*Now accepting new clients for the 2026-2027 law school admissions cycle! Sign up here.
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Spring is a tough time to motivate — especially when you are in college. Your friends are outside, or road-tripping, or basically doing anything but studying for the June LSAT… or trying to get their GPA up ever so slightly to raise the bar above a median. You, on the other-hand, need to find the darkest, deepest, windowless library corner and dig in. I’m thinking about you and want to help. Indeed, I want to help both of us. Let me explain. In two months and two days I will be running a 10K, t
Amazingly, I have heard those exact lines before. Many times. I’ve also heard thousands of times, “I way underperformed, I am doomed.” Indeed, we will hear from about 50 people in the next 2 days who think just that. There are hundreds more out there who think the same right now. For so many reasons, you can’t fail the LSAT. And because I have seen the following scenario unfold so many times, I wanted to give some facts. Not an overblown peep talk or a feel good story. Just a few basic facts.
How have law schools' LSAT medians shifted between 2010 and 2014?
An interesting (and fictional) addendum.
“Mike and Karen, as the number of takers continues to drop, won’t it become MORE acceptable to drop a median point in favor of maintaining GPA? Won’t this make high scores LESS valuable? For example, if Harvard or Yale’s median is going to drop to 172, doesn’t a 173 become LESS valuable, not more? If the median drops a point, suddenly, the pool of at/above median expands, right? So, in theory, I should be rooting for medians to stay the same?” This is something we spend a good deal of time loo
Best of luck on the Dec 6th test.
Just a few factual words plus a link to the longer, equally true remarks.
Advice and suggestions on LSAT timing this cycle.
Advice for LSAT takers.
In this podcast, Mike discusses the factors to consider when you receive an invitation to interview for a law school you've applied to.
You can listen and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode, Mike has a conversation with Spivey Consulting's Business Intelligence Director Justin Kane (current 2L and data genius) about where this current admissions cycle (2021-2022) stands so far in terms of applicant volume, what that means, what we predict for the rest of the cycle, and some actionable admissions advice based on what we know so far. They also touch on why our numbers are slightly different from LSAC's (and why we believe ours capture a more accurate picture for current applicants), as well as how to interpret differences between applicant numbers and application numbers, plus a few other wonky topics throughout. We hope it's helpful!
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode, Mike predicts whether law schools will be able to maintain their high medians from last year, and how we expect that to play out across the course of the cycle. He also discusses how this will impact splitters and reverse splitters.
You can find the spreadsheet Mike mentions in this podcast with schools' medians from the 2020-2021 cycle here.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike has a conversation with our consultant Karen Buttenbaum (former Director of Admissions at Harvard Law School) about how to prepare for law school admissions interviews, best practices, common pitfalls, and other advice for the interviewing process.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
We have space for one client for our new lower-cost application coaching pilot program. Under this program, you would work one-on-one with our Application & Editing Coach Lauren Brown on crafting the written components of your application. If you feel comfortable with your overall strategy and knowledge of the application process, but want help with your personal statement and other essays from start to finish at a lower price point, this may be the program for you! If you’re interested in learning more, please email us at info@spiveyconsulting.com with the subject line “Application Coaching.”
In this episode, Mike and our consultant Danielle Early (former Associate Director of Admissions at Harvard Law School) talk about safety schools and backup plans. How do you choose the right range of schools where your worst-case scenario is an outcome you can live with? For some that might be a law school where they're well above both medians; for others that might be taking a year off to continue their job or gain new work experience. If you take a year off, how will you strengthen your application? Should you plan to matriculate to a safety school but then transfer out? When is too late in the cycle to add a safety school to your list? Mike and Danielle discuss these possibilities and the factors to consider when you make your backup plan — which everyone applying to law school should consider, especially in a competitive cycle.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode, we continue our interview series with "Barb," a current applicant. Barb is a splitter with a 176 LSAT and a 3.1 GPA, and she's also a non-traditional applicant with 10+ years of full-time work experience after college. In this interview, she and Mike discuss the many emotions and anxieties that come up after you hit that "submit" button, what to expect as far as a timeline for hearing back from schools, and the potential implications of the Omicron variant for admitted students' days.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
Another note, for applicants who may be beginning to think about preparing for the academic rigors of 1L — our Pre-L program just started accepting students, and we are temporarily offering last year's rates through January 15. More below:
Prepare for 1L with Our One-on-One Pre-L Classes
To help you get a jumpstart on what law school actually entails and on 1L preparation, we are launching our eighth year of Pre-L packages for applicants enrolling in Fall 2022.
This year, we’re offering last year’s Pre-L rates for anyone who signs up by January 15th. The 2022 packages have added content and resources, but we have locked in our 2021 prices through that date. The sessions can take place later in the year; the discounted pricing applies to those who sign up before the 15th.
Pre-L offers one-on-one training in law school prep, career prep, and/or writing training. We have different packages to prepare you for the hidden curriculum of 1L, the turbulent job market, and the rigors of learning lawyers' key skill: legal writing. We've helped students at top schools earn the results they want and prepare for a fast-paced job cycle. If you're interested in reserving a spot, send a note to info@spiveyconsulting.com, and we'll set up time for a quick phone call to discuss availability and which package/s would work best for you.
