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June 1, 2016
Urbach-Wiethe Disease [and the LSAT]

A MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN known as SM blithely reaches for poisonous snakes, giggles in haunted houses and once, upon escaping the clutches of a knife-wielding man, didn’t run but calmly walked away. A rare kind of brain damage precludes her from experiencing fear of any sort. (Source: Wired [http://www.wired.com/2010/12/fear-brain-amygdala/].) Urbach-Wiethe disease is the name for the rare disorder, so rare that there have only been about 400 reported cases in history. I learned about this disease t

May 4, 2016
Want to Nth Degree your LSAT studying? Do this...

On Memorial Day this year, both Karen Buttenbaum and I will run a 10k race -- The BolderBoulder. It's a wonderful event with about 55,000 people, mostly in costumes eating bacon, drinking beer, and launching themselves down slip and slides as they run. But that isn't for me because I am absurdly competitive. So I will be running it to beat my time last year, and hopefully some people much more fit and runner-y than me. Fortunately, I have an advantage. I live 45 seconds from the start of the B

April 27, 2016
Applicant Questions Answered: “Is there an increasing premium on work experience in admissions?”

The full questions reads Is there an increasing premium on work experience in admissions? It seems seems like people going straight in from college have had rough admissions cycles, even with great numbers Yes, for many schools, and not surprising at all. For starters, deans of law schools have increasingly been asking their admissions offices to look at employability and maturity in admission decision-making. And this is an "up" cycle -- the first in a good while. So there are some schools who

April 25, 2016
“WHY WON'T YOU JUST EMAIL BACK?!”

Because I have been there (we all have) and because I spend hours a week discussing this singular topic -- I'd like to breakdown what if means when you email an admissions office (or hiring partner for that matter) and they do not respond. Before I do, let's set the backdrop. If you were to email me and I were not to respond, you likely wouldn't notice or care. Or, you would assume I am on vacation (if only), or very busy (bingo!). What you wouldn't do is re-read your sent email 100 times, and

April 15, 2016
An hour of waitlist advice with 2 Admissions Deans (and one us)

The webinar panelist: Sarah Zearfoss, Dean of Admissions, Univeristy of Michigan School of Law Maria Rivera, Assistant Dean of Admissions, University of Texas School of Law Mike Spivey, The Spivey Consulting Group Moderator Don Macaulay, Esq., President of BARBRI Law Preview Here is the link: https://lawpreview.barbri.com/webinar-waitlist-placement/

April 11, 2016
TURN A WAITLIST PLACEMENT INTO A TOP-CHOICE LAW SCHOOL ACCEPTANCE - Free Live Webinar

This webinar will be hosted by BARBRI and attended by: * Sarah Zearfoss, Dean of Admissions, University of Michigan School of Law * Maria Rivera, Assistant Dean of Admissions, University of Texas School of Law * Mike Spivey, The Spivey Consulting Group Join us by signing up, here. It's FREE! https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=reg20.jsp&referrer=&eventid=1162511&sessionid=1&key=AF23D009FACE49E91EAAE1CEC3568E3A®Tag=&sourcepage=register [

April 4, 2016
USNWR Law School Rankings & How to Choose a Law School Podcast

Just click on the link and let it roll http://culawschool.org/media/moss/moss-4-1-16.mp3

April 3, 2016
Underwhelmed with your results at elite schools? Read Below

Here is what is (barring C&F and sloppy application factors) happening.

March 15, 2016
Guest Blog from a Wait List Success Story

Were you waitlisted at one of your top choice law schools? Was it one of your reach schools? If so, congratulations! This is wonderful news. Most borderline candidates view being waitlisted as neutral or even bad news—which is absolutely the wrong way to think about it! If you’re patient and continue to follow up with the school, you could reap enormous rewards just a few months later. I learned this from my experience applying to law schools years ago as a low GPA high LSAT splitter. In this po

Podcasts

October 17, 2023
Mike Spivey's Top 5 All-Time Admissions Advice

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike gives his top 5 pieces of advice from his 20+ years working in law school admissions.

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

December 6, 2023
Handling Expectations & the LSAT with ‘Loophole’ Author Ellen Cassidy

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike interviews Ellen Cassidy, author of the acclaimed Loophole in LSAT Logical Reasoning and founder of Elemental Prep, on LSAT strategies, handling expectations (both from others and self-imposed), trends in law school applicants/LSAT-takers over time, and more. Ellen, as an LSAT expert and former applicant who was admitted to Harvard Law but turned them down thrice, has a great many nuggets of wisdom to share about confidence, bad advice, mentorship, destiny, and imaginary ceilings. Listen below.

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

November 11, 2023
The Slowest Cycle Ever

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike discusses the reasons that this law school admissions cycle will be the slowest one ever (or at least within our admissions careers)—and, perhaps more importantly, what you should do about it if you're a current applicant.

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

December 15, 2023
Dopamine & Success with Dr. Daniel Lieberman

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike interviews Dr. Daniel Z. Lieberman, MD, a psychiatrist and best-selling author of The Molecule of More. Mike and Dr. Lieberman discuss tenacity, goal-setting, and both achieving and finding contentment in success—all as they relate to not just law school admissions (Dr. Lieberman gives some excellent personal statement advice), but a variety of topics, from "doomscrolling" to extinction-level asteroids to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Dr. Lieberman's new book along with his coauthor Michael Long, Taming the Molecule of More, comes out in 2024.

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

December 11, 2023
An Insider Look at Admissions with UVA Law Dean Natalie Blazer (Reddit Q&A + Artificial Intelligence in Admissions)

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike interviews UVA Law Admissions Dean Natalie Blazer on differences between this year and past years in admissions, special factors influencing this cycle, AI in admissions, and an insider look into UVA Law's application review process (including why some applicants hear back sooner than others).

For more law school admissions advice from Dean Blazer, check out the UVA Law podcast she hosts, Admissible.

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

January 2, 2024
How to Make Your Resolution Stick, with ‘Master of Change’ Author Brad Stulberg

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike interviews best-selling author Brad Stulberg (whose books include Master of Change, The Practice of Groundedness, Peak Performance, and The Passion Paradox) on how to make real and lasting change in your life. Brad and Mike discuss why we resist change, elective vs. forced change, identity, and how to actually make your New Year's Resolution stick.

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