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We wanted to provide a bit of a wider view on current law school applicant data trends.
LSAC has recently stopped displaying percentage changes with their volume data, so we wanted to publish these figures for anyone who may find this information useful.
We're not sure where the time has gone, but it's already November 1st, and we're a couple months into our 2021-2022 application cycle.
Disclaimer: It's still early. Data is most volatile early and things can change. But I suspect, highly, this cycle won't look like last cycle in respect to number of high scorers 170+, and I also think it is likely applicants (maybe not applications though) will end up down from last year.
LSAC has posted our first look at 2021-2022 applicant volume. As of today, there are 12.6% more law school applicants so far this cycle than there were at this time last year. For comparison, at this time last year there were 32.8% more applicants than the cycle before that.
We have our first glimpse at 2021-2022 cycle volume. As of 9/23 there were about 6,000 law school applicants so far this year. That's about 15% more than last cycle's ~5,100, and 50% more than the 2019-2020 cycle's ~3,900.
If you're here looking for new law school medians, they're in this document!
Registration for the August 2021 LSAT closes today. Right now there are about 33,000 registrants, but we should note that we've been seeing an unusual number of dropouts and/or date switches lately, so that number will probably go down, and perhaps a great deal.
This isn't a full post-mortem on the 2020-2021 application cycle, because it's not over yet. But we're at the point when we can start to get a feeling for what happened this year.
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike talks to Spivey Consulting's COO Anna Hicks-Jaco about a question from Reddit—one that we hear many times every year. "How do I stop being so attached to my dream school?"
This episode mentions several other interviews, including our episode with Dr. Guy Winch and our episode with Dr. Judson Brewer.
"Life teaches you how to live it, if you live long enough." –Tony Bennett
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Spivey Consulting's Derek Meeker interviews a Harvard Law 2L (and former client) who transferred from the University of Idaho. They talk about his background and story, his non-traditional path to law school, his initial 1L application, his transfer application (and what made it shine), the expectations vs. reality of transferring law schools, and more.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, and Google Podcasts.
Note: Discussion of Max's transfer admissions process begins approximately at the 32-minute mark.
Derek Meeker is a nationally respected professional among law school admissions and career services deans. His more than 20 years of experience include serving as Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid for the University of Pennsylvania Law School, as Recruiting Manager for global law firm Paul Hastings, and as an admissions reader for the University of Chicago Law School.
As Dean of Admissions at Penn Law, Derek evaluated and made the final decision on every J.D. application—over 6,000 per year. During his tenure, Penn Law received a record number of applications, increased selectivity, and expanded need-based, public service, and merit scholarship programs. As a consultant, he has guided hundreds of law school applicants through 10 admission cycles and has advised law schools on their admissions and career services strategies. He also has counseled law students on the big law hiring process, interviewing skills, and etiquette. He has spoken at dozens of colleges across the country and served on committees and panels for various professional organizations, including as a research assistant and Chair of the New Admission Personnel and Faculty Members Workshop for the Law School Admission Council (LSAC).
A first-generation college student from rural Ohio and member of the LGBTQ community, Derek is most proud of his legacy of increasing racial, sexual orientation, and socio-economic diversity at Penn Law and in helping to launch diversity scholarships at Paul Hastings. He also has served as a career mentor and writing coach to first-generation college applicants in the Los Angeles area.
A former practicing attorney, Derek holds a B.S. in Journalism and takes continuing education courses in the Writers’ Program at UCLA. He is passionate about writing and loves coaching students to be better writers. Derek is based in LA and enjoys acting, yoga, meditation, biking, and camping.
This week, we're re-releasing a 2021 episode of Status Check with Spivey that is more relevant to our listeners than ever—our interview with Dr. Guy Winch. In what has ended up being one of our favorite episodes ever, Dr. Winch discusses his own experiences with rejection in admissions, the research behind these feelings, and specific interventions for moving forward confidently and positively. He also tells a story about the first time he applied to graduate school—he applied to 10 different programs, was denied by 9, and was "ghosted" (he literally never heard from them) by the 10th. Which makes his conversation with us not just incredibly helpful, but also relatable. We've all been rejected at something, many things—including those at the very pinnacle of their professional careers.
Dr. Guy Winch is one of the world's leading psychologists and speakers. He has delivered three TED Talks with over 30 million views combined, all three of which can be seen here. He has published three books and along with best-selling author Lori Gottlieb co-hosts the podcast Dear Therapists.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike gives an insider perspective on the new 2023-2024 U.S. News law school rankings (full +/- list here), the changes in methodology that they made, and how this year's rankings (and the surrounding controversy) may impact law school admissions and legal education moving forward.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike has a conversation with Dean Sarah Zearfoss (also known as "Dean Z"), who in her role as Senior Assistant Dean at the University of Michigan Law School has overseen the admissions office for the past 23 years. Dean Z also hosts the popular law school admissions podcast A2Z with Dean Z.
In the interview, Mike and Dean Z discuss whether popular law school admissions advice is "overrated or underrated," including applying early, retaking the LSAT, making choices based on the new rankings, visiting law schools, and typos in applications (they agree about most, but engage in some debate about others). Then they answer some questions from Reddit about "Why X" essays, addressing "why law" in your application, applying as an international student, LSAT scores from 5+ years ago, second bachelor's degrees, and leaving application questions bank.
Mike and Dean Z mention My Rank in this episode, a free tool for applicants to make their own customized law school rankings—you can use My Rank here.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, we wrap up our ongoing conversation with "Lucy," a 2022-2023 law school applicant from Reddit (thank you, u/Accomplished-Body785!). We interviewed Lucy at several points throughout her cycle, and in this episode, we delve into her final decisions and her process of deciding where to attend.
You can find Part 1 of this series here and Part 2 here.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, and Google Podcasts.
