Motivation

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Blog Posts

June 1, 2016
Urbach-Wiethe Disease [and the LSAT]

A MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN known as SM blithely reaches for poisonous snakes, giggles in haunted houses and once, upon escaping the clutches of a knife-wielding man, didn’t run but calmly walked away. A rare kind of brain damage precludes her from experiencing fear of any sort. (Source: Wired [http://www.wired.com/2010/12/fear-brain-amygdala/].) Urbach-Wiethe disease is the name for the rare disorder, so rare that there have only been about 400 reported cases in history. I learned about this disease t

December 3, 2015
The Hay Is In the Barn

A message of calm for soon-to-be LSAT takers.

November 6, 2015
Staying Mentally Cool and Crushing the September LSAT

Motivation and advice for tackling the LSAT in the right mindset.

October 3, 2015
“Help, I failed the LSAT” September/October edition

The dust has cleared from October’s quiz and yet again and again (I’ve posted this article thrice now) I have fielded phone calls from people who tell me they failed the LSAT. * And this one seems to have been particularly difficult based on early feedback.* I’ve also heard thousands of times, “I way underperformed, I am doomed.” Indeed, we will hear from about 50-75 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 reas

June 10, 2015
“Help, I failed the LSAT” June edition

The dust has cleared from June’s quiz and yet again and again (I’ve posted this article twice now) I have fielded phone calls from people who tell me they failed the LSAT. I’ve also heard thousands of times, “I way underperformed, I am doomed.” Indeed, we will hear from about 50-75 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 m

June 7, 2015
LSAT State of Mind

(Last updated 9/5/18) If you are reading this, there is strong likelihood that soon you will be making the LSAC sponsored, law school endorsed pilgrimage to one of the many hundreds of testing centers to take the LSAT. If that alone doesn’t sound intimidating, LSAC and USNWR certainly makes it so. Bring this, not that. Wear this, not that (did you know that a guy once tried to take the test in a Spider Man suit?). LSAC themselves would pretty much not be able to sneak anything into a test site,

April 19, 2015
LSAT Test Day and Navy Seal Dropout Rates

I wanted to share a story I read about Navy Seal Training, as I think it has meaning for those waiting to take the LSAT.

March 23, 2015
“The trouble is you think you have time” –Buddha

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

February 7, 2015
“Help, I failed the LSAT!” Feb. Edition

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.

Podcasts

April 2, 2020
How Will Law School Transfer Admissions Be Impacted by COVID-19?

In this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses how COVID-19 and new grading systems will affect law school transfer admissions. Listen below through YouTube, or on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

Also, a quick note — for a look into Mike's daily schedule (which we've been asked about many times) and some advice on staying sane while quarantined, see this recent blog.

March 18, 2020
Update on COVID-19 / Coronavirus & Law School Admissions

Just a quick update from Mike Spivey on how the continuously developing situation with COVID-19 / coronavirus is impacting — and will continue to impact — law school admissions. Watch here or listen on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

September 11, 2020
On the Prevalence of Bad Law School Admissions Advice

In this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group's Anna Hicks and Mike Spivey discuss bad advice in law school admissions — who gives it, how to identify it, and how to determine which advice is worthwhile. Plus, some bonus [good] advice on LinkedIn at the end!

You can also listen to this podcast on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

Here's the podcast on when admissions officers do take note of a specific applicant's behavior online and the consequences it can have.

And here's the Family Guy parody video mentioned in the podcast regarding subjectivity in admissions.

Please note that we are currently at capacity and are not taking new clients for this cycle at this time (we are still working through our current waitlist in date order). However, we will soon be opening our reservation list for next cycle! You can monitor our blog and Twitter for updates on our future availability for this cycle and for the reservation list announcement.

You may not know that I, and several of my Spivey Consulting business partners, were meant to be at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. You can read the story and my thoughts nine years later in a blog post I just published to my motivational blog here. –Mike

June 5, 2020
Harvard Law Goes Fully Remote for Fall 2020. Will Other Law Schools Follow Suit and What It Means for Applicants

In this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group founder Mike Spivey discusses Harvard Law School's recent announcement that all classes will be held fully remotely for Fall 2020 — what does it mean for other law schools, for international students, the ABA, and current applicants? Will this cause more waitlist movement? What about deferrals? Plus, a bit of a look into what the 2020-2021 cycle might bring.

Listen below, or via SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

August 9, 2020
How to Tell If You're Overdoing It in Law School Admissions

In this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group founder Mike Spivey discusses one of the most common mistakes in law school admissions that we see from applicants who have underperformed their numbers — overdoing it in the admissions process — then details the most common types of applicants this happens to: the "over-explainer," the "over-spammer," the "over-[publicly] talker," the "permutator," and the "boundary pusher."

You can find the blog post Mike mentions in the podcast, "Spooky Halloween Blog: Real Stories of Things That Creep Out Admissions Offices" (examples of the most extreme "boundary pushers"), here.

You can also listen to this podcast on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

And for our free tool for comparing law schools/medians/data, check out My Rank.

June 11, 2020
Recession Job Search Tips You Won’t Hear from Career Services

Mike Spivey served as a law school dean of career services during the Great Recession, and in this podcast he shares actionable advice for legal networking that you won't hear from your CSO.

Listen below via YouTube, or on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.