Since you are all going to be lawyers soon, let me start by saying something you’ll be saying for the rest of your lives: it depends. But, that isn’t very helpful. Nor is really knowing that it depends on the particular school, their deadlines, their number of excess offers to give versus their number to matriculate, their mood (no joke), when you were admitted, and many other variables. But there are some concretes, so let me get to those, because this is a very tricky process. When you think about it, schools have thousands (or more) examples to draw from for how to negotiate a scholarship ..read more

On our most recent podcast with current applicant "Barb," who has yet to receive responses to any of her applications, we spoke a good deal about the uncertainty of the admissions process. Barb knows at an intrinsic level that she will get admits, but interestingly enough, humans hardly ever operate at the intrinsic level toward what is best for them. In actuality, we operate on an imitative or "mimicking" level — i.e. what is happening with others is what should be happening with us. Enter uncertainty and its greatest disciple, anxiety. There's a reason why the admissions process causes anxie ..read more

We wanted to provide a template for how to cold email someone, especially when there is an "ask" involved. You don't see many of these online, so here is one exchange below. Please take note of how easy we try to make things at each step of the way — we are the ones with the ask! — and how concise we get. We essentially promise that we aren't going to overpopulate their inboxes, which we would never do. It is counterproductive to all parties. We have been highly fortunate in that some of the world's leading researchers and psychologists have responded affirmatively to our cold emails: Dr. Guy ..read more

We wanted to provide a quick update on our availability for current-cycle (2021-2022) admissions consulting clients! We've been at full capacity and only taking clients on a waitlist basis for most of this application cycle so far, but we are fortunate to now have immediate availability for a number of our services: Single Application Review With this package, one of our expert admissions consultants will fully review one of your law school applications before you submit. You will then have a one-hour phone call during which they will provide detailed feedback and suggestions to enhance your a ..read more

Updated as of December 27, 2021 The following law schools are planning to start the spring 2022 semester remotely in order to combat the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. This also includes law schools that will be remote for the January intersession/short courses between the fall and spring semesters. Law schools that are requiring students to receive booster shots are also noted where applicable. Boston University School of Law Columbia Law School Duke University School of Law George Washington University Law School (boosters also required) Georgetown University Law Center (booster ..read more

Most applicants understand the basics of what it means to be waitlisted, but in this blog, we wanted to give a quick look at why and how law schools use their waitlists from an insider perspective, then outline the differences between a waitlist and a "hold" or a "hold tight email." Why a waitlist? Smart admissions deans have a good relationship with data. Past data tells them what to expect, and they try to make admissions decisions according to current cycle predictions. But data is not perfect. Imagine that Spivey Law School & Culinary Institute has a target 1L class size of 300. They a ..read more

In this episode, we continue our interview series with "Barb," a current applicant. Barb is a splitter with a 176 LSAT and a 3.1 GPA, and she's also a non-traditional applicant with 10+ years of full-time work experience after college. In this interview, she and Mike discuss the many emotions and anxieties that come up after you hit that "submit" button, what to expect as far as a timeline for hearing back from schools, and the potential implications of the Omicron variant for admitted students' days. You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube ..read more

In this episode, Mike has a conversation with Spivey Consulting's Business Intelligence Director Justin Kane (current 2L and data genius) about where this current admissions cycle (2021-2022) stands so far in terms of applicant volume, what that means, what we predict for the rest of the cycle, and some actionable admissions advice based on what we know so far. They also touch on why our numbers are slightly different from LSAC's (and why we believe ours capture a more accurate picture for current applicants), as well as how to interpret differences between applicant numbers and application nu ..read more

As scientists race to unravel how serious of a global health concern the Omicron variant is, a rash of media attention has us now being asked, "Could Omicron lead to colleges and graduate schools going fully remote?" Let's look at the possibilities from what we know so far. What is Omicron? Omicron is a mutated variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). Mutations occur quite frequently, but mostly are of little concern because they do not demonstrably alter the virus such that it avoids the growing body of preventive and therapeutic interventions. Omicron, howe ..read more

In this episode, Mike and our consultant Danielle Early (former Associate Director of Admissions at Harvard Law School) talk about safety schools and backup plans. How do you choose the right range of schools where your worst-case scenario is an outcome you can live with? For some that might be a law school where they're well above both medians; for others that might be taking a year off to continue their job or gain new work experience. If you take a year off, how will you strengthen your application? Should you plan to matriculate to a safety school but then transfer out? When is too late in ..read more