Admissions

columnscolumns

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

October 14, 2019
Calming Your LSAT Anxiety

Something we encounter all too often is applicants who put so much pressure on themselves when they are taking the LSAT that it ends up being counterproductive, barring them from performing near the highest level of which they are capable. If we can help calm even one test-taker's nerves with this podcast, it will be worth it.

Something we encounter all too often is applicants who put so much pressure on themselves when they are taking the LSAT that it ends up being counterproductive, barring them from performing near the highest level of which they are capable. If we can help calm even one test-taker's nerves with this podcast, it will be worth it.

Note: You can also listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts or SoundCloud. The blog post Mike mentions in the podcast is here.

Also check out a related blog post on "The Over-Estimated Impact of Median LSAT Change on USNWR Rankings." And our rankings/data tool for comparing law schools, My Rank.

April 28, 2020
Universities, Colleges, and Law Schools Plan to Be Open On Campus This Fall

In this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group founder and higher education expert Mike Spivey discusses the plans universities are making to resume on-campus operations this fall, as well as challenges to those plans from the medical community.

You can listen to the podcast via the YouTube video below, or via SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

November 25, 2019
The Waiting is Long and Full of Terrors

In this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group Founder and Partner Mike Spivey discusses the hardest part of the law school admissions process—the waiting—and how it can cause some applicants to hurt their own chances of admission.

Here's the blog post mentioned in the podcast: Spooky Halloween Blog: Real Stories of Things That Creep Out Admissions Offices.

Mike's other blog which is mentioned in this podcast: Spivey Blog.

Find our podcasts on YouTube, SoundCloud, and Apple Podcasts. And check out our law school data/rankings tool My Rank.

‍

October 9, 2019
Traits of Law School Applicants Who Outperform Their Numbers

In this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group Founder and Partner Mike Spivey discusses commonalities between applicants who punch above their numbers. This podcast is also available on SoundCloud  and Apple Podcasts.

Also be sure to check out My Rank, our tool for comparing and ranking law schools with according to your own priorities.

November 12, 2019
Mike Spivey on the Darker Side of Self-Doxing in Law School Admissions

In this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group Founder and Partner Mike Spivey discusses what happens when a law school applicant posts something that deeply offends or insults law school admissions officers who may know who they are in real life.  

The Spivey Blog is mentioned in this podcast.  

As always, please reach out to us at info@spiveyconsulting.com for more information about working with us.  

Also check out our custom law school rankings/comparison data website, My Rank.

January 15, 2020
How to Approach and What to Take Away from Admitted Student Days/Weekends

In this podcast, Spivey Consulting Founding Partner Mike Spivey talks about why law schools have admitted student programs, what you can expect from them, what you can expect from others at the event, and how to make the most of the visit. He also answers r/LSA questions and added a separate podcast here on one of the elements that the toll and pressure of admissions can have on people and how to alleviate that.