Data

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Blog Posts

December 11, 2013
How down are applications? Consider this data...

As of 12/06/13 only 25 schools show an increase in applications, while 170 show a decline (5 show no change) Here is the breakdown: Increase of 100% or more: - Increase of 50% to 99%: 3 Increase of 40% to 49%: 1 Increase of 30% to 39%: 3 Increase of 20% to 29%: 2 Increase of 10% to 19%: 3 Increase of 1% to 9%: 13 No change: 5 Decrease of 1% to 9%: 23 Decrease of 10% to 19%: 52 Decrease of 20% to 29%: 48 Decrease of 30% or greater: 47

November 20, 2013
October LSAT Data by Region

A small glimmer of Oct LSAT Data is out *10/13 change from 10/12 LSAT by region. *** Far West 4,270 -12.8% Great Lakes 3,780 -16.0% Midsouth 4,100 -13.2% Midwest 1,090 -7.6% Mountain West 1,400 -13.1% New England 1,680 -10.9% Northeast 5,000 -9.4% Northwest 700 -4.9% South Central 2,970 -9.5% Southeast 4,050 -12.7% U.S. Regional Total 29,030 -11.9% Canada 3,280 -7.2% **

August 28, 2013
July 18, 2013
Percent change by LSAT bandwidth 2009/2010 to 2012/13*

Percent change (all decreases) by LSAT bandwidth from the 2009/2010 law school admissions cycle to 2012/13 law school admissions cycle. This data reflects applicant totals, not total volume (i.e. people who take LSAT but never apply) Highest LSATNumber of ApplicantsPct Chg YTD< 140-20%140–144-24%145–149-30% 150–154-36%155–159-35%160–164-44%165–169-35%170–174-44%175–180-47%The 2012/13 Data is as of 6/28/2013 and a final report has not been released by LSAC.** The final report should not reflec

July 16, 2013
Law School 2012/13 Applicant Data

ABA 2013 applicants and applications through 06/28/13 with the percent change from last year (last year at this time data was 98% complete: Currently there is one school with an application volume increase of 40% or more and 38 schools show a volume decrease of 30% or more. Twelve schools show an increase in applications, while 188 show a decline: Increase of 100% or more: 1 Increase of 50% to 99%: - Increase of 40% to 49%: - Increase of 30% to 39%: - Increase of 20% to 29%: - Increase of 10%

May 31, 2013
LSAC Data as of 5/31

Currently there is one school with an application volume increase of 40% or more, while 41 schools show a volume decrease of 30% or more. Twelve schools show an increase in applications, while 187 show a decline and 0 shows no change. Highest LSATPct Chg YTD< 140-7.5%140–144-12.7%145–149-11.8%150–154-13.2%155–159 -17.4%160–164-15.8%165–169-16.1%170–174-25.2%175–180-21.8%Get future releases first @https://twitter.com/SpiveyConsult

Podcasts

May 29, 2021
How Might Over-Enrollment Impact Waitlist Movement?

A very brief podcast on law schools that are over-committed on their seat deposits, and Mike's thoughts on how waitlist movement might go this summer as a result.

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

June 18, 2021
How to Excel Academically in Law School with Harvard 3L Amanda Bello

In this podcast, Mike and Spivey Consulting COO Anna Hicks have a discussion with a current law student, Amanda Bello, who ended her 1L year at Cornell Law in the top 10% of her class, transferred to Harvard Law, earned exceptionally strong grades at Harvard, and is now going into her second summer with the big law firm Gibson Dunn (check out our interview with Gibson Dunn partner Jeff Chapman here).

Also referenced in this podcast are three interviews we have done with renowned psychologists and wellness advocates Dr. Guy Winch (on handling rejection and waiting), Dr. Gabor Maté (on self-esteem, doubt, anxiety and addiction), and Dr. Kristin Neff (on self-compassion and self-esteem and motivation for test-taking).

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