Advice

16 Jul 2015

33 Things That Annoy Admissions Officers and Hiring Partners

(Updated 5/26/2017) We've reached out (three times now!) to a number of friends at law schools and at firms and companies to see what things applicants did that made them grouchy (pro tip — it isn’t in your best interest to make them grouchy!). This is what we got; not surprisingly, a good deal of the items mentioned are related to emails. Law School Admissions/Employment Pet Peeves 1. When they launch into a sales presentation about themselves the moment we meet. -CEO of Company

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23 Jun 2015

Q&A with Michigan Law Admissions Dean Sarah Zearfoss (ongoing series updated June 24)

June 26th update and joint answer There seems to be a perception that law school admissions are the most numbers-oriented of the professional graduate schools (i.e., law, business, and medical). Is there merit to that view? If so, why do you think that is? Mike Spivey Response: I was recently asked this from a B-School admissions consultant, sans the medical school allusion, so I am going to jump in with my response to her which I hope will address this question, albeit without reference to m

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11 Jun 2015

2015 Forum/Fair Recruitment Schedule and Advice

First, LSAC’s schedule of events [http://www.lsac.org/jd/choosing-a-law-school/forums-and-other-events]. Now, our advice: Admissions Forums and Admissions Fairs matter. I would argue that as attendance at these events has waned steadily in the past 12 years, they now matter more than ever for the simple reason you can make a last impression. Still, there are enough people at each law school’s table where you will have to do it the right  way. Here is how: 1. First impressions matter Research

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10 Jun 2015

"Help, I failed the LSAT" June edition

The dust has cleared from June’s quiz and yet again and again (I’ve posted this article twice now) I have fielded phone calls from people who tell me they failed the LSAT. I’ve also heard thousands of times, “I way underperformed, I am doomed.” Indeed, we will hear from about 50-75 people in the next 2 days who think just that. There are hundreds more out there who think the same right now. For so many reasons, you can’t fail the LSAT. And because I have seen the following scenario unfold so m

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07 Jun 2015

Test day advice from a 99th percentile scorer

Here are some pointers for the test day, and what you can expect when you get to the test center: 1. Don’t expect to get started right away. Orchestrating such a large scale test involves a lot of logistics, sign-ins, seat assigning, and distribution of paper-work. While it varies between test centers, you can expect to bubble your first answer no sooner than an hour after arriving, often closer to two. If you’re prone to anxiety, plan accordingly, no need to panic in the p

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07 Jun 2015

LSAT State of Mind

(Last updated 9/5/18) If you are reading this, there is strong likelihood that soon you will be making the LSAC sponsored, law school endorsed pilgrimage to one of the many hundreds of testing centers to take the LSAT. If that alone doesn’t sound intimidating, LSAC and USNWR certainly makes it so. Bring this, not that. Wear this, not that (did you know that a guy once tried to take the test in a Spider Man suit?). LSAC themselves would pretty much not be able to sneak anything into a test site,

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16 May 2015

Time off before law school? Gap year? What should I do?

Thinking About Work Experience Before Law School? There are more payoffs than the paycheck! For over a decade, I have been giving advice about taking time off before going to law school: If there is nothing else on the planet that you’d rather do than go to law school, then you can just go straight through from college. But it is important that this is an informed and conscious decision to go to law school straight out of college, and not a result of tunnel vision. Many students are so focused

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14 May 2015

Karen Buttenbaum Interviewed by USNWR on the "gap year"

For the record we (and many law admissions officers we know) don’t necessarily agree with the terminology “gap” — which originated to describe the space between a year off before going to undergraduate. But semantics be damned, here [http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2015/05/14/smart-ways-to-make-the-most-of-gap-years-before-law-school] is the article. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Getting ready t

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20 Apr 2015

The Top 5 Most Popular Spivey Consulting Blogs Of The Last 3 years

1. 103 Pages of Admissions Questions Answered [http://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/103-pages-of-free-law-school-admissions-advice/] 2. Scholarship Negotiation Advice [http://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/mistake-1-you-are-too-nice/] 3. Is an Early Decision Application Bump at t14 real? Some data. [http://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/early-decision-at-t14-is-the-bump-real/] (*note each year this advice changes slightly based on admit patterns by law schools)

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19 Apr 2015

LSAT Test Day and Navy Seal Dropout Rates

I wanted to share a story I read about Navy Seal Training, as I think it has meaning for those waiting to take the LSAT. The article was about Navy Seal training dropout rates (which are infamously high about 800 out of every 1000 dropout). The interesting part wasn’t the rate, it was the rate of those Seal candidates who drop out while they are actually doing the grueling work — almost 0%. They don’t quit while running or swimming or doing other activities, they quit while waiting to do these.

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