow them to see better in the dark, and have cat-like sensitive whiskers.
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Blog & Podcasts
17 Nov 2023
Upcoming Growth & Diversification at the Spivey Consulting Group
Today has a special meaning to me, and I write to outline our firm’s upcoming growth and diversification of services in 2024.
Read full post13 Nov 2023
How does U.S. News *actually* rank law schools?
The U.S. News & World Report law school rankings methodology may appear simple at first glance, but it is also widely (and deeply) misunderstood. Here, we analyze the methodology + this year's changes.
Read full post11 Nov 2023
Podcast: The Slowest Cycle Ever
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike discusses the reasons that this law school admissions cycle will be the slowest one ever (or at least within our admissions careers)—and, perhaps more importantly, what you should do about it if you're a current applicant.
Read full post20 Oct 2023
Law School Deans Who Became College/University Presidents
For a very long time, the typical path to becoming a college/university president was serving as a provost. In recent years, however, appointing law school deans to college/university president roles has become more and more common.
Read full post17 Oct 2023
Podcast: Mike Spivey's Top 5 All-Time Admissions Advice
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike gives his top 5 pieces of advice from his 25+ years working in law school admissions.
Read full post11 Oct 2023
Podcast: What's Wrong with the LSAT? + What is JD-Next? with Craig Boise & Dan Rodriguez
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, two experienced and respected law school Deans discuss the history, the present, and the future of law school admissions and legal education.
Read full post05 Oct 2023
Top 15 Law School Websites
We have spent a great deal of time browsing and evaluating the websites of every ABA-approved law school, and we identified the following 15 as the strongest examples.
Read full post27 Sep 2023
Which law schools interview applicants, and what are their interview formats?
If you're planning to apply to law school, you may be wondering, which law schools employ interviews as a part of their admissions process? Info here.
Read full post18 Sep 2023
U.S. News Best College Rankings (+/- 2024 vs. 2023)
The 2024 (published 2023) U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings were released today—here are the top 50 national universities with plus/minuses.
Read full post11 Sep 2023
Podcast: How Important is Work Experience in Law School Admissions?
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike discusses a question we receive often—just how important is work experience in the law school application process?
Read full post29 Aug 2023
Podcast: What to Expect in the 2023-24 Law School Admissions Cycle (+ Q&A) with Mike Spivey & Anna Hicks-Jaco
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike has a conversation with Spivey Consulting's COO Anna Hicks-Jaco about what to expect during the upcoming cycle, her perspective as both a recent Dean of Admissions and relatively recent applicant, and advice for applicants getting ready to apply.
Read full post21 Aug 2023
Three Tips for Brand New 1Ls (+ 1L Success Coaching)
Congrats to those of you launching your law school careers this month! As you navigate orientation and the heady first few days of classes, we thought it’d be a good time to share some advice—and an opportunity—from our Pre-L/1L Success team.
Read full post21 Aug 2023
Podcast: Critiquing AI-Generated Law School Personal Statements
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Spivey Consulting's COO Anna Hicks-Jaco gives the insider perspective on AI-generated personal statements—currently a hot topic of discussion in law school admissions offices—and critiques two personal statements written with ChatGPT.
Read full post17 Aug 2023
2023 Law School Application Changes Compiled
We have seen more law schools making changes to their application components and instructions this cycle than in any other we can recall. For your reference, we will be compiling these changes below, adding new schools as their applications and instructions are posted.
Read full post07 Aug 2023
Podcast: The Biggest Non-Negotiable Rule in Law School Admissions
As much as we deign to use absolutes, there is at least one principle we can think of that is absolutely non-negotiable in law school admissions. Regardless of your qualifications, breaking this rule can tank the chances of any applicant—this episode of Status Check with Spivey discusses that rule.
Read full post03 Aug 2023
Predicting the 2023-2024 Law School Admissions Cycle
The 2022-2023 application cycle is coming to a close, and overall, it will finish with about 2% fewer applicants than the prior cycle—the lowest total number of applicants since the 2017-2018 cycle. In this blog, we look at 2023-2024.
Read full post01 Aug 2023
Law School Application Opening Dates for the 2023-2024 Cycle
This post includes a full list of all ABA-approved law schools' application opening dates for the 2023-2024 admissions cycle.
Read full post01 Aug 2023
Podcast: The Myth of the Early Application “Bump” & Law School Rolling Admissions
In this brief episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike discusses what has grown in recent years to be the biggest myth in law school admissions today.
Read full post11 Jul 2023
Podcast: Dean Z on the Future of Law School Admissions + Other Admissions Questions (Part 2)
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike continues his conversation with Dean Sarah Zearfoss (also known as "Dean Z").
Read full post06 Jul 2023
Why We Dedicate One In Every Four Podcasts To Mental Health
I mentioned something on a recent admissions podcast with Dean Z from Michigan Law School that I thought, even while saying it, was important enough to follow up on.
Read full post