Advice

23 Nov 2018

Should you submit your application after you take the LSAT(or GRE) or once you get your score?

The short answer is "it doesn't matter that much." As we have blogged about here [https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/how-long-does-it-take-for-law-school-applications-to-be-read/] , applications aren't read in date stamped sequential order, but rather by strength. They do, of course, have to be complete, and not having a test score will render them incomplete. Still, the lack of a score (or another attempt at a higher score) does not mean that you can't  actually submit an application. Should you

Read full post
12 Nov 2018

Live Admissions Q&A Nov. 19, and RSVPs for This Cycle and Next

Join us on Monday, November 19, 2018 from 8:00 – 9:30 PM EST for a Live Law School Admissions/LSAT Q&A with Mike Spivey, Karen Buttenbaum, and Derek Meeker of Spivey Consulting, and Dave Killoran and Jon Denning of PowerScore. We will be answering your questions about admissions, strategy, and the application cycle so far! Register at powerscore.com/freeseminars [http://www.powerscore.com/freeseminars/]. Also please note: if you would like to work with us for this cycle or next, RSVP now to our

Read full post
12 Nov 2018

A Dog's Lesson

My dog BearBear passed away this week, much too young at 6 years and 4 months. But in those 6 years she hiked and ran in the mountains almost every day, traveled with me on many work trips, and was surrounded by, and gave in return, much joy. She also taught me a lesson I want to share. BearBear was a Chow Chow, and Chow Chow’s make great office work companions (I got BearBear soon after I founded this firm). They generally stick to themselves and BearBear was almost always found on the porch g

Read full post
24 Oct 2018

Spooky Halloween Blog: Real Stories of Things That Creep Out Admissions Offices

For Halloween this year, we'd like to share some peculiar stories from some of the Spivey consultants' days as admissions officers at top schools such as Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, Penn, Michigan, Duke, and many more. If you want to avoid spooking the person making a decision on your file (and making a lasting bad impression), avoid these creepy tactics! Nikki Laubenstein, former Assistant Dean for Enrollment Management at Syracuse University College of Law, had a coworker who was once

Read full post
28 Sep 2018

Law School Forum Dos and Don'ts

DO: * Wear appropriate clothing. You certainly don’t have to wear a suit but don’t show up in your pajamas or club wear either. Business casual is the best option. * Speak and act in an adult, professional manner. * Use the opportunity to ask specific questions that can’t be answered by brochures or websites. Some examples:  What factors can improve an applicant’s admissions chances beyond numbers? What percentage of your students secure [employment/clerkships/public interest

Read full post
29 Aug 2018

What you can learn from Emory Law School's C&F instructions

A big hat tip to Emory Law School for the epically clear C&F instructions. They give reasons behind why they are asking, samples, and explicit instructions on what to do if someone told them not to disclose. Couldn’t have said this better — thanks Emory, and I hope this helps everyone demystify some of the ambiguity around C&F issues. Please do note that C&F instructions is one of the areas where school instructions vary the most, read each carefully. GUIDANCE ON BAR CHARACTER AND FITNESS REQUI

Read full post
26 Jul 2018

The top 10 most overly, wrongly, and (at times) annoyingly used words in law school applications

With more than 100 years of law school admissions experience between us, we have read over a hundred thousand law school essays and applications. That is an incredibly rewarding experience, but there can be times when you start to see the same words used, or used out of context, again and again. The following list of words includes some of the most overused and/or at times aggravating usage of words we see in applications. Keep in mind that not all of these words annoy every admissions officer —

Read full post
13 Jul 2018

GRE vs. LSAT: Answers from the Deans

The introduction of the GRE to the law school admissions process has created a great deal of questions, confusion, and theories about how it’s being used. Almost everyday we get these questions, and as with the free-for-all of advice on the internet, the reality of how it impacts the admissions process can be confounding. Because of this confusion and lack of reliable advice, we wanted to help you sort out how to think about the GRE — so we took some of the most commonly asked questions to our f

Read full post
28 Jun 2018

How many law schools should you apply to?

First published October 2017; updated October 2018 With LSAT scores having recently come out, your school list may grow – for those who did better than anticipated, you may consider schools that are now a possibility; for those who didn’t get quite where you had set a goal, well, perhaps you will add a couple other safeties in your group. Either way, your list could get longer, prompting the question, how many law schools should you apply to? I’ll confess that my own strategy when applying to

Read full post
21 Jun 2018

Time Management, Self-Care, and Motivation

By Nikki Laubenstein, Senior Consultant at the Spivey Consulting Group Whether you’ve determined which law school you’ll be attending in the fall or are still finalizing that decision, it’s likely that you are feeling a bit anxious, overwhelmed, or unsure of what to expect once orientation and classes begin in August. You’ve focused a lot of your time and energy up until now on honing your logic, analytical reasoning, and writing skills, so now let’s talk about a few other skills that will help

Read full post