Over the weekend, we learned of several law schools that have changed their plans for Admitted Students Days/Weekends due to concerns over Coronavirus/COVID-19.
> It is likely that the vast majority of #colleges [https://twitter.com/hashtag/colleges?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw] & #universities [https://twitter.com/hashtag/universities?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw] in the U.S. will move courses online/ cancel classes in the U.S due to #COVID19 [https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw] As of yesterday this has happened fully in 22 nations and rising. It is occurring now too rapidly to track each school. — Spivey Consulting (@Sp
We continue to be asked from a variety of directions, both from schools and from applicants, about how COVID-19 (Coronavirus) will impact law schools, particularly as it relates to law school admissions.
The link to all of the entering class data for every ABA-approved law school from the official 509 reports is here.
NAPLA Conference LSAC Slide Show A member of Spivey Consulting was in attendance at the Northeast Association of Pre Law Advisers conference these past few days. LSAC presented updates, and we have pictures of the slides to share, as well as other comments they made. - Notes and Takeaways July Test * They mentioned that 28,000+ registered for July, which was welcome since they were hoping for a large pool t
LSAT retake rules as of 2019.
Learn how to make your own custom law school rankings.
An update from approximately 50% of the way through the cycle.
On Friday, May 11, 2018, an ABA council approved a proposal that formally removes the requirement that the LSAT be used for admissions purposes.
In this episode, Mike interviews a current applicant (who we'll call "Barb") about her application process so far. 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, we talk through her motivations for going to law school, her school list, the three different personal statement topics she's debating between, and more.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this podcast, Mike Spivey talks about the LSAT-Flex, particularly is it relates to timelines and the pace of admissions this cycle. It is important to note that LSAT scores are higher at the top bandwidths right now than one would expect in any cycle. There are several hypotheses out there for why that is.
LSAC maintains that they will organically come down to natural levels. Spivey Consulting (and others we should note) believes that we won't maintain this pace of increase, just like every cycle, but that we are already past the point where they could come down to "natural" levels barring some extremely inorganic occurrence, and that until now law schools have been trying to figure this equation out. To LSAC's credit, they have provided law schools with data that we think should now speed up the pace of admitting for the cycle — although exactly when and at what pace that happens is still impossible to predict.
You can listen to this podcast below or via SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.
Please note that our reservation list for next cycle (2021-2022) is now open.
In this video, Spivey Consulting Group founder Mike Spivey answers questions from r/lawschooladmissions on strategies for splitters, international students, non-traditional applicants, reapplicants, and more.
You can also listen to the interview as a podcast on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.
COVID-19 isn't going anywhere in the near future, yet only 3 law schools and only 8% of universities and colleges have announced they will be entirely remote for fall 2020.
What is the most recent update, and is there a middle ground that can be reached to decrease on-campus density so that the likelihood of cluster outbreaks is significantly reduced?
Watch below, or listen on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.
Spivey Consulting Partner Mike Spivey talks about the two primary things at the highest order that make applications stand out and elevate in the admissions process.
Danielle Early and Mike Spivey speak for 30 minutes on application submission timing. And a bit more below from Michigan Law Dean of Admissions Sarah Zearfoss.
Here is Dean Z.:
"Totally agree that before Thanksgiving is “early” in any school’s universe. All law school admissions officers are hitting the bricks from mid-September to mid-November; some offices are structured in a way that allows them to make some decisions despite the travel schedule, but the number of offers are a mere pittance compared to the overall number that will be made. People who don’t have their applications in when they start hearing about early September acceptances might feel dismayed, and worry that by the time they apply, nothing will be left—but that’s not even close to true. In general, I would advise people to try to get their applications in before the 1st of the year, simply because most people apply after that, creating a bottleneck. That means your outcome might be slowed down, which will be anxiety producing, but it doesn’t mean you’ll not get admitted because your application is somehow fatally “late.”
Remember, too, that some schools take a lot of care with their applications. If you want to be judged on factors apart from/in addition to your LSAT and UGPA, then try to have some patience with the fact that those holistic processes are necessarily time intensive.
It’s all good practice for being a lawyer. Judges take a lot of time about issuing their opinions, and seem not to take into account that the lawyer submitted a kick-ass brief and did a stellar oral argument."
And the podcast: