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Apparently U.S. News has decided to pretend that its botched rankings rollout never happened. That transparency is overrated, or at least, that it only applies to law schools, not to U.S. News. And that law schools are to blame for the rankings fiasco this year. Let's recap. On April 11th U.S. News posted a "preview" of the new law school rankings, including a list of the top 14 schools; it said the full list would be available April 18. This was likely an attempt to (1) preempt possible leaks,
After a long, winding, grueling path to get here, we finally have the 2023-2024 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings. Here are the new rankings with +/-.
U.S. News' CEO Eric Gertler was part of a panel at Lafayette College on May 2nd. This blog focuses on what Mr. Gertler said about the U.S. News rankings—specifically, their relationship to the First Amendment and freedom of speech.
Just as the most tumultuous rankings season we have ever seen seemed to be settling, and U.S. News had both publicly released their top 14 law schools and the full embargoed rankings to all law schools, the following email was sent to deans.
A few months ago, many law schools announced they would boycott sending U.S. News direct (and non-third party audited) data, essentially forcing U.S. News to change their methodology. The rates of the admissions metrics were significantly reduced. What does this mean?
U.S. News has yet to publicly release the full 2023-2024 law school rankings, but today they released the Top 14 with their new methodology.
A recent Wall Street Journal article pointed out that U.S. News runs different permutations of the rankings before committing to one methodology. So we thought it might be interesting to explore what different results would look like from various methodologies in the upcoming edition, to be released in a few weeks. Because of the boycott U.S. News has announced that it plans to use publicly available data, e.g. information available through the American Bar Association. They will still use the
U.S. News & World Report is not sitting idle while its rankings come under fire. The CEO published an article in the Wall Street Journal offering his views on the rankings boycott. We have some thoughts.
U.S. News & World Report has sent the following letter to law schools regarding methodology changes for the upcoming 2023-2024 rankings. This comes in the wake of 20+ law schools announcing they will no longer submit their data for rankings purposes.
In this episode, we speak with Dr. Judson Brewer about proven, concrete strategies to manage anxiety, including how to apply them for LSAT-related test anxiety and the stress of waiting for admissions results. Dr. Jud Brewer is a New York Times best-selling author, neuroscientist, addiction psychiatrist, and thought leader in the field of habit change. He is the director of research and innovation at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center, where he also serves as an associate professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences in the School of Public Health. He is the executive medical director of behavioral health at Sharecare and a research affiliate at MIT. Dr. Jud has developed and tested novel mindfulness programs for habit change, including treatments for smoking, emotional eating, and anxiety. He is the author of “Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind” and “The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love, Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits”.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
Links to resources from Dr. Jud Brewer:
In this episode, Mike speaks again with "Barb," an applicant this 2021-2022 cycle with a ~177 LSAT, a ~3.3 GPA, and ten years of work experience. The last time we spoke with Barb, which was in December, she had submitted most of her applications but hadn't yet heard back from any schools, and her anxiety was mounting. She now has six admits (in addition to one waitlist, one priority hold, and three denials), and we spend this podcast talking about her thought process for each of those schools, plus discussing and giving advice on next steps, including assessing whether to pursue the waitlist, navigating scholarship negotiation and seat deposit deadlines, and deciding where to attend.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode, Mike interviews law school strategy coach Angela Vorpahl about some of the most common mistakes that 1Ls make and how to set yourself up to get great grades. Prior to starting her own firm to assist law students, Angela graduated from law school in the top 1% of her class, clerked for a federal judge, worked in biglaw, and practiced as a human rights attorney.
You can find Angela online on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and her website.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode, Mike discusses the recently released 2023 edition (2022 release) U.S. News & World Report law school rankings. You can view the full rankings (including +/- from last year) here.
As always, we want to disclaim that it is our strong opinion that rankings should not be a major factor in where you decide to attend law school. You can watch our video on how best to use rankings to decide on a law school here, and you can always visit our site My Rank to create your own custom law school rankings based on the metrics you prioritize.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
In this episode, Mike gets together with PowerScore CEO and LSAT expert Dave Killoran to discuss the closing months of this current 2021-2022 cycle, early indicators and predictions for next cycle 2022-2023, and the development of the LSAT over time as it has shifted from a five-section, in-person, pencil-and-paper exam, to a three-section, at-home, virtual exam, then back to its current four-section format (and what to expect next).
At the end of the episode, Mike and Dave share an announcement: the PowerScore/Spivey Consulting Admissions Bible is coming this fall! Sign up here for updates on the release date and ordering info.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
This is a brief podcast on being denied from law school. For more on rejection, listen to our podcast with Dr. Guy Winch, renowned psychologist, author, and speaker.
You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Google Podcasts.
