Admissions

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Blog Posts

July 31, 2026
Law School Application Opening Dates 2026

When will law school applications open for the 2026-2027 admissions cycle? Here's the full list, including all ABA-approved law schools.

July 21, 2026
How to Create Your Law School List - Updated 2026

In this post, we hope to help you think through the mountain of information and choices out there so that you can set yourself up for a successful application cycle.

May 21, 2026
Spivey Consulting Group 2026-2027 Pro Bono Program: Announcement & Application

Apply now to receive free law school admissions consulting through the Spivey Consulting Pro Bono Program!

April 13, 2026
Tier-Ranking Law Schools by Lawyer/Judge Reputational Score

Law school rankings organized in tiers—based on reputational survey data from hiring partners, practicing attorneys, and judges.

March 9, 2026
Know Your Law School Seat Deposit Deadlines

Updated with 2026 seat deposit deadlines for all ABA-accredited law schools.

January 14, 2026
Law School Application Deadlines 2026

Application deadlines for every ABA-approved law school for the 2025-26 admissions cycle.

December 23, 2025
What We Learned from Law Schools’ 2025 ABA 509 Disclosures

We analyze the data from law schools' new 509 Required Disclosures, including LSAT and GPA medians, class sizes, diversity and demographics, and more.

July 28, 2025
Law School Application Opening Dates 2025

When will law school applications open for the 2025-2026 admissions cycle? Here's the full list, including all ABA-approved law schools.

June 4, 2025
Why is Your LSAC Cumulative GPA Different from Your Normal Degree GPA?

What types of scenarios can lead to your LSAC-calculated cumulative GPA (the relevant one for law school admissions purposes) being different from your degree GPA?

Podcasts

April 2, 2020
How Will Law School Transfer Admissions Be Impacted by COVID-19?

In this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses how COVID-19 and new grading systems will affect law school transfer admissions. Listen below through YouTube, or on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

Also, a quick note — for a look into Mike's daily schedule (which we've been asked about many times) and some advice on staying sane while quarantined, see this recent blog.

March 18, 2020
Update on COVID-19 / Coronavirus & Law School Admissions

Just a quick update from Mike Spivey on how the continuously developing situation with COVID-19 / coronavirus is impacting — and will continue to impact — law school admissions. Watch here or listen on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

September 11, 2020
On the Prevalence of Bad Law School Admissions Advice

In this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group's Anna Hicks and Mike Spivey discuss bad advice in law school admissions — who gives it, how to identify it, and how to determine which advice is worthwhile. Plus, some bonus [good] advice on LinkedIn at the end!

You can also listen to this podcast on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

Here's the podcast on when admissions officers do take note of a specific applicant's behavior online and the consequences it can have.

And here's the Family Guy parody video mentioned in the podcast regarding subjectivity in admissions.

Please note that we are currently at capacity and are not taking new clients for this cycle at this time (we are still working through our current waitlist in date order). However, we will soon be opening our reservation list for next cycle! You can monitor our blog and Twitter for updates on our future availability for this cycle and for the reservation list announcement.

You may not know that I, and several of my Spivey Consulting business partners, were meant to be at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. You can read the story and my thoughts nine years later in a blog post I just published to my motivational blog here. –Mike

June 5, 2020
Harvard Law Goes Fully Remote for Fall 2020. Will Other Law Schools Follow Suit and What It Means for Applicants

In this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group founder Mike Spivey discusses Harvard Law School's recent announcement that all classes will be held fully remotely for Fall 2020 — what does it mean for other law schools, for international students, the ABA, and current applicants? Will this cause more waitlist movement? What about deferrals? Plus, a bit of a look into what the 2020-2021 cycle might bring.

Listen below, or via SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

August 9, 2020
How to Tell If You're Overdoing It in Law School Admissions

In this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group founder Mike Spivey discusses one of the most common mistakes in law school admissions that we see from applicants who have underperformed their numbers — overdoing it in the admissions process — then details the most common types of applicants this happens to: the "over-explainer," the "over-spammer," the "over-[publicly] talker," the "permutator," and the "boundary pusher."

You can find the blog post Mike mentions in the podcast, "Spooky Halloween Blog: Real Stories of Things That Creep Out Admissions Offices" (examples of the most extreme "boundary pushers"), here.

You can also listen to this podcast on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

And for our free tool for comparing law schools/medians/data, check out My Rank.

June 11, 2020
Recession Job Search Tips You Won’t Hear from Career Services

Mike Spivey served as a law school dean of career services during the Great Recession, and in this podcast he shares actionable advice for legal networking that you won't hear from your CSO.

Listen below via YouTube, or on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.