Admissions

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Blog Posts

July 22, 2015
2015/'16 Application Release Date for Top 50 Law Schools

When will the top 50 law schools release their applications this fall?

July 17, 2015
The Single Biggest Administrative Mistake Law Schools Are Making

Much has been said about the training of law students.

June 23, 2015
Q&A with Michigan Law Admissions Dean Sarah Zearfoss (ongoing series updated June 24)

Is law school admissions the most numbers-oriented of the professional graduate schools?

June 11, 2015
2015 Forum/Fair Recruitment Schedule and Advice

Dates & advice for law school forums and fairs.

June 11, 2015
How Law School Admissions Myths Get Started

From September through late November, most admissions officers are on the road. They crisscross the nation visiting colleges and universities (which is a pretty wonderful way to get paid). The nearly only downside is that this travel gets repetitious — not just in staying in hotel beds every night, but in hearing the same thing at every school. But it is because I lived through this repetition that I can dispel just about every bad piece of admissions advice you have heard from a fellow student.

May 14, 2015
Karen Buttenbaum Interviewed by USNWR on the “gap year”

For the record we (and many law admissions officers we know) don’t necessarily agree with the terminology “gap” — which originated to describe the space between a year off before going to undergraduate. But semantics be damned, here [http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2015/05/14/smart-ways-to-make-the-most-of-gap-years-before-law-school] is the article. - Getting ready t

March 21, 2015
Admissions Question of The Day (Comes to us from an AdComm)

Dear Spivey: Do you think there are many schools that admit (a) nobody with both a below-their-median LSAT and a below-their-median UGPA, or (b) no both-below folks other than diverse students?

March 8, 2015
Predicting the 2015/2016 Law School Admissions Cycle

What will the 2015-2016 law school admissions cycle look like?

February 21, 2015
How do students select which law school to ultimately attend?

We measured 28 dimensions and received over 3,000 votes. The following is a rank order of what matters most in selecting which law school one ultimately attends:

Podcasts

September 23, 2021
Interview with Penn Law Admissions Dean Renee Post

In this episode, Spivey Consulting's Derek Meeker — a former Penn Law Associate Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid — interviews Renee Post, Penn Law's current and long-standing Associate Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid. Derek and Dean Post walk through the components of the law school application, including the personal statement, resume, addenda, and Penn's "Core Strengths, Goals, and Values" essay, and they also discuss topics including joint degrees, the merits of going to law school straight from undergrad vs. getting full-time work experience, handling the stress of the admissions process, their craziest admissions stories, their favorite things about Philadelphia, and what gives some law school applicants that "it" factor.

You can listen and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.

September 30, 2021
The Challenge of Self-Doubt in Higher Education, with Terry Real

In this episode, world-renowned author, speaker, teacher, and therapist Terry Real — who has been featured on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and many more — discusses the emotional health hazards of grad school and law school and how to stay human during these stressful and highly evaluative periods of life. Law school can feel a lot like high school at times, and this is so often expressed by both students and faculty in terms of grandiosity — "I am superior to others because." Real speaks on how the field of psychology has focused so much on bringing people up that it has ignored the equal need to help bring people down from that superior position based on covert insecurity. In Real's words, "We are all born equal, no better or worse to the person to our left or right." For anyone who has had self-doubt in the law school admissions process, in law school, or in practicing law, this podcast offers an amazingly insightful message with advice toward reclaiming self-esteem from one of the world's very best.

Terry's first book, I Don't Want to Talk About It — in which he writes about treating and destigmatizing depression in a patriarchal society — has been a best-seller for over 20 years since it was first published in 1997. He has written two other books and has a new book coming out in March of next year, Us: How Moving Relationships Beyond You and Me Creates More Love, Passion, and Understanding.

For more from Terry, you can receive free access to his very popular interview with Carol Gillian, an internationally recognized ethicist and psychologist,  by texting OPT IN to (415) 813-1025.

You can listen and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.

October 11, 2021
Diversity & Adversity in Law School Admissions, with Sydney Montgomery

In this episode, Mike has a conversation with our consultant Derek Meeker (former Dean of Admissions at Penn Law) and Sydney Montgomery (founder of S. Montgomery Admissions Consulting) about the role of diversity and adversity in law school admissions.

Derek's YouTube video on how to choose a personal statement topic was mentioned in this podcast; you can watch that video here.

You can listen to Sydney's podcast, "Break Into Law School," here.

You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.

October 26, 2021
Dr. Anna Lembke, Author of Dopamine Nation & Featured on The Social Dilemma

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.

October 19, 2021
Justin Ishbia: Last WL Admit to Successful Major Donor

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.

October 5, 2021
Should You Do a Law School Admissions Interview?

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.