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Blog Posts

May 19, 2021
A Look Into The Most Difficult Law School Admissions Cycle We have Ever Seen

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.

May 1, 2021
Brief Application Volume/LSAT Update and a Glimpse at Next Cycle

Now that the 2020-2021 LSAT (note: not admissions) cycle has finished, it's worth looking at some various metrics.

February 2, 2021
Brief Cycle Update

Today is coincidentally the last day before January LSAT data comes out, and the day we can see cycle volume through February 1st. We're well into the application cycle now, so let's take a brief look at how things stand.

December 31, 2020
2020/2021 Law School Applicant Data Look

Well, it's finally 2021, so we'll take a quick look at how applicant volume shaped up in the 2020 part of the 2020-2021 application cycle.

December 18, 2020
2020 ABA 509 Data for All Law Schools

The ABA released the 509 required disclosures for all ABA-approved law schools today, which include a wealth of information about entering class credentials, class sizes, etc.

December 2, 2020
12/2 Law School Admissions Cycle Data and Following Up on Projections

Three weeks ago we wrote a blog taking a look at how cycle volume was shaping up and might look for the rest of the year. This is our follow up three weeks later — and it's been an important three weeks.

November 11, 2020
Is This the Most Competitive Law School Admissions Cycle Ever? Applicant Volume Data 2000-2019

We wanted to give some data-centric historical context for this application cycle and its relative competitiveness.

November 10, 2020
2020-2021 LSAT Score Volume Projections as of 11/9

We’re a couple months into the 2020-2021 application cycle, and so far our increase in applicants hasn’t slowed down. If anything, it’s sped up.

August 22, 2020
October LSAT Data Update

Now that October 2020 LSAT registration has closed, a very brief update on how volume compares to the last couple of years.

Podcasts

March 25, 2021
Preliminary Waitlist Movement Perspectives

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.

March 17, 2021
Interview with a Biglaw Partner (Jeff Chapman, Gibson Dunn Co-Chair of Global M&A)

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.

March 31, 2021
Upcoming Podcast: Interview with Dr. Gabor Maté

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.

April 13, 2021
Advice & Tips for Law School Scholarship Negotiation

In this podcast, Mike Spivey explains how the scholarship negotiation process works from the law school's perspective and gives some advice and tips for how to strategically approach increasing your merit aid offers.

You can listen to this podcast below, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, Google Podcasts, or RadioPublic.

You may also notice our new name and new look — thanks to u/lightningmcboops from r/lawschooladmissions for the name suggestion, and thank you all for listening to the first official episode of the Status Check with Spivey!

May 16, 2021
Interview with Dr. Gabor Maté, Author of “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts”

In this podcast, Mike Spivey speaks with Dr. Gabor Maté, one of the world’s leading experts on physical and mental health and author of four best-selling books including "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts" and "When the Body Says No." Dr. Maté shares his thoughts and advice on self-doubt, stress, anxiety, and addiction, and offers the following insight for prospective law students (among others):

"You're going to look at all your confident classmates, and you're going to go in there with all manner of self-doubt. You're making the big mistake of comparing their outside with your inside. You have no idea what their inside is like. And believe me, you're not the only one."

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