It's that time of year again — law schools are beginning to place applicants on the dreaded waitlist. Luckily, we have two helpful resources if you've been waitlisted this cycle.
Read full postWe’ve been asked to write a bit on how to choose between similarly regarded and ranked law schools — and there’s good news from the start – namely that while a decent number of applicants are not yet in this situation this time of the cycle, the vast majority of applicants will eventually find themselves with choices on where to attend. In other words, unless you only swung for reach schools, you should have a matriculation decision to make this fall between competing schools, and the balance of
Read full postFirst, a quick disclaimer (get used to writing these, future lawyers): when we say “law schools” we do not mean to speak for every single law school. There likely are a few outliers. But at the macro-level, here is what is going on. Most law school Early Decision (ED) programs don’t provide the substantial boost that applicants believe. An analogy I often use is that a Las Vegas casino wouldn’t have a blackjack table that loses money. In blackjack, if a player follows perfect betting strategy,
Read full postBig news — we just launched our new Spivey Consulting Group YouTube Channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA_Rbmm6gSV09dUwrnlBjyQ]. On the channel, we'll be posting videos with all sorts of law school admissions advice on topics like how to choose a personal statement topic, getting off of waitlists, basics of scholarship negotiation, whether you should write a diversity statement, how to ace a law school admissions interview, and more. These videos will come from many of our consultants, fo
Read full postThe short answer is "it doesn't matter that much." As we have blogged about here [https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/how-long-does-it-take-for-law-school-applications-to-be-read/] , applications aren't read in date stamped sequential order, but rather by strength. They do, of course, have to be complete, and not having a test score will render them incomplete. Still, the lack of a score (or another attempt at a higher score) does not mean that you can't actually submit an application. Should you
Read full postJoin us on Monday, November 19, 2018 from 8:00 – 9:30 PM EST for a Live Law School Admissions/LSAT Q&A with Mike Spivey, Karen Buttenbaum, and Derek Meeker of Spivey Consulting, and Dave Killoran and Jon Denning of PowerScore. We will be answering your questions about admissions, strategy, and the application cycle so far! Register at powerscore.com/freeseminars [http://www.powerscore.com/freeseminars/]. Also please note: if you would like to work with us for this cycle or next, RSVP now to our
Read full postMy dog BearBear passed away this week, much too young at 6 years and 4 months. But in those 6 years she hiked and ran in the mountains almost every day, traveled with me on many work trips, and was surrounded by, and gave in return, much joy. She also taught me a lesson I want to share. BearBear was a Chow Chow, and Chow Chow’s make great office work companions (I got BearBear soon after I founded this firm). They generally stick to themselves and BearBear was almost always found on the porch g
Read full postFor Halloween this year, we'd like to share some peculiar stories from some of the Spivey consultants' days as admissions officers at top schools such as Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, Penn, Michigan, Duke, and many more. If you want to avoid spooking the person making a decision on your file (and making a lasting bad impression), avoid these creepy tactics! Nikki Laubenstein, former Assistant Dean for Enrollment Management at Syracuse University College of Law, had a coworker who was once
Read full postDO: * Wear appropriate clothing. You certainly don’t have to wear a suit but don’t show up in your pajamas or club wear either. Business casual is the best option. * Speak and act in an adult, professional manner. * Use the opportunity to ask specific questions that can’t be answered by brochures or websites. Some examples: What factors can improve an applicant’s admissions chances beyond numbers? What percentage of your students secure [employment/clerkships/public interest
Read full postA big hat tip to Emory Law School for the epically clear C&F instructions. They give reasons behind why they are asking, samples, and explicit instructions on what to do if someone told them not to disclose. Couldn’t have said this better — thanks Emory, and I hope this helps everyone demystify some of the ambiguity around C&F issues. Please do note that C&F instructions is one of the areas where school instructions vary the most, read each carefully. GUIDANCE ON BAR CHARACTER AND FITNESS REQUI
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