Advice

15 Sep 2017

It's a Trap

I now have almost 19 years experience watching LSAT-takers fall prey to one of the most prevalent test day mistakes. But before I share that, let me go back about 25 years, to when I was in college, and embarrass myself a bit. It all relates I promise. Like many of you, when I was a cash-strapped college student I did psychology experiments for money. One such experiment had me in a small, mirrored room listening to instructions about how I was to receive 10 worded math questions (does anyone l

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15 Aug 2017

Getting Admitted Below Both Medians (here's how we did it)

Keep Calm and Trust the System: Advice from a Below-Both-Medians Student Who Got Accepted to Her (T-14) Dream School Your LSAT didn’t go as well as planned, and you swear you remember your GPA in undergrad being higher than the number on your transcript. You’re below both medians, but you’ve managed to pull off a waitlist at your dream school. Congratulations! The good news is: you might have a better chance than you think of getting accepted (full disclosure I worked directly with Mike at Spiv

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02 Aug 2017

Finding Balance in Law School Admissions and Beyond

Preface The legal profession, law school, and law school admissions can be very tough on people. The following comes from a 2014 joint study conducted by the American Bar Association and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation: 33 percent drink problematically. 28 percent suffer from depression. 19 percent exhibit symptoms of anxiety. Those are just numbers, percentages to be exact, to many. But there have been a number of recent articles in the media that put a poignant and troubled face on these

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22 Jun 2017

If You Didn’t Get the LSAT or Law School You Dreamed Of

This is for everyone who didn’t get the LSAT score they wanted. Or were not admitted into their absolute dream school – basically most people. Perhaps right now, as you are reading this, it is with a sense of rejection or desperation. I wanted to write this blog because I want you to know that: 1. I have been there. Indeed, we all have at some point. 2. I have now seen thousands of aspiring law students in the same exact position get to exactly where they planned and dreamed to be in thei

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20 May 2017

About that new LSAT Policy…

If you haven't heard, the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) recently announced a change in their LSAT retake policy. Whereas prior to this change, law school applicants were limited to three LSAT administrations within a two-year period, applicants can now take an unlimited number of tests. Additionally, LSAT takers who have taken three or more LSATs in the last two years can now register for the September LSAT. This raises an important question: Should you take the LSAT 3+ times? The stand

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11 Apr 2017

The Multiple Deposit Dance

Over the past few years more and more schools have tried a variety of methods to control the arms-race of scholarship negotiation; one way is asking for people to withdraw from all schools to which they have been admitted and to verify that they have done so when depositing. Below is a link to the LSAC Statement of Good Admissions Practices – a good reference this time of year. Note the section on Commitments: http://www.lsac.org/docs/default-source/publications-%28lsac-resources%29/ statemen

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06 Apr 2017

Creating an LSAT Prep Study Calendar

Thanks to LSATMax LSAT Prep [https://testmaxprep.com/lsat] for this guest blog! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All right, so you've decided to take the LSAT and go to law school. How can you optimize your LSAT prep [https://testmaxprep.com/lsat] experience to ensure you do as well as possible on this all-important exam? As we've written, top LSAT scorers [https://testmaxprep.com/lsat/blog/how-the-top-scorers-prepare-for-the-lsat] are consist

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06 Apr 2017

How the Top Scorers Prepare for the LSAT

Thanks to LSATMax LSAT Prep [https://testmaxprep.com/lsat] for this guest blog! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, you know that your LSAT score is incredibly important for your law school admissions prospects and future success as a lawyer. But how, you may wonder, can you optimally prepare for this über-important exam? To get the most out of your LSAT prep [https://testmaxprep.com/lsat], strive to achieve (1) consistent, (2) engaged, and (3

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21 Mar 2017

5 Scholarship Negotiation Necessities

As deposit deadlines are nearing, scholarship negotiation season is in full swing. While some law schools are playing hardball (do check back with them after their first deposit deadline), others are playing quite nicely if you have something they want (particularly if it’s an LSAT above last year’s median). We are getting many questions about the most effective means of negotiating — namely, “what else can I do besides present them with another school’s scholarship offer?” We are also hearing h

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09 Feb 2017

Spivey Consulting in USNWR on a successful Harvard Law resume

Hi Mr. Spivey, I wanted to thank your for your review of my resume in yesterday’s U.S. News & World Report article on law school resumes [http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2017-02-02/a-law-school-resume-that-made-the-cut] . Surely, my success is due in-part to your willingness to support prospective applicants via your guidance on the Top Law Schools forums. I do not believe I would have applied to Harvard without the encouragement I felt from readin

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