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As we get into the month of March and start seeing the first of the application deadlines, we wanted to provide a quick data update on where the cycle stands.
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.
In this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses factors that lead to some applicants "underperforming" their numbers. You can listen to this podcast below, or on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.
Introduction
Factors that can lead to underperforming your numbers
Answering Questions from Reddit
Conclusion
Dr. Guy Winch is one of the world's leading psychologists and speakers. He has delivered three TED Talks with over 25 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 a relatively new but already incredibly popular podcast Dear Therapists.
In this 40-minute podcast, we speak about rejection at the macro level — "Do we aggregate rejection, and why does it sting so bad?" — and then in the admissions and first job search process specifically. Dr. Winch speaks toward research and numerous helpful interventions in both the perceived feelings of rejection and the problem issues involved in waiting on decisions.
Perhaps most notably, Dr. Winch tells a story about the first time he applied to graduate school, when 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.
We mention in this podcast an episode of Dr. Peter Attia's The Drive in which Dr. Winch is interviewed — you can listen to that episode here.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group's Mike Spivey and PowerScore founder Dave Killoran discuss the state of the current 2020-2021 law school admissions cycle, things to consider for applicants who may be on waitlists, and predictions about next cycle (2021-2022).
You can listen to this podcast below, or on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.
In this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses perspectives and considerations as we head into the 2021 law school waitlist season.
You can listen to this podcast below, or on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.
In this podcast, Mike interviews Jeff Chapman: Partner, Co-Chair of Global Mergers and Acquisitions, and Executive Committee Member at Gibson Dunn. Mike and Jeff met when Mike was a law school Dean of Career Services, and they became good friends — in this interview, Jeff shares his story, some thoughts and advice about law school, and a bit of biglaw hiring advice.
You can listen to this podcast below, or on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.
We are thrilled to announce that we will be interviewing Dr. Gabor Maté — renowned physician, speaker, and author of four best-selling books including the critically-acclaimed In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts — for a podcast episode to be released on May 15. We will be discussing with Dr. Maté the roots of anxiety and addiction, particularly in relation to law school and the legal field. One in 5 attorneys struggle with alcohol abuse, 1 in 5 show symptoms of clinic anxiety, and 1 in 4 suffer from depression (source) — mental illness and addiction are very real and present problems in the legal field, and we look forward to sharing Dr. Maté's insights with you.
You can subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, or YouTube for access to all of our past and upcoming episodes. We post advice, analysis, and predictions about law school admissions, plus we interview notable people about admissions, legal education, and the legal field. Our last two podcast interviews featured Gibson Dunn Partner/M&A Chair Jeff Chapman and acclaimed psychologist/TED Talk speaker Guy Winch, and we are excited for upcoming interviews with a law school dean, the preeminent researcher on self-compassion, a current admissions dean from a top 3 law school, and many more.
