*Unfortunately, we are unable to accept new clients at this time. Limited openings may become available in mid-December; please check back then.
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Registration for the June 2019 LSAT closed yesterday.
Introduction We were asked to write about choosing between a T14 school at sticker (full tuition) versus a T20 to T30 school with merit aid. The below constitutes our best stab at that, but please keep in mind that, as always, these are arbitrary cutoff points based on one flawed rankings system and not designed for you as an individual. Point being that a school ranked 18 may be much more valuable to you for any number of reasons that a school ranked 13, etc. If you want to read or watch more
This is an applicant question, and a timely one due to the recent USNWR rankings release and upcoming seat deposit deadlines. The applicant asking the question, I believe, uses “desperate” to mean, will a school that just dropped in the rankings suffer applicant pool consequences and thus need to go deeper into their own pool to admit? I will get to that a bit later in this post (and there is available data that anyone could look up by looking at schools that have dropped in the rankings in past
Thoughts on the "Varsity Blues" scandal.
This data and analysis comes from Reddit user u/HYSLawHopeful [https://www.reddit.com/r/lawschooladmissions/comments/atn0g3/how_many_people_actually_go_to_the_t14_random/] , who graciously gave us permission to repost his great data on our blog. HYSLawHopeful sought out to answer the question of what percentage of law school applicants actually ended up at a T14 law school for the Class of 2021 (2017-2018 admissions cycle). Last year, there were 56,900 total CAS registrants. Note: * EA = En
It's that time of year again — law schools are beginning to place applicants on the dreaded waitlist. Luckily, we have two helpful resources if you've been waitlisted this cycle.
An update from approximately 50% of the way through the cycle.
You've probably heard some of the many horror stories of colleges and universities rescinding (note: not "resending" – which would mean to barrage someone with the same admission over and over again). In fact, I can vividly remember my dad telling me after I got into my dream school for my undergraduate degree that if I did poorly my last semester of high school the college would pull my offer. These cases have become more common, especially with cases of social media; here is one example that
Dr. Anna Lembke is a Stanford University psychiatrist, author of the New York Times best-seller Dopamine Nation, and a featured expert on the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma. In this episode, Dr. Lembke discusses the effects of dopamine on our motivation and overall happiness, talks about the degree to which society today sets us up for depression and anxiety and lack of motivation, and offers a concrete (though difficult) remedy.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In 2001, Justin Ishbia was the last person Vanderbilt Law admitted off of their waitlist. He had been practice testing in the 170s and aiming for a top three law school, but when he ended up with a mid-150s LSAT score instead, he had to adjust his expectations. After visiting, Vanderbilt became his top choice, and he ended up being admitted off the waitlist in August (with his furniture already on a truck on the way to the law school he'd been planning to attend!). He worked extremely hard in law school, graduated near the top of his class, and went on to a hugely successful career in law and investing. Twenty years later, Justin Isbhia just gifted $10 million to the law school that took a chance on him. In this episode, we break down how Justin earned himself that last-minute waitlist admit, how he excelled in law school, why a disappointing LSAT score doesn't mean you have to give up your dreams, and much more.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this podcast, Mike discusses the factors to consider when you receive an invitation to interview for a law school you've applied to.
You can listen and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode, Mike has a conversation with Spivey Consulting's Business Intelligence Director Justin Kane (current 2L and data genius) about where this current admissions cycle (2021-2022) stands so far in terms of applicant volume, what that means, what we predict for the rest of the cycle, and some actionable admissions advice based on what we know so far. They also touch on why our numbers are slightly different from LSAC's (and why we believe ours capture a more accurate picture for current applicants), as well as how to interpret differences between applicant numbers and application numbers, plus a few other wonky topics throughout. We hope it's helpful!
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode, Mike predicts whether law schools will be able to maintain their high medians from last year, and how we expect that to play out across the course of the cycle. He also discusses how this will impact splitters and reverse splitters.
You can find the spreadsheet Mike mentions in this podcast with schools' medians from the 2020-2021 cycle here.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike has a conversation with our consultant Karen Buttenbaum (former Director of Admissions at Harvard Law School) about how to prepare for law school admissions interviews, best practices, common pitfalls, and other advice for the interviewing process.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
We have space for one client for our new lower-cost application coaching pilot program. Under this program, you would work one-on-one with our Application & Editing Coach Lauren Brown on crafting the written components of your application. If you feel comfortable with your overall strategy and knowledge of the application process, but want help with your personal statement and other essays from start to finish at a lower price point, this may be the program for you! If you’re interested in learning more, please email us at info@spiveyconsulting.com with the subject line “Application Coaching.”
