Status Check with Spivey
139 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 months ago - ★★★★★ - 46 ratingsHosted by Mike Spivey, founder of the Spivey Consulting Group, the Status Check covers life and wellbeing plus all things law school and admissions. Our admissions advice comes from our Spivey Consulting team — who collectively have over 220 years of experience working in law school admissions offices including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Chicago, and Penn — and covers how to get into the best possible law school you can, plus news and predictions about the current state of law school admissions.
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Episodes
Interviews with Law School Applicants About the Admissions Process
January 16, 2021 15:43 - 1 hour - 67.6 MBIn this podcast, Mike Spivey interviews groups of current law school applicants about their experiences with the admissions process — what has surprised them, how they've handled the stress, what they expect for the future, and what advice they would give to someone at the beginning of the process. The participants are all volunteers from r/LawSchoolAdmissions, and only one happened to be a client of Spivey Consulting. Here's a link to the blog post Mike mentioned in the podcast, The Malevol...
Commonly Misunderstood—But Important—Parts of the Law School Application Process
January 05, 2021 13:44 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBIn this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses some of the most commonly held misconceptions about the law school admissions process, and how understanding them can help you get admitted. - 0:30 – admissions is inherently comparative - 4:21 – admissions officers want to get to know you - 7:12 – how do law schools make money? - 11:03 – being a savvy applicant (regarding advice from law school admissions offices) You can also listen to this podcast on YouTube https://youtu.be/HQxl4ZxQCzY or Apple Pod...
Winter Break Podcast: A Favorite Personal Statement
December 29, 2020 13:49 - 5 minutes - 4.78 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting's Anna Hicks reads one of her favorite personal statements of all time. Please note that this essay includes mention of illicit drugs, abuse, and violence. The full text of the personal statement is included in the description of the video on YouTube https://youtu.be/-IRdTexQHR8 — please note that all names have been changed for anonymity, and this essay is shared with permission from the applicant. Thanks for listening, and happy holidays.
Holiday Law School Admissions AMA with Mike Spivey
December 22, 2020 17:07 - 28 minutes - 26.7 MBIn this podcast, Mike Spivey takes questions from Reddit! You can listen to this podcast here, or on YouTube https://youtu.be/jmCCcK8AVTM or Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spivey-consulting-law-school-admissions-podcast/id1477090223
Law School "Yield Protection" — What It Is & Steps to Take to Prevent It
December 15, 2020 21:02 - 11 minutes - 11 MBIn this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses the phenomenon in law school admissions known as "yield protection," and explains steps you can take to prevent being waitlisted as a result of it. You can also listen to this podcast on YouTube https://youtu.be/Qkdm-3eF7tg or Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spivey-consulting-law-school-admissions-podcast/id1477090223 As promised in the podcast, here are some resources for how to choose which law school to attend: - My Rank by Spiv...
Staying Calm in the Law School Admissions Process
December 08, 2020 15:46 - 14 minutes - 13.4 MBIn this newest episode of our weekly Tuesday law school admissions podcasts, Mike Spivey talks about how to stay calm in the law school admissions process. You can also listen to this podcast on YouTube https://youtu.be/V4SpDNg3BvI or Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spivey-consulting-law-school-admissions-podcast/id1477090223 0:24 — outline 1:42 — good news for this cycle 4:43 — biological reasons for stress and how to manage it 11:07 — long-term optimism
Introduction to Law School Admissions for Under-Represented Minority (URM) Applicants
November 23, 2020 22:15 - 16 minutes - 14.8 MBToday's podcast is from our consultant Sir Williams, former Director of Admissions at the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he led the successful implementation of UW’s first pre-law diversity pipeline summer program. In this podcast, Sir gives a broad introduction to law school admissions for under-represented minority (URM) applicants — what "counts" as URM for admissions, why it matters, and some special considerations URM applicants might want to flag. A few links mentioned in th...
How the LSAT-Flex Has Changed the Admissions Cycle
November 20, 2020 19:43 - 9 minutes - 8.6 MBIn this podcast, Mike Spivey talks about the LSAT-Flex, particularly is it relates to timelines and the pace of admissions this cycle. It is important to note that LSAT scores are higher at the top bandwidths right now than one would expect in any cycle. There are several hypotheses out there for why that is. LSAC maintains that they will organically come down to natural levels. Spivey Consulting (and others we should note) believes that we won't maintain this pace of increase, just like eve...
Law School Admissions/LSAT Q&A with Mike Spivey and PowerScore’s Dave Killoran
November 13, 2020 19:52 - 1 hour - 63.6 MBIn this podcast, Mike Spivey and PowerScore founder Dave Killoran ask each other questions about law school admissions (Mike's wheelhouse) and the LSAT (Dave's specialty). You can also listen to this podcast on YouTube https://youtu.be/UgkmlM-Xc74 or Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spivey-consulting-law-school-admissions-podcast/id1477090223 Check out PowerScore's options for LSAT prep here https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/ Please note that our waitlist for this cycle...
Self-Care, the Fallacy of Reductionism, and Something to Be Said for an N of 1
November 12, 2020 18:55 - 16 minutes - 14.9 MBIn this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses one of the fundamental difficulties of applying to law school—and how to cope with it. Mike mentions two blog posts in this podcast: the first, about all the different variables that go into law school admissions, can be found here: https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/all-things-considered/ and the second, about load management days, can be found here: https://www.spiveyblog.com/posts/load-management-day-sxh78 You can also listen to this podcast on YouTub...
The Overlooked Upsides to an 'Up' Cycle
October 29, 2020 20:57 - 4 minutes - 3.94 MBIn this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses the upsides to a law school admissions cycle when applicant numbers are significantly up from the prior year. You can also listen to this podcast on YouTube https://youtu.be/04PWb7_9IGs or Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spivey-consulting-law-school-admissions-podcast/id1477090223 Choosing which law schools to apply to or attend? Check out My Rank, where you can make personalized rankings based on the metrics you care about most: h...
Strategy
October 12, 2020 17:17 - 8 minutes - 8.18 MBIn this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses the three elements of admissions, particularly focusing on the one that is both the most important and the least understood. You can read a transcript of this podcast on our blog https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/the-three-elements-of-admissions/ You can also listen to this podcast on YouTube https://youtu.be/A8b5O4yYfoY or Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spivey-consulting-law-school-admissions-podcast/id1477090223
The Three Elements of Admissions and Why the Most Important is Also the Least Understood
October 12, 2020 17:17 - 8 minutes - 8.18 MBIn this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses the three elements of admissions, particularly focusing on the one that is both the most important and the least understood. You can read a transcript of this podcast on our blog https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/the-three-elements-of-admissions/ You can also listen to this podcast on YouTube https://youtu.be/A8b5O4yYfoY or Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spivey-consulting-law-school-admissions-podcast/id1477090223
Overview of LLM Admissions
October 09, 2020 11:22 - 6 minutes - 5.56 MBThis podcast is hosted by Dr. Peter Cramer, our LLM & International Admissions Consultant. Dr. Cramer has been working in legal education for over 25 years. He started his law school career at Indiana University Maurer School of Law and later went to Georgetown University Law Center where he served as the Associate Director of the Center for Global Legal English. For nine years prior to joining Spivey Consulting Group, Dr. Cramer worked as the Assistant Dean for Graduate and International Stu...
Predicting This Cycle's Admissions Pace
September 28, 2020 20:01 - 8 minutes - 8.23 MBIn this podcast, Mike Spivey predicts what to expect as far as the timing of admissions decisions this year, then discusses the preliminary LSAC data that has applicants wondering whether this will be a far more competitive cycle than normal. You can also listen to this podcast on YouTube https://youtu.be/8A24gIVjcB0, or read the transcript on our blog https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/predicting-this-cycles-admissions-pace/ Please note that we are currently at capacity and are not taking n...
How to Tell If You're Overdoing It in Law School Admissions
August 09, 2020 18:20 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group founder Mike Spivey discusses one of the most common mistakes in law school admissions that we see from applicants who have underperformed their numbers — overdoing it in the admissions process — then details the most common types of applicants this happens to: the "over-explainer," the "over-spammer," the "over-[publically] talker," the "permutator," and the "boundary pusher." You can find the blog post Mike mentions in the podcast, "Spooky Halloween...
Admissions Q&A with Mike Spivey
August 01, 2020 18:01 - 56 minutes - 51.5 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group founder Mike Spivey answers questions from r/lawschooladmissions on strategies for splitters, international students, non-traditional applicants, reapplicants, and more. You can view the full video interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/x4OWh53SAjM
E to Esquire Interview with Mike Spivey: WLs, Next Cycle Admissions, & Recession Job Search
July 20, 2020 23:57 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBOn today's podcast, Mike Spivey is interviewed by E to Esquire on a variety of topics, including late-cycle waitlist strategy, next cycle admissions, and how to search for a legal job in a recession. You can find the E to Esquire YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjI0PaeoThl7iK-ULdLF7aw
University, College, and Law School COVID-19 Update & An Alternative Model
June 27, 2020 22:55 - 15 minutes - 14.1 MBCOVID-19 isn't going anywhere in the near future, yet all but 3 law schools and only 8% of universities and colleges have announced they will be entirely remote for fall 2020. What is the most recent update, and is there a middle ground that can be reached to decrease on-campus density so that the likelihood of cluster outbreaks is significantly reduced? You can also listen on YouTube https://youtu.be/E1u9T65OnTE or Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spivey-consulting-la...
Recession Podcast: Job Search Tips You Won’t Hear from Career Services
June 11, 2020 19:15 - 15 minutes - 14.1 MBMike Spivey served as a law school dean of career services during the Great Recession, and in this podcast he shares his best actionable advice for legal networking that you won't hear from your CSO. This podcast is also available on: YouTube https://youtu.be/_SfuhvOVhVo Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spivey-consulting-law-school-admissions-podcast Deciding on a law school? Check out My Rank, a free service that allows you to create your own law school rankings and c...
Harvard Law Goes Fully Remote: Will Other Law Schools Follow Suit and What It Means for Applicants
June 05, 2020 17:13 - 12 minutes - 11.9 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group founder Mike Spivey discusses Harvard Law School's recent announcement that all classes will be held fully remotely for Fall 2020 — what does it mean for other law schools, for international students, the ABA, and current applicants? Will this cause more waitlist movement? What about deferrals? Plus, a bit of a look into what the 2020-2021 cycle might bring. You can also listen to this podcast on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/jBpDtQBHtt0 Or on...
Universities, Colleges, and Law Schools Plan to Be Open On Campus This Fall
April 28, 2020 23:22 - 30 minutes - 28 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group founder and higher education expert Mike Spivey discusses the plans universities are making to resume on-campus operations this fall, as well as challenges to those plans from the medical community. To see the diagrams discussed in this podcast, please visit our blog: blog.spiveyconsulting.com/universities-colleges-and-law-schools-plan-to-be-open-on-campus-this-fall
Will Universities, Colleges, and Law School Campuses Be Open in Fall 2020?
April 03, 2020 21:18 - 14 minutes - 13.8 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group founder and expert on higher education Mike Spivey discusses the various factors university and law school leadership are considering in their discussions of whether or not to reopen campuses in the fall. Other Spivey Consulting resources to check out — YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/SpiveyConsultingLawSchoolAdmissionsAdvice My Rank: https://myrankbyspivey.com/ Blog: https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/
How Will Law School Transfer Admissions Be Impacted by COVID-19?
April 02, 2020 17:57 - 15 minutes - 13.9 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group founder Mike Spivey discusses how COVID-19 and new grading systems will affect law school transfer admissions. Other Spivey Consulting resources to check out — YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/SpiveyConsultingLawSchoolAdmissionsAdvice My Rank: https://myrankbyspivey.com/ Blog: https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/
Update on COVID-19 / Coronavirus & Law School Admissions
March 18, 2020 18:10 - 4 minutes - 3.92 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting founder Mike Spivey discusses some updates and predictions for the developing coronavirus situation and how it has and will continue to affect law school admissions. Other Spivey Consulting resources to check out — YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/SpiveyConsultingLawSchoolAdmissionsAdvice My Rank: myrankbyspivey.com Blog: blog.spiveyconsulting.com
Spivey Consulting on Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the Implications for Law Schools and Admissions
March 12, 2020 23:46 - 22 minutes - 21 MBIn this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses the potential implications of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) on law schools and law school admissions. Thanks all, and stay healthy. Other Spivey Consulting resources to check out — YouTube: www.youtube.com/SpiveyConsultingLawSchoolAdmissionsAdvice My Rank: https://myrankbyspivey.com/ Blog: https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/
How Mike Spivey Would Apply to Law School
February 23, 2020 16:23 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBThis is a very encompassing podcast that features the A to Z of the law school admissions process, starting with "Why am I applying" and finishing with scholarship negotiation and the three things that applicants are doing who are punching above their numbers this competitive cycle—with most everything in between covered. Three other blogs/podcasts are mentioned during this podcast: First, the brief motivational blog Mike wrote that caught that eye of deans of admissions in respect to writi...
Joe Pollak on Work Life Balance in Law School
February 19, 2020 15:00 - 10 minutes - 9.44 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group law school admissions consultant and former admissions officer at the University of Michigan Law School Joe Pollak discusses strategies for finding work/life balance in law school. As always, check out our website at www.spiveyconsulting.com for more information, and please reach out to us at [email protected] for more information about working with us. Also check out our custom law school rankings/comparison data website, https://myrankbyspiv...
How Will The Rest Of The 2019/2020 Law School Admissions Cycle Play Out?
February 08, 2020 18:36 - 14 minutes - 13.2 MBIn this podcast, SCG's Mike Spivey speaks on what to expect for the rest of the cycle — including why it might greatly favor some people with strong softs this summer, thus making it a "Soft Cycle," but also why it has and will continue to be slow. Also discussed are two internal LSAC changes that will have significant impact for the rest of the admissions cycle and in future years. Finally, the link Mike mentioned to the blog he wrote to those who are done and checking out of the admissions...
Mike Spivey on How to Approach and What to Take Away from Admitted Student Days/Weekends
January 15, 2020 22:29 - 15 minutes - 14.1 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group Founding Partner Mike Spivey talks about why law schools have admitted student programs, what you can expect from them, what you can expect from others at the event, and how to make the most of the visit. The other podcast he mentions, about insecurity, can be found here: https://www.spiveyblog.com/posts/overcoming-insecurity As always, please reach out to us at [email protected] for more information about working with us. Also check out our...
How To Prepare For Law School In The Summer Before 1L
December 30, 2019 15:36 - 9 minutes - 8.32 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group Pre-L Instructor Rob Cacace discusses how best to prepare for law school during the summer before you begin your first year, in three ways—academic, professional, and just... life (underrated but important!). Our website is here: https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/ Also check us out on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spivey-consulting-law-school-admissions-podcast/id1477090223 and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA_Rbmm6gS...
Mike Spivey on LSAT Prep: Discomfort Zone
December 18, 2019 19:03 - 6 minutes - 5.56 MBIn this podcast, Mike Spivey discusses the most effective macro-level strategy for preventing the common problem of practice testing at a high level—then underperforming on test day. The other podcast he mentions, about mental preparation on test day, is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbv4D... Our website is here: https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/ Also check us out on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spivey-consulting-law-school-admissions-podcast/id1477090223 an...
Deep Inside Law School Admissions: What I Wish Applicants Knew
November 23, 2019 17:18 - 7 minutes - 6.98 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group Founder and Partner Mike Spivey goes in-depth on the real reasons some applicants are admitted to law schools even if they're below both medians. Spivey Consulting blog post mentioned in this podcast: https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/getting-admitted-below-both-medians-heres-how-we-did-it/ Other blog mentioned in this podcast: https://www.spiveyblog.com/ As always, please reach out to us at [email protected] for more information about workin...
Calming Your LSAT Anxiety
October 14, 2019 14:38 - 10 minutes - 9.3 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group Founder and Partner Mike Spivey discusses how the LSAT might not be as important as you think it is—and how we hope that fact can calm your nerves as you walk into the test. Blog post mentioned in this episode: https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/staying-mentally-cool-and-crushing-the-december-lsat/ Also check us out on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/c/SpiveyConsultingLawSchoolAdmissionsAdvice and Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sp...
Traits of Law School Applicants Who Outperform Their Numbers
October 09, 2019 19:43 - 12 minutes - 11.9 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group Founder and Partner Mike Spivey discusses commonalities between applicants who punch above their numbers. This podcast is also available on YouTube https://youtu.be/BLRo4A3Xd_0 and Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spivey-consulting-law-school-admissions-podcast/id1477090223 If you would like more personalized advice, please reach out to us at [email protected] or check out our website at spiveyconsulting.com. Also be sure ...
Do you have to explain WHY you are going to law school in your law school application?
September 08, 2019 14:19 - 6 minutes - 15 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group Founder and Partner Mike Spivey discusses whether you have to explain why you are going to law school in your law school application. Other podcasts/blogs mentioned in this podcast: - Spivey Consulting Sample Law School Personal Statements: https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/all-sample-personal-statements/ (the specific bike PS mentioned is #5!) - Spivey Blog podcast episode about trail running and overcoming adversity: https://www.spiveyblog.com/posts...
How to Overcome the Adversity in Your Life
September 03, 2019 14:14 - 10 minutes - 19.7 MBIn this episode, Mike Spivey tells the story of the greatest adversity he has encountered in his life, how he overcame it, and how anyone can overcome the adversity in their life in that same way.
Do "Softs" Matter In Law School Admissions?
August 19, 2019 17:31 - 6 minutes - 12.5 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group founder and partner Mike Spivey discusses whether "soft factors" — those parts of your application apart from your LSAT or GRE score and your undergraduate GPA — matter in law school admissions. You can find far more free advice on our blog https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/ and on our YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/c/SpiveyConsultingLawSchoolAdmissionsAdvice. Or if you need more personalized advice, you can always reach out to us to set up a f...
Mike Spivey On What Matters Most In Law School Admissions
August 19, 2019 17:30 - 9 minutes - 16.8 MBIn this podcast, Spivey Consulting Group founder and partner Mike Spivey discusses the key factors that make for successful law school applications. You can find far more free advice on our blog https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/ and on our YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/c/SpiveyConsultingLawSchoolAdmissionsAdvice. Or if you need more personalized advice, you can always reach out to us to set up a free initial phone consultation at [email protected]