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We analyze the data from law schools' new 509 Required Disclosures, including LSAT and GPA medians, class sizes, diversity and demographics, and more.
International students face unique challenges in the U.S. law school admissions process. This article presents an analysis of how top law schools treat international applicants, using data from the past three cycles, and explains what's new for 2024-25!
As of March 20, 2025, nearly 7,000 offers of admission remain at the top 100 law schools, including 2,500 from top 20 schools. While we don't have definitive data yet, these figures provide a snapshot of the cycle’s progress.
Admissions officers are settling into a winter of reading, and the file review process is really just beginning to get into full swing for most of them. So when will decisions be coming out?
This week, the American Bar Association published this year's required 509 disclosures—standardized data on admissions, enrollment, scholarships, faculty, and more. We took a look at that data, and here are our early takeaways.
The very first LSAC Volume Summary Report of the cycle just dropped, which means we have our first applicant (and application) data for 2024-2025.
It’s late February, which means that the earliest application deadlines have passed, we’re in the thick of decision-rendering season, and waitlists are starting to come fast and heavy. As such, it’s a good time for a general data update and some predictions on what’s yet to come this cycle.
With today’s release of the new ABA-required 509 disclosures, we now have all law schools’ fall 2023 medians and class sizes, plus we have the ability to more accurately predict next year’s upcoming U.S. News law school rankings.
As of November 26, 2023, we are about a third of the way through the 2023-2024 application cycle as measured by previous cycle applicant timing, so it's a good time for an update on where things stand.
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.
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike discusses the recent Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard Supreme Court decision—which ruled against the legality of race-conscious admissions or "affirmative action"—and what it means for law school applicants, particularly applicants of color. He is joined by two guests, Sydney Montgomery (Executive Director and Founder of Barrier Breakers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing access to and success in higher education for BIPOC and other marginalized students, and graduate of Harvard Law) and Anna Hicks-Jaco (Spivey Consulting Group's COO and former Interim Assistant Dean of Enrollment Management at Syracuse University College of Law).
You can find more information about Sydney and Barrier Breakers here, and you can register for the upcoming Break Into Law School Conference (mentioned in the podcast) 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, Mike continues his 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 this second episode of the series, Mike and Dean Z discuss the future of law school admissions (as it relates to the recent Supreme Court decision on race-conscious admissions and in terms of other recent legal education-related developments such as ChatGPT), then they talk about other common admissions topics/questions that tend to come up at the start of a new cycle (including chance predictor websites, how law schools interpret GPAs/undergraduate transcripts, and more).
You can listen to Part 1 of our interview with Dean Z here.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, and Google Podcasts.
