Rankings

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Blog Posts

March 23, 2016
USNWR Rankings Raw Score Infographic: 2017 Update

A visual look at the numbers that shaped the rankings.

March 9, 2016
USNWR Schools ranked 1-100, now with +/- from last year

1 Yale 2 Stanford 2 Harvard 4 Columbia 4 Chicago 6 NYU 7 Penn 8 Berkeley 8 Michigan (+3) 8 UVa 11 Duke (-3) 12 Northwestern 13 Cornell 14 Georgetown 15 Texas 16 Vanderbilt (+1) 17 UCLA (-1) 18 Washington University in St. Louis 19 USC (+1) 20 Boston University (+6) 20 Iowa (+2) 22 Emory (-3) 22 Minnesota (-2) 22 Notre Dame 25 Arizona State (+1) 25 George Washington (-3) 25 Indiana (+9) 28 Alabama (-6) 28 UC-Irvine (+2) 30 Boston College (+4) 30 Ohio State (+4) 30 UC- Davis (+1) 33 William & Mary

March 8, 2016
2017 (2016 release) USNWR Law School Rankings Are HERE!

Top 100 law schools 2016 (2017 edition).

February 27, 2016
4th Annual USNWR Rankings Prediction Contest

Enter our U.S. News prediction contest!

March 10, 2015
2015 USNWR Rankings 101-150 with +/-

This year's rankings compared to last, 101-150.

March 10, 2015
What did the USNWR Law School Rankings Look Like in 1987?

1. Harvard1. Yale3. Michigan4. Stanford4. Columbia6. Chicago7. Berkeley8. UVA9. NYU10. U Penn11. Texas12. Duke13. Georgetown14. UCLA15. Cornell16. Northwestern 17. Illinois17. USC19. Minnesota20. Wisconsin

March 9, 2015
2015 USNWR Top 20 Rankings with +/- changes

This year's rankings compared to last, 1-20.

March 9, 2015
2015 USNWR Law School Rankings 51-100 with +/-

This year's rankings compared to last, 51-100.

March 9, 2015
2015 USNWR Rankings 21-50 with +/-

Note, USNWR calls this “2016″ Rankings. 22. George Washington University (-2) 23. University of Alabama (+1) 24. University of Iowa (+5) 25. University of Notre Dame (+4) 26. Arizona State University (+5) 27. Boston University (+1) 28. University of Washington (-4) 29. William & Mary (-5) 30. University of California-Irvine (NR) 31. University of California-Davis (+5)

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