Data

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Blog Posts

May 21, 2018
Law School Admissions Help

2017-2018 cycle data + a capacity update.

May 1, 2018
2017/2018 Cycle Data as of 5/1/18

Key figures: applicants are up 8.4% and applications are up 9.0% as compared to this time last year. See below for more detailed data.

March 28, 2018
New 2017-2018 Cycle Data as of 3/27/2018

As of 3/27/2018, there are 341,337 applications submitted by 50,908 applicants for the 2017–2018 cycle. Applicants are up 8.6% and applications are up 9.0% as compared to 2016-2017 cycle data from 3/28/2017. Highest LSAT# Applicants% Change YTD< 1402,958-1.7%140-1444,304-1.5%145-1497,492 3.4%150-1549,6385.3%155-1599,3796.0%160-1647,77615.3%165-1694,92728.0%170-174 2,31215.7%175-18067368.7%Highest LSAT# Applicants% Change YTD< 1402,958-1.7%140 674-5.2%1417747.9%142900-3.7%143844-2.9%1441,112-2.4

March 7, 2018
New 2017-2018 Cycle Data as of 3/6/18

As of 3/6/18, there are 306,549 applications submitted by 46,124 applicants for the 2017–2018 cycle. Applicants are up 7.4% and applications are up 7.0% as compared to 2016-2017 cycle data from 3/7/17.

January 25, 2018
Applicant & Application numbers throughout the cycle comparison: 2015-2018

Data on law school applicant and application volume between 2015 and 2018.

January 22, 2018
2017/2018 Cycle Data as of Jan. 12, 2018

Key figures: applicants are up 10.8% and applications are up 12.3% as compared to this time last year. See below for more detailed data.

January 8, 2018
2017/2018 Cycle Data as of 12/29/17

Applicants to ABA approved law schools are up 14.4% year-to-date, with a total of 22,200 applicants vs. last year's 19,400 by 12/29/17. Applications are up 17.1% year-to-date, with a total of 137,000 applications vs. last year's 117,000. The rest of the data we have is below: % Change in applications# SchoolsIncrease of 100% or more1Increase of 50% to 99% 9Increase of 40% to 49%9Increase of 30% to 39%17Increase of 20% to 29%39Increase of 10% to 19%58Increase of 1% to 9%36No change1Decrease of

January 2, 2018
Just What Can We Learn From LawSchoolNumbers.com?

This is a great guest blog post from Warren Buff, who took it upon himself to crunch the numbers and look at the data behind Law School Numbers.

December 7, 2017
How Competitive?

A look at this law school admissions cycle's competitiveness.

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.

January 30, 2024
The Growing Epidemic of Addiction in High Achievers, with Dr. Peter Grinspoon

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike interviews Dr. Peter Grinspoon—physician, Harvard Medical School instructor, and author of Free Refills: A Doctor Confronts His Addiction, in which he writes about his struggles with and recovery from opiate addiction. Mike and Dr. Grinspoon discuss mental health and wellness for high performers, why lawyers have such high rates of addiction and depression, antidotes for the factors that lead to these high rates, the story of Dr. Grinspoon's 2019 debate on medical marijuana at Yale Law School, and more.

Listeners of this podcast are welcome to contact Dr. Grinspoon via his website, www.petergrinspoon.com—he loves talking to students, is able to discuss sensitive and confidential questions, and responds to all communications personally.

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

January 10, 2024
8 Ways to MESS UP the Second Half of Your Law School Admissions Cycle

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Anna Hicks-Jaco, Spivey Consulting's new President, discusses common mistakes that applicants make in the second part of their admissions cycle—after they've submitted their applications.

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

February 12, 2024
Law School Admissions Now vs. 10 Years Ago

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Anna has a conversation with Joe Pollak—one of Spivey's consultants and a former admissions officer at the University of Michigan Law School—about differences and similarities in law school admissions today vs. ten years ago. Anna brings the perspective of someone who was applying to law school a decade ago, while Joe brings his perspective as a Michigan Law admissions officer at the time. They talk about changes in the competitiveness of admissions, the LSAT, the availability of standardized data and good information, what applicants are doing differently, what admissions offices are doing differently, and more.

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

January 22, 2024
Law School Admissions Reddit AMA with Anna Hicks-Jaco

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, current applicant and Redditor Extension_Ad_1432, who we call "Julia," interviews Spivey Consulting's new President, Anna Hicks-Jaco—unscripted and unprepared, "Ask Me Anything"-style—on anything and everything that was on her mind. They discuss factors impacting this cycle, advice for applicants who applied early but still haven't heard back, weighing law school choices between a higher scholarship or a higher ranked school, scholarship reconsideration, public interest career goals, and more. Huge thank you to "Julia" for some insightful questions and a great conversation!

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

April 9, 2024
The New 2024 Law School Rankings Explained

In this brief episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike discusses the changes U.S. News made to their methodology this year.

You can view the full list of new law school rankings (with +/-) here. You can listen to Mike's last podcast, "Why Rankings Matter to People (& Why They Should Not)," here.

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

Please note: When Mike discusses U.S. News rounding up or down at .5 for different "schools," we mean "metrics" and not schools.