Fox Fact: Foxes can retract their claws as cats do, have vertical pupils (like cats) which allow them to see better in the dark, and have cat-like sensitive whiskers.
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Blog & Podcasts

24 Nov 2021

Podcast: "Safety Schools" and Making a Law School Backup Plan

In this episode, Mike and our consultant Danielle Early talk about safety schools and backup plans.

16 Nov 2021

Podcast: What Makes for a Successful Law School Interview?

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike has a conversation with our consultant Karen Buttenbaum (former Director of Admissions at Harvard Law School) about how to prepare for law school admissions interviews, best practices, common pitfalls, and other advice for the interviewing process.

11 Nov 2021

Podcast: Will Law Schools Be Able to Maintain Their Medians This Cycle?

In this episode, Mike predicts whether law schools will be able to maintain their high medians from last year, and how we expect that to play out across the course of the cycle. He also discusses how this will impact splitters and reverse splitters.

08 Nov 2021

How to Survive a Kira Interview

Even in the Before Times (back before COVID-19 turned the word “Zoom” from a fun thing puppies did at dog parks to the bane of my existence), there was the Kira: an online asynchronous interview platform utilized by Northwestern, Cornell, and Texas, amidst others.

02 Nov 2021

2021-2022 Application Cycle as of November 1st

We're not sure where the time has gone, but it's already November 1st, and we're a couple months into our 2021-2022 application cycle.

02 Nov 2021

Diary of a Law School Applicant's Cycle: Episode 1 (Pre-Submission)

In this episode, Mike interviews a current applicant (who we'll call "Barb") about her application process so far. 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.

27 Oct 2021

October 2021 LSAT Score Notes

Disclaimer: It's still early. Data is most volatile early and things can change. But I suspect, highly, this cycle won't look like last cycle in respect to number of high scorers 170+, and I also think it is likely applicants (maybe not applications though) will end up down from last year.

26 Oct 2021

Podcast: Dr. Anna Lembke, Author of Dopamine Nation & Featured on The Social Dilemma

Dr. Anna Lembke is a Stanford University psychiatrist, author of the New York Times best-seller Dopamine Nation, and a featured expert on the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma.

19 Oct 2021

Podcast: Justin Ishbia — Last WL Admit to Successful Major Donor

In 2001, Justin Ishbia was the last person Vanderbilt Law admitted off of their waitlist. He had been practice testing in the 170s and aiming for a top three law school, but when he ended up with a mid-150s LSAT score instead, he had to adjust his expectations.

12 Oct 2021

Podcast: Diversity & Adversity in Law School Admissions, with Sydney Montgomery

In this episode, Mike has a conversation with our consultant Derek Meeker (former Dean of Admissions at Penn Law) and Sydney Montgomery (founder of S. Montgomery Admissions Consulting) about the role of diversity and adversity in law school admissions.

05 Oct 2021

Podcast: Should You Do a Law School Admissions Interview?

In this podcast, Mike discusses the factors to consider when you receive an invitation to interview for a law school you've applied to.

02 Oct 2021

First Look. 2021-2022 Application Cycle Volume as of October 1st

LSAC has posted our first look at 2021-2022 applicant volume. As of today, there are 12.6% more law school applicants so far this cycle than there were at this time last year. For comparison, at this time last year there were 32.8% more applicants than the cycle before that.

30 Sep 2021

Podcast: The Challenge of Self-Doubt in Higher Education, with Terry Real

In this episode, world-renowned author, speaker, teacher, and therapist Terry Real discusses the emotional health hazards of grad school and law school and how to stay human during these stressful and highly evaluative periods of life.

25 Sep 2021

Our First 2021-2022 Cycle Data

We have our first glimpse at 2021-2022 cycle volume. As of 9/23 there were about 6,000 law school applicants so far this year. That's about 15% more than last cycle's ~5,100, and 50% more than the 2019-2020 cycle's ~3,900.

23 Sep 2021

Podcast: Interview with Penn Law Admissions Dean Renee Post

In this episode, Spivey Consulting's Derek Meeker — a former Penn Law Associate Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid — interviews Renee Post, Penn Law's current and long-standing Associate Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid.

09 Sep 2021

Law School Application Fee Waivers: Part 3 (Need-Based Fee Waivers)

This is Part 3 of our series on law school application fee waivers. For Part 1 is about unsolicited fee waivers that applicants can receive through LSAC’s Candidate Referral Service (CRS). Part 2 is about asking a law school for an application fee waiver. Part 3 covers need-based fee waivers.

06 Sep 2021

Podcast: Bad Law School Admissions Advice & More with UMich Law's Dean Z

In this episode, Mike has a conversation with Dean Sarah Zearfoss (also known as "Dean Z") about a number of admissions topics, including the prevalence of bad admissions advice and how to identify and avoid it.

03 Sep 2021

Interview with Mike Spivey on Admissions Predictions, Imposter Syndrome, and Things Law Schools Could Do Better

Mike Spivey was recently interviewed by Dean Patty Roberts for the EdUp Experience podcast — you can find that episode here.

03 Sep 2021

Top 8 Most Common Law School Application Mistakes

We were recently asked about the most common mistakes that we see applicants making, and below are our top eight.

30 Aug 2021

Podcast: The Past & Future of Legal Education, with Reuters Legal Reporter Karen Sloan

In this episode, Mike speaks with long-time legal education reporter Karen Sloan about her experiences and stories and the future of the legal field.