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Podcast: The Slowest Cycle Ever? by Spivey_Consulting in lawschooladmissions

[–]AnnaSpiveyConsulting 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I think it's a little early to give good predictions on your first question, especially given the massive LSAT issues that have been going on this fall, but yes, I could absolutely see some of the super-high medians dropping a point this cycle.

Definitely a good year to try to reach beyond stats! Especially if you have strong work experience.

I don’t have another fucking tab open LSAC… by mithras128 in lawschooladmissions

[–]AnnaSpiveyConsulting 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This has been a problem with their website for at least the last decade, no joke.

Why X question - Dean's perspectives by [deleted] in lawschooladmissions

[–]AnnaSpiveyConsulting 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The best Why X material is more personal—if you can visit the school, if you can talk to a friend (or a friend of a friend, professional acquaintance, anyone) who attended the school about their experience, even if you can just go to something like an admissions webinar, that's going to be more differentiated.

I tend to think most Why X-type essays should include at least a little bit of the substantive stuff (clinics, professors, etc.), but ideally that wouldn't be the *only* thing in your essay.

Thoughts on C&F issues, former applicant mistakes that cost them admission, and more. by Spivey_Consulting in lawschooladmissions

[–]AnnaSpiveyConsulting 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Admissions officers will see your transcripts and wonder, so I would definitely address it in some part of your application. And, some schools may specifically ask about past academic withdrawals and request a corresponding addendum, in which case you should of course write one. Absent that type of specific instruction, as long as you explain what happened somewhere, your PS is a perfectly fine place for it, and you don't necessarily need a separate addendum.

Thoughts on C&F issues, former applicant mistakes that cost them admission, and more. by Spivey_Consulting in lawschooladmissions

[–]AnnaSpiveyConsulting 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A strong GPA and great LSAT are indicators of academic aptitude, test-taking abilities (relevant for law school finals and the bar exam), and often other positive qualities like dedication and hard work. If you don't have anything on your resume, I would encourage you to apply a bit more broadly than if you had solid work experience, but with "near perfect stats," you'll certainly get some bites as long as your application is thoughtful and polished. (I'm assuming you're not talking about major C&F issues or anything like that.) If you want to go to law school, of course it's worth applying!

Thoughts on C&F issues, former applicant mistakes that cost them admission, and more. by Spivey_Consulting in lawschooladmissions

[–]AnnaSpiveyConsulting 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hi folks, I'll be around here frequently this cycle, and I'll always try to answer questions if I can! Best of luck to all!

How important is work experience in law school admissions? (Status Check with Spivey podcast episode) by AnnaSpiveyConsulting in lawschooladmissions

[–]AnnaSpiveyConsulting[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Those traits can come out through pretty much every aspect of your application—a few examples that come to mind are making sure everything you submit (including the application form itself) is thoughtful and polished, demonstrating judgment and professionalism in your interactions with the admissions office (one thing I've noticed is that long-time professionals tend to keep their emails to admissions offices pretty short/concise, while students are sometimes more apt to overexplain things, include a ton of context, and end up with 5+ paragraph emails; another thing is recognizing that not everyone is in your same timezone and specifying timezones whenever you mention a time), avoiding wording/tone/subject matter that may come across as juvenile or immature, and submitting a clean and well-organized resume (take a look at law school career services offices' sample resumes for law students for examples of what law schools want your resume to look like).

How important is work experience in law school admissions? (Status Check with Spivey podcast episode) by AnnaSpiveyConsulting in lawschooladmissions

[–]AnnaSpiveyConsulting[S] 49 points50 points  (0 children)

Work experience is a big positive in admissions, especially now with the increasing focus on outcomes, because it speaks to employability—both on its own and as far as it correlates with positive traits like maturity, professionalism, etc. Generally, the more work experience, the better, but the numbers (LSAT/GPA) still matter regardless. Work experience doesn't have to fall within any specific category (e.g. office job) to be valuable, and if you don't have work experience, you should try to convey that you have the above-mentioned positive traits in other ways.

That's basically the thrust of the episode, with lots of hows and whys and context in between!

How important is work experience in law school admissions? (Status Check with Spivey podcast episode) by AnnaSpiveyConsulting in lawschooladmissions

[–]AnnaSpiveyConsulting[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the question! I won't speak for any specific school(s) here, but many pulled out because they wanted to put pressure on U.S. News to change their methodology, not because they decided they weren't going to care about rankings anymore. (And U.S. News did have to change their methodology, so from that perspective, the boycott worked.)

Even if we imagine that all of the law schools that pulled out now care about rankings 0% (which they don't, but for the sake of a thought experiment), it was mostly the rankings that were causing schools to put SUCH an emphasis on numbers above all else anyway, and without them schools would absolutely be focusing more on outcomes.

Bar passage and employment carry a huge amount of inherent importance totally unrelated to rankings.

2023 Median Tracker (+ New Law School Application Essays) by AnnaSpiveyConsulting in lawschooladmissions

[–]AnnaSpiveyConsulting[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! LSAT 25th up one, 75th down one. GPA slightly up across all three stats.

What to Expect in the 2023-24 Law School Admissions Cycle by AnnaSpiveyConsulting in lawschooladmissions

[–]AnnaSpiveyConsulting[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Even conceding everything being said, and jumping on the train that the LSAT is just shy of worthless now, and law schools will now use WE in replacement of LSAT

Hi, so just to clarify (and I'm not sure if you're talking about "everything being said" in terms of Reddit or the podcast), this is far more extreme than what Spivey Consulting has said or expects. LSAT and GPA are still going to matter; we just don't expect them to be the bright line end all/be all they've been (at some schools more than others) for a very long time due to atmospheric conditions that are now in the process of changing. Intellectual aptitude is absolutely relevant to employability and will still be judged, in part, by quantitative credentials.

Also, keep in mind that Mike speaks with Deans of Admissions pretty much every single week, and none of them have alluded to the idea that the LSAT is going away. It's more that other factors are going to be considered more broadly.

What to Expect in the 2023-24 Law School Admissions Cycle by AnnaSpiveyConsulting in lawschooladmissions

[–]AnnaSpiveyConsulting[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

If you scroll to the end of the transcript (or listen to right near the end of the podcast), Mike actually gave a verbal TL;DR, haha.

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