Admissions

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Blog Posts

November 19, 2020
A Real Life Admissions Story

An instructive story from Mike Spivey.

October 24, 2020
Video: Character & Fitness Discussion

In this video, Spivey Consulting law school admissions consultants discuss the basics of the character and fitness section of the law school application, and how to assess the seriousness of your situation if you have something to report in that section.

October 23, 2020
Example of a Personal Statement that Covered Diversity/Adversity Themes

We wanted to post the below example of a case when a separate diversity statement was not necessary because the personal statement already covered those elements.

August 21, 2020
Inside Scoop on the New LSAC Digital Forums

What to expect and important information.

August 20, 2020
Top 50 Law School Application Opening Dates for the 2020-2021 Cycle

Please note, these are the dates that the applications become available on LSAC for applicants to peruse and begin to prepare school-specific essays, not when they can be submitted (though for many schools this is the same date). Organized by School: * Yale: September 1 * Stanford: September 15 * Harvard: September 15 * University of Chicago: September 1 * Columbia: September 1 * NYU: September 1 * UPenn: September 1 * UVA: September 1 * UC Berkeley: September 1 * U Michigan: August 1

August 4, 2020
Guide to Completing LSAC Applications

So you’ve worked hard to prepare your materials, and it's time to submit! What's next?

July 7, 2020
Predicting the 2020/2021 Law School Admissions Cycle

The 2020-2021 admissions cycle is going to be the most challenging yet to predict, and most will understand a large part of that uncertainty.

June 22, 2020
LSAC Forums & Recruiting Events in the Time of COVID-19

Because of COVID-19, LSAC and law schools are creating virtual options for recruiting events.

May 7, 2020
Predicting the COVID-19 Summer Of Law School Waitlist Movement

Early in my admissions career, a former boss of mine would often use the following Niels Bohr quote when speaking of law school admissions: “prediction is difficult, especially when it involves the future.”

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.

June 18, 2020
Academics, Athletics, and COVID-19

Mike was asked by a rivals.com affiliate to speak about higher education as it relates to the upcoming fall athletic season. Listen to the interview below:

Spivey Consulting Group · VandySports Podcast Academics, athletics and COVID-19

November 26, 2020
What to Do When You Get Your First Waitlist

Chances are, if you're applying to a healthy range of target, safety, and reach schools, you're likely to get a waitlist or two (at least!). Especially if it happens relatively early in the cycle, or if it's your first decision, a waitlist can be difficult to interpret and hard to know how to respond. In this podcast, Mike Spivey talks about what to do when you get your first waitlist.

Our podcast is embedded below, but here are also links to podcasts/videos mentioned in this podcast:

And a bonus link: Blog — Every piece of Spivey Consulting Law School Waitlist Advice

You can listen to this podcast below, or via SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

Please note that our reservation list for next cycle (2021-2022) is now open.

September 28, 2020
Predicting this Cycle's Admissions Pace

In this podcast, Mike Spivey predicts what to expect as far as the timing of admissions decisions this year, then discusses the preliminary LSAC data that has applicants wondering whether this will be a far more competitive cycle than normal.

You can also listen to this podcast on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts, or read the transcript below.

October 7, 2020
Hold. On.

A 3-minute motivational podcast inspired by the William Feather quote, "Success is largely a matter of holding on after others have let go."

I think there is something extra and meaningful we can take from Feather's words, particularly as it relates to law school applicants. Because even in the holding on, in the inevitable ups and downs of the law school admissions cycle, job search, career challenges in a world that can seem unforgiving and cruel at times, there is always growth and very often triumph at the end of any long and worthy cause.