Rankings

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Blog Posts

April 9, 2025
Law School and Higher Education Rankings Thoughts

I've been asked too many times to count to comment on the U.S. News 2025 law school rankings release a few days ago.

January 7, 2025
Predicted 2025-2026 U.S. News Law School Rankings

We now have sufficient data to predict the 2025-2026 U.S. News law school rankings with a high degree of accuracy. Here's the full list, this year in groups.

September 27, 2024
Top 11 U.S News Law Schools Modeled 2025 Rankings

Here are our modeled Top 11 (due to a four-way tie at 8) 2025 U.S. News Rankings. Please note a few things.

September 16, 2024
2024 U.S. News Best College Rankings

We’ve received from multiple universities the new 2024 U.S. News Best College Rankings and have decided to share the top 25.

April 8, 2024
U.S. News Law School Rankings: 2024 vs. 2023 (+/-)

With the embargo lifted at 12:01 ET today, here are the full U.S. News law school rankings.

April 3, 2024
New U.S. News Top 25 Law Schools 2024-2025 (with +/-)

Here are the new 2024-2025 U.S. News top 25 law schools.

December 15, 2023
Predicted 2024 U.S. News Law School Rankings

With today’s release of the new ABA-required 509 disclosures, we now have all law schools’ fall 2023 medians and class sizes, plus we have the ability to more accurately predict next year’s upcoming U.S. News law school rankings.

November 13, 2023
How does U.S. News *actually* rank law schools?

The U.S. News & World Report law school rankings methodology may appear simple at first glance, but it is also widely (and deeply) misunderstood. Here, we analyze the methodology + this year's changes.

September 18, 2023
U.S. News Best College Rankings (+/- 2024 vs. 2023)

The 2024 (published 2023) U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings were released today—here are the top 50 national universities with plus/minuses.

Podcasts

June 18, 2020
Academics, Athletics, and COVID-19

Mike was asked by a rivals.com affiliate to speak about higher education as it relates to the upcoming fall athletic season. Listen to the interview below:

Spivey Consulting Group · VandySports Podcast Academics, athletics and COVID-19

November 26, 2020
What to Do When You Get Your First Waitlist

Chances are, if you're applying to a healthy range of target, safety, and reach schools, you're likely to get a waitlist or two (at least!). Especially if it happens relatively early in the cycle, or if it's your first decision, a waitlist can be difficult to interpret and hard to know how to respond. In this podcast, Mike Spivey talks about what to do when you get your first waitlist.

Our podcast is embedded below, but here are also links to podcasts/videos mentioned in this podcast:

And a bonus link: Blog — Every piece of Spivey Consulting Law School Waitlist Advice

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.

September 28, 2020
Predicting this Cycle's Admissions Pace

In this podcast, Mike Spivey predicts what to expect as far as the timing of admissions decisions this year, then discusses the preliminary LSAC data that has applicants wondering whether this will be a far more competitive cycle than normal.

You can also listen to this podcast on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts, or read the transcript below.

October 7, 2020
Hold. On.

A 3-minute motivational podcast inspired by the William Feather quote, "Success is largely a matter of holding on after others have let go."

I think there is something extra and meaningful we can take from Feather's words, particularly as it relates to law school applicants. Because even in the holding on, in the inevitable ups and downs of the law school admissions cycle, job search, career challenges in a world that can seem unforgiving and cruel at times, there is always growth and very often triumph at the end of any long and worthy cause.

November 12, 2020
Self-Care, the Fallacy of Reductionism, and Something to Be Said for an N of 1

In this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses one of the fundamental difficulties of applying to law school—and how to cope with it. Mike mentions two blog posts in this podcast: the first, about all the different variables that go into law school admissions, can be found here, and the second, about load management days, can be found here.

You can listen to this podcast here or on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts, or read a transcript below.

Please note that our reservation list for next cycle (2021-2022) is now open.

October 12, 2020
The Three Elements of Admissions and Why the Most Important is Also the Most Overlooked

In this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses the three elements of admissions, particularly focusing on the one that is both the most important and the least understood.

Listen to this podcast below, or via SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.