Application Timing
Many law school websites have somewhat unclear language about how early you should send in an application, and applicants hear conflicting information from friends, colleagues, and pre-law advisers.
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Admissions
01 Jul 2019
26 Jun 2019
How to set your letter of recommendation writer up for success
The best recommendations come from people who know you well and can write about your abilities from personal observation.
Read full post07 Jun 2019
Law School Application Fee Waivers: Part 1 (Unsolicited Fee Waivers)
This is a three-part series on fee waivers from Joe Pollak [https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/about/], Spivey Consulting Group admissions consultant and former admissions officer at the University of Michigan Law School. Part 1 discusses how to get unsolicited merit-based fee waivers for your law school applications. Part 2 [https://spiveyconsulting.ghost.io/law-school-application-fee-waivers-part-2/] will cover requesting merit-based fee waivers, and Part 3 [https://spiveyconsulting.ghost.io/law
Read full post04 Jun 2019
What makes for successful law school admission?
Spivey Consulting Partner Mike Spivey [https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/about/] talks about the two primary things at the highest order that make applications stand out and elevate in the admissions process.
Read full post20 May 2019
2018-2019 Waitlist Movement and Advice, Mid-May Update
It's that time of year: waitlist movement time. Many first and second deposit deadlines have passed, and schools are starting the process of finalizing their entering 2019 classes. That's good news for thousands of nervous applicants who are sitting on waitlists anxiously hoping for news. Those of you who were around in the 2017-2018 cycle remember it as a summer of disappointment. The dramatic 7.9% increase in LSAT applicants in that cycle overwhelmed many schools unprepared for such drastic
Read full post16 May 2019
Predicting the 2019/2020 Law School Admissions Cycle
It's that time of year: but before our predictions, our exciting annual disclaimer. I feel like this is more important than ever, so please read, even if after jumping down below. Disclaimer: the future is hard to see. When we do this annual blog, we talk to many experts—CEOs of LSAT prep companies, deans of law schools, deans of admissions, and so forth. The first thing almost everyone says is, "Well who knows what next cycle will be like?" then the second thing is often "Wait, aren't you the p
Read full post08 May 2019
Law Schools in Order of Selectivity
Data is based on acceptance rates for the incoming class of 2018. Source: ABA-required disclosures. 1 Yale University 6.85% 2 Stanford University 8.72% 3 Harvard University 12.86% 4 University of Pennsylvania 14.58% 5 University of Virginia 15.33% 6 Columbia University 16.79% 7 University of Chicago 17.48% 8 University of Southern California 19.24% 9 Northwestern University 19.33% 10 University of Michigan 19.60% 11 University of California—Berkeley 19.69% 12 Duke University 20.15%
Read full post25 Apr 2019
The June LSAT and Waitlists
Registration for the June 2019 LSAT closed yesterday. Most people who are signed up for that LSAT administration are going to be using it to apply in the 2019-2020 cycle. But as law school applicants become increasingly savvy to the importance of LSAT scores in admissions, many applicants are re-taking the test in June to improve their chances of getting off a waitlist. Last year alone an additional 7% of June LSAT takers were retaking the test over historical averages—many presumably in hopes o
Read full post15 Apr 2019
Accurate Names of Law Schools
When referring to a school, you should make sure that you are using the names that they prefer to be called rather than what you may know them as colloquially. Also make sure that you are using the correct name – some are schools of law, some are law schools, while others are colleges of law. You don’t want to miss such details. Here is a (likely incomplete) list of how the top 50-ish schools refer to themselves in their marketing materials: 1 - Yale Law School – YLS – Yale 2 - Stanford La
Read full post06 Apr 2019
The Top 15 Characteristics of Applicants Who Have Admissions Success Beyond Their Numbers
1. They stay positive and engaged for the entire admissions cycle. 2. They pay attention to every little detail of their application. 3. They are genuine and write from the heart. 4. They are self-aware. 5. They are actively involved with things that are important to them outside of the application process. 6. They have a very clear reason why they are applying to law school and they can articulate verbally and in writing. 7. They are adaptable. 8. They utilize every op
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