Rankings

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Blog Posts

November 19, 2022
List of Law Schools Withdrawing from U.S. News & World Report Rankings Participation

On November 16, 2022, as we recently blogged about, two law schools announced that they would no longer be participating in the U.S. News & World Report Law School Rankings (first Yale, then Harvard). In the days since, other schools have begun to announce their plans to do the same.

November 17, 2022
Answering U.S. News Law School Rankings Withdrawal Questions from 11/16/2022

November 16, 2022 may not have been the single most pivotal day in law school decision-making, but it was likely up there.

September 12, 2022
U.S. News Best College Rankings 2022 +/- vs. 2021

The 2022-2023 edition of the U.S. News undergraduate rankings was released today. Here are the changes (plus/minus) from last year.

March 25, 2022
2023 USNWR Law School Rankings: This Year vs. Last Year (+/-)

Here are the 2023 (released 2022) U.S. News law school rankings as compared to last year's 2022 rankings edition.

March 15, 2022
2023 U.S. News Law School Rankings Methodology

U.S. News & World Report recently released the embargoed version of their 2023 (2022 release) rankings, and we can confirm that there have been changes to the methodology used to calculate schools' overall ranking.

March 18, 2021
Understanding and Implications of the New USNWR Law School Rankings Methodology

For the first time in years, U.S. News & World Report has changed their law school ranking methodology.

March 17, 2021
2022 vs. 2021 USNWR Law School Rankings (+/-)

Below are the 2022 (released March 2021) U.S. News & World Report law school rankings, with +/- from last year's rankings.

March 15, 2021
2022 U.S. News Law School Rankings Predictions

Spivey Consulting's Business Intelligence Director, Justin Kane, analyzed a great deal of law school data to calculate our predicted 2022 U.S. News & World Report law school rankings.

November 6, 2020
Ranking Isn’t Everything

By Joe Pollak, Consultant at the Spivey Consulting Group

Podcasts

March 21, 2022
Dr. Jud Brewer on the Highly Effective Way to Overcome Anxiety

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:

March 8, 2022
No Admits to Six Admits (Law School Applicant Diaries #3)

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.

May 21, 2022
Top 5 Mistakes New Law Students Make

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.

March 29, 2022
Thoughts on the 2023 (2022) USNWR Law School Rankings

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.

April 19, 2022
Predicting the Rest of This Cycle & Next Cycle with PowerScore's Dave Killoran

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.

May 12, 2022
On Rejection in Admissions

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.