Advice

26 Jul 2018

The top 10 most overly, wrongly, and (at times) annoyingly used words in law school applications

With more than 100 years of law school admissions experience between us, we have read over a hundred thousand law school essays and applications. That is an incredibly rewarding experience, but there can be times when you start to see the same words used, or used out of context, again and again. The following list of words includes some of the most overused and/or at times aggravating usage of words we see in applications. Keep in mind that not all of these words annoy every admissions officer —

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13 Jul 2018

GRE vs. LSAT: Answers from the Deans

The introduction of the GRE to the law school admissions process has created a great deal of questions, confusion, and theories about how it’s being used. Almost everyday we get these questions, and as with the free-for-all of advice on the internet, the reality of how it impacts the admissions process can be confounding. Because of this confusion and lack of reliable advice, we wanted to help you sort out how to think about the GRE — so we took some of the most commonly asked questions to our f

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28 Jun 2018

How many law schools should you apply to?

First published October 2017; updated October 2018 With LSAT scores having recently come out, your school list may grow – for those who did better than anticipated, you may consider schools that are now a possibility; for those who didn’t get quite where you had set a goal, well, perhaps you will add a couple other safeties in your group. Either way, your list could get longer, prompting the question, how many law schools should you apply to? I’ll confess that my own strategy when applying to

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21 Jun 2018

Time Management, Self-Care, and Motivation

By Nikki Laubenstein, Senior Consultant at the Spivey Consulting Group Whether you’ve determined which law school you’ll be attending in the fall or are still finalizing that decision, it’s likely that you are feeling a bit anxious, overwhelmed, or unsure of what to expect once orientation and classes begin in August. You’ve focused a lot of your time and energy up until now on honing your logic, analytical reasoning, and writing skills, so now let’s talk about a few other skills that will help

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19 Jun 2018

The Top Two Traits of Leadership

If you can be good at one thing, you can be good at anything. Leadership has always fascinated me (in fact much of my doctoral program work in Higher Education Leadership was on just that) — but more precisely — people who always seem to successfully lead organizations and teams are the most intriguing, and for obvious and self-serving reasons — I'd like to emulate them. That number of "successful at whatever they do" leaders, however, gets surprisingly low very quickly. There are many people

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18 Jun 2018

Your Gap Year and the LSAT: What you need to know

Note: Since the time this blog was published, the landscape of law school admissions has developed a great deal with regards to the importance of work experience prior to law school. Check out this updated 2024 blog for more information and advice. This post was written by Tom Robinson, Spivey Consulting Group's newest Senior Consultant. Hi Everyone, I’m excited to be on the Spivey team and enjoyed working with clients in my first week with Spivey Consulting after spending my last three at Ha

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15 Jun 2018

How many LSAT "takes" is too many for law school?

This is a question we’ve been getting a great deal since the June LSAT and something we also bounced around the entire Spivey Consulting team in a large and lengthy group discussion. Here is how we look at it, with a brief bit of salient history. Apologies in advance for the length of this post; I’ve tried to incorporate different parts of the many inquiries we have received into this one blog. When I, and a few of my colleagues at Spivey Consulting, first started admissions in the late '90s, t

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06 May 2018

"Hey Spivey, you look badass today"

"The only guarantees in this life are death, taxes, and email blunders" is how the expression should be updated. We pretty much all have made said blunders and will almost be guaranteed to make them again. This happens to hundreds, if not thousands of applicants in the admissions process each year at some level, ranging from disastrous to laughable. How bad can the mistakes be? Epically bad of course — you have likely heard some from friends or online. But those aren't mine to tell. So instead,

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20 Apr 2018

Don't Make This Common Wait List Mistake

Dear Dartmouth Law Office of Admissons: My friend, Ramsay Bolton, just withdrew as an admitted student and will be matriculating to another law school. I realize this opens up a place at Dartmouth Law, and believe I would be a great fit for your incoming class. DLS has always been my top choice and, if admitted for this spot, I would immediatly deposit. Most Sincerely, Theon Greyjoy A couple of things. 1. Just about every [actually exisiting] law school will get a letter like this, and

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23 Mar 2018

SCG Consultants' Favorite Helpful Quotes for the Law School Admissions Process

Other than waiting for LSAT scores, this time of year can be one of the most frustrating and stressful points in the law school admissions cycle. Many (many) law school applicants are still waiting for decisions, and there are loads of students on waitlists throughout the country. Whether you get your inspiration from a quote written in chalk on the road during your morning hike like Shannon, have quotes pinned to your bulletin board like Nikki and Danielle, or find your motivation in other way

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