Data

columnscolumns

Blog Posts

February 17, 2015
2014-2015 Application and Applicant Data

The following is a breakdown of ABA 2015 applicants and applications based on data received through 2/06/15 and the percent change from last year. RegionApplicantsApplications#Pct Chg#Pct Chg[Far West]()4,804-5.1%37,277-8.2% [Great Lakes]()3,815-5.8%30,289-9.7%[Midsouth]()3,616-5.8%39,786-9.0%[Midwest]() 1,005-4.7%6,207-5.4%[Mountain West]()1,689-0.6%6,396-1.7%[New England]()1,351 -9.1%18,221-7.4%[Northeast]()4,905-4.2%37,115-8.4%[Northwest]()852-6.1%3,964 -13.3%[South Central]()2,939-4.0%12,32

January 27, 2015
LSAT Changes in the Past 5 Years at the Top 75 Law Schools

How have law schools' LSAT medians shifted between 2010 and 2014?

January 7, 2015
Law School Admissions Data: The First of 2015!

The following is a breakdown of ABA 2015 applicants and applications by region (based on data received through 1/02/15) and the percent change from last year: RegionApplicantsApplications#Pct Chg#Pct Chg[Far West]()2,310-12.1%17,815-11.8% [Great Lakes]()2,393-8.2%18,016-11.9%[Midsouth]()2,221-6.6%23,704-11.4% [Midwest]()602-4.7%3,552-5.9%[Mountain West]()863-3.1%3,018-5.8%[New England]() 806-12.4%10,380-11.8%[Northeast]()2,963-10.4%21,972-10.6%[Northwest]()485-14.0% 2,109-20.2%[South Central]()

December 5, 2014
First Look at the 2014-2015 Application Cycle!

A breakdown of ABA 2015 applicants and applications by region and the percent change from last year.

December 5, 2014
Full 2014-2015 Applicant and Application Projections

Based on the 12/5 data release, which at this time last year accounted for 23% of the full pool, some industrious law school applicants have projected year-end totals and shared them with us.

October 30, 2014
Applicant Data and Law School Outcomes

This is, I believe, the first multivariate analysis of applicant data with law school outcomes. In other words, things law school admissions committees look at versus how well someone does in law school. I don’t believe the full paper is published yet, and disclaimer they are still running regressions (probably based on editor questions and feedback from whatever journal it will be published in). But we get the abstract with permission and I love this.

September 30, 2014
Final 2013/'14 Data. Coming soon, the first 2014/'15 Data

This is with 100% reporting, ABA Fall 2014 Applicant and Application Counts The following is a breakdown of ABA 2014 applicants and applications by region and the percent change from last year: RegionApplicantsApplications#Pct Chg#Pct Chg[Far West ]()7,177-7.0%54,433-5.5% [Great Lakes ]()6,792-10.5%50,102-13.3%[Midsouth ]()6,493-8.0%65,648-9.7% [Midwest ]()1,831-8.5%11,1231.6%[Mountain West ]()2,736-10.0%10,832-8.0%[New England ]()2,504-8.2%28,722-8.1%[Northeast ]()8,687-3.2%62,076-4.1%[Northwe

July 29, 2014
Decreases in Applications for all Law Schools, 2008-2013

A list of law schools ranked by their declines in applicants between 2008 and 2013.

Podcasts

May 26, 2022
Mishka Shubaly, Best-Selling Author, on Creative Writing

In this episode, Mike interviews best-selling author and storyteller Mishka Shubaly about personal creative writing. Mishka holds an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University and teaches writing at the Yale Writer's Conference. You can find his new book, The Long Run & Other True Stories, here.

If you're looking for writing advice specifically pertaining to law school applications and personal statements, listen to our podcast on The Genre of Application Essay Writing here.

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

Content Warning: This interview includes content related to suicide and the guest's experience with a school shooting.

May 26, 2022
The Genre of Application Essay Writing

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike speaks with long-time Spivey consultant and former Penn Law Admissions Dean Derek Meeker about tackling the genre of law school applications.

Crafting a well-written essay is just one part of the equation — necessary but not sufficient for a strong application — and in this interview, Derek takes lessons from his graduate-level writing coursework, combined with his extensive experience in admissions decision-making, to offer valuable insights into how you can connect the dots in your law school application within the full context of your experiences, background, and personality.

Mike and Derek mention a few different examples and resources in this episode, including our blog post of example personal statements, Derek's video on choosing a personal statement topic, our interview with Michigan Law's Dean of Admissions Sarah Zearfoss, an example of a Georgetown video from one of our former clients, and an essay from Mike titled Failure is a Liar. Also check out our recent podcast with Mishka Shubaly.

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

August 12, 2022
Law School Admissions AMA with Mike Spivey & Dave Killoran (Part 1)

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike and Dave answer questions from the Law School Admissions Reddit. This will be a series of two episodes, with Part 2 coming out next week! Part 1 covers predictions for the upcoming 2022-2023 law school admissions cycle, discussion about the LSAT and GPAs, application timing, and more. Part 2 will cover more of the "soft factors" of a law school application, including personal statements.

Relevant links from this episode:

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

September 20, 2022
UVA Law Admissions Dean Natalie Blazer Dives Deep into Law School Admissions

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike interviews Natalie Blazer, who currently serves as the Assistant Dean for Admissions and Chief Admissions Officer at the University of Virginia School of Law. Dean Blazer talks about her path to law school and admissions, the differences and similarities between the admissions operations at the various law schools where she has worked (including Columbia and Georgetown), her thoughts and insights into the application process at UVA (including the new application question they added this year, on resilience), and both her biggest frustrations and her favorite parts of working as a Dean of Admissions.

Dean Blazer's new podcast, Admissible, launched earlier this month—you can listen here!

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

September 9, 2022
The One Biggest Piece of Advice for New Lawyers from Bill Eddy, JD/Therapist

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike interviews Bill Eddy, an award-winning mediator, attorney, author, and therapist who developed "high conflict personality theory" and is an expert in dealing with high conflict people in the practice of law. Bill is the Co-Founder and CIO of the High Conflict Institute and faculty at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law.

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

September 24, 2022
What It's Like Applying to Law School, Part 1

In this first episode of an upcoming multi-part series of Status Check with Spivey, Anna Hicks-Jaco (Spivey Consulting's COO) speaks with an applicant from the r/lawschooladmissions Reddit, "Lucy," as she prepares to submit her applications. We will be interviewing Lucy at a number of points throughout her cycle to check in about how things have been going, what she's been up to in terms of her application process, and how she's feeling about it all.

This episode covers Lucy's applications as she gets ready to hit the submit button, including the LSAT (she scored in the upper 170s and shares her tips!), personal statements (she worked on hers with the help of one of Spivey's admissions consultants, independently of this podcast), letters of recommendation (she's still waiting on one), resumes (including the one page vs. two page debate), optional essays, and more.

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