Rankings

columnscolumns

Blog Posts

September 14, 2020
2021 US News Top 50 Best Colleges (with +/-)

U.S. News and World Report has published their 2021 (released 2020) undergraduate rankings.

September 2, 2020
June 1, 2020
GRE vs. LSAT in the rankings

An analysis of how GRE scores play into the U.S. News rankings.

March 11, 2020
2021 USNWR Law School Rankings: This Year vs. Last Year

Plus/minuses for this year's law school rankings vs. last.

March 10, 2020
USNWR Rankings: Explaining Some of the Change, Inflation, & the Mechanics of Frustration

By now all law schools have their new, 2021 U.S. News and World Report rankings, and as always, reactions will be mixed.

February 25, 2020
Understanding the U.S. News & World Report Rankings: Basics and Common Misconceptions

The U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings methodology is simultaneously clear and cloudy.

December 13, 2019
Statement on USNWR Law School Rankings

Mike Spivey's statement on the 2019 rankings.

October 12, 2019
The Over-Estimated Impact of Median LSAT Change on USNWR Rankings

It's that time of year again—when schools report their incoming class profiles.

Podcasts

December 15, 2020
Law School “Yield Protection”: What It Is & Steps to Take to Prevent It

In this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses the phenomenon in law school admissions known as "yield protection," and explains steps you can take to prevent being waitlisted as a result of it.

You can listen to this podcast below, or via SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.

As promised in the podcast, here are some resources for how to choose which law school to attend:

January 4, 2021
Commonly Misunderstood—But Important—Parts of the Law School Application Process

In this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses some of the most commonly held misconceptions about the law school admissions process, and how understanding them can help you get admitted.

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

  • 0:30 – admissions is inherently comparative
  • 4:21 – admissions officers want to get to know you
  • 7:12 – how do law schools make money?
  • 11:03 – being a savvy applicant (regarding advice from law school admissions offices)
February 8, 2021
Anything is Possible

For today's podcast, a little something different — some advice on resiliency in the face of watching others succeed in the ways you'd like to be succeeding.

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

January 19, 2021
Reddit AMA: Why haven't I gotten a decision yet? Is January too late to apply? + the worst PS we've ever seen

In this podcast, Mike answers a few questions from Reddit.

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

January 16, 2021
Interviews with Law School Applicants About the Admissions Process

In this podcast, Mike Spivey interviews groups of current law school applicants about their experiences with the admissions process — what has surprised them, how they've handled the stress, what they expect for the future, and what advice they would give to someone at the beginning of the process. The participants are all volunteers from r/LawSchoolAdmissions, and only one happened to be a client of Spivey Consulting.

Here's a link to the blog post Mike mentioned in the podcast: Spivey Blog, The Malevolent Puppeteer.

You can listen to this podcast below, or on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts. Thank you for listening!

January 26, 2021
LOCIs & Law School Fit When You Can't Visit + International Applicant Considerations This Cycle

In this podcast, Mike Spivey answers more questions from Reddit. First up, he discusses differences international JD applicants might see in their admissions processes with the special considerations of this application cycle. Then, he talks about how to figure out whether a law school is the right fit for you when you can't visit in person — and, for those who haven't been admitted yet, how to write a strong letter of continued interest (LOCI) without visiting.

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

  • International JD admissions considerations this cycle: 0:52
  • Getting to know a school's culture when you can't visit: 4:32
  • How to write a LOCI when you can't visit: 7:32