Advice

columnscolumns

Blog Posts

May 26, 2017
33 Things That Annoy Admissions Officers and Hiring Partners

We've reached out to a number of friends at law schools and firms and companies to see what things applicants did that made them grouchy.

May 20, 2017
About That New LSAT Retake Policy…

If you haven't heard, the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) recently announced a change in their LSAT retake policy.

April 11, 2017
The Multiple Deposit Dance

Over the past few years more and more schools have tried a variety of methods to control the arms-race of scholarship negotiation; one way is asking for people to withdraw from all schools to which they have been admitted and to verify that they have done so when depositing. Below is a link to the LSAC Statement of Good Admissions Practices – a good reference this time of year. Note the section on Commitments: http://www.lsac.org/docs/default-source/publications-%28lsac-resources%29/ statemen

March 21, 2017
5 Scholarship Negotiation Necessities

As deposit deadlines are nearing, scholarship negotiation season is in full swing.

March 20, 2017
The Top Two Traits of Leadership

A parable of leadership.

February 9, 2017
Spivey Consulting in USNWR on a successful Harvard Law resume

Hi Mr. Spivey, I wanted to thank your for your review of my resume in yesterday’s U.S. News & World Report article on law school resumes [http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2017-02-02/a-law-school-resume-that-made-the-cut] . Surely, my success is due in-part to your willingness to support prospective applicants via your guidance on the Top Law Schools forums. I do not believe I would have applied to Harvard without the encouragement I felt from readin

December 23, 2016
Show up every day

Twelve years ago, a student at Harvard invited 5 people over to his dorm room to discuss a business opportunity. Only 2 of the 5 people showed up. Today those two people are billionaires: Dustin Moskovitz ($9.9 billion) and Eduardo Saverin ($5.8 billion). And the guy they met that night? None other than Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, whose current net worth is $35.7 billion. Now, during the holidays, it would be easier than ever to jump off the grid. But if you have applications you haven

September 24, 2016
Choosing a Personal Statement Topic

“But I don’t have a WOW factor.”

July 15, 2016
Danielle Early's Top 5 Blog Posts

I’m going to share a secret with you all… while I was the working in the Harvard Law School Admissions Office, I read this blog. I thought it was great – Mike was providing good advice to applicants, and it often reminded me to think more about what the application process is like for you as applicants. When Mike asked me what my favorite blog posts were, I found it hard to narrow down because there are many. Today, I am sharing with you the top 5 posts that resonated most with me. I encourage

Podcasts

August 6, 2021
Interview with Four-Time Olympian & Student Loan Expert Lauryn Williams

In this episode of the Status Check with Spivey, Mike has the opportunity to have a conversation with Lauryn Williams, four-time Olympic athlete and financial advisor with a specialty in student loans. In addition to discussing Lauryn's life and experiences as an Olympian, they also talk about the differences between taking out student loans for undergrad vs. for law school, income-driven repayment plans, public service loan forgiveness (PSLF), how to save for retirement while paying off your student loans (and the perhaps surprising tax benefits of doing so), and more.

As an Olympic sprinter and later bobsledder, Lauryn earned the accolade of being the only American woman to have won medals in both the summer and the winter Olympics. Today, she is a financial advisor, student loan expert, author, and podcaster specializing in improving financial literacy in young people and athletes. Lauryn's book, The Oval Office, is out now, and also be sure to check out the Student Loan Planner podcast and the podcast Lauryn hosts, Worth Listening.

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

Mike also references the legal field's bimodal starting salary distribution in this podcast. See below (via NALP):

July 17, 2021
Recapping the 2020-2021 Law School Admissions Cycle & Predicting the Upcoming Cycle

In this podcast, Mike Spivey is joined by PowerScore founder and CEO Dave Killoran and Spivey Consulting Business Intelligence Director Justin Kane — a wonky law school admissions/LSAT crew if there has ever been one! — to discuss takeaways from this previous 2020-2021 admissions cycle and to make predictions for the upcoming 2021-2022 cycle.

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

July 23, 2021
Law School Admissions Q&A with Mike Spivey

In this podcast, Spivey Consulting COO Anna Hicks asks Mike some admissions questions from Reddit, covering large-scale changes to law school admissions due to the pandemic, reapplication strategies, how law schools look at "KJDs," whether or not you should explain why you want to go to law school in your personal statement, how to write Why X statements when you can't visit a law school and don't know anyone who attended, and more.

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

We mentioned a number of other blogs, podcasts, and YouTube videos in this podcast — they are linked below:

August 5, 2021
Law School Admissions 101

In this podcast, Spivey Consulting COO Anna Hicks goes over the basics of law school admissions for those who are at the beginning of their application process and don't know much about how it works yet.

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

This episode is meant to provide context and a basis on which you can expand your research — here are some further resources you may want to check out next, many of which were mentioned in the podcast!

Basic Law School Information & Rankings

Personal Statements

Diversity Statements

Other Application Components

After You Submit Your Applications

Other Concepts Discussed in this Podcast

August 21, 2021
Interview with Author on Resilience & Former Biglaw Hiring Partner Clint Schumacher

In this podcast, Mike interviews Clint Schumacher — author, podcaster, and former biglaw hiring partner — on resilience in the legal profession, imposter syndrome in law school, what hiring partners look for in applicants, and more.

Clint spent the first part of his legal career at Locke Lord, where he went on to be a hiring partner, then transitioned to Dawson & Sodd, a boutique firm with a focus on eminent domain. In addition to his legal practice, Clint hosts a podcast, The Eminent Domain Podcast, and recently published a book about resilience and overcoming adversity, Second Wind.

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

August 18, 2021
The Coming Law School Admissions Cycle: Brief Thoughts

In this podcast, Mike provides a brief recap of the historic last cycle (2020–2021) as well as the short version of our best predictions for what's to come this cycle (2021–2022). If you'd like a longer and more in-depth discussion of these topics, please listen to our full podcast on these topics, "Recapping the 2020-2021 Law School Admissions Cycle & Predicting the Upcoming Cycle" (featuring Spivey Consulting's data wonk Justin Kane and PowerScore CEO Dave Killoran).

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