Status Check with Spivey

Apr 29 2024 11
Status Check with Spivey Podcast artwork

Hosted 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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Work Experience, Admissions Strategy, & Legal Employment: What You Need to Know

Apr 29 2024 36 mins  
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Anna Hicks-Jaco speaks with Pre-L consultants Rob Cacace and Jordana Confino (bios here) about the growing importance of work experience in admissions, why the impact of being a "KJD" (going "from Kindergarten through law school" without full-time work experience) has increased over time, and—importantly—how work

What Are Your Chances Off the Waitlist?

Apr 24 2024 10 mins  
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike discusses the various factors that play into any given applicant's chances of admission coming off the waitlist. He also gives a quick preview of our (very early) predictions for next cycle. You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠, and ⁠�

Transferring Law Schools: Strategy & Process with Two Successful Applicants

Apr 15 2024 82 mins  
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Anna Hicks-Jaco has a conversation with Paula Gluzman—a Spivey consultant and former law school admissions officer at UCLA and UW—as well as two of her past clients who successfully transferred law schools: Katie, who transferred from a regional law school in Texas to Columbia, and Melissa, who transferred from a regional school on t

The New 2024 Law School Rankings Explained

Apr 09 2024 15 mins  
In this brief episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike discusses the changes U.S. News made to their methodology this year. You can view the full list of new law school rankings (with +/-) here. You can listen to Mike's last podcast, "Why Rankings Matter to People (& Why They Should Not)," here. You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on ⁠⁠Ap

The New LSAT & The Elimination of Logic Games, with PowerScore's Dave Killoran

Apr 03 2024 45 mins  
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Anna Hicks-Jaco has a conversation with PowerScore Founder & CEO Dave Killoran about the removal of the Logic Games section of the LSAT, the new writing section, and what all this might mean for the future of the law school admissions. You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Spoti

First-Gen Students: What We Wish We'd Known as Applicants, Law Students, & Young Lawyers

Mar 20 2024 48 mins  
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, five Spivey consultants discuss their experiences as first-generation college students, law students, and lawyers, with a particular focus on passing along advice and knowledge that they wish they had known. The episode includes Sir Williams, Derek Meeker, Sam Kwak, Peter Cramer, and Rob Cacace, who, among their numerous other accomplish

Why Rankings Matter to People (& Why They Should Not)

Mar 04 2024 12 mins  
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike discusses some of the psychological and societal reasons that rankings seem to matter so much to people—then explains the reasons that they shouldn't matter as much as they do. You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠Google Podc

International Students: Differences in Law School Admissions + Our Best Advice

Feb 26 2024 42 mins  
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Anna Hicks-Jaco has a conversation with two Spivey consultants, Peter Cramer and Tom Robinson (you can read their bios here), on differences in the admissions process for international applicants, how law school admissions has changed for international students over time, and our best advice for strategically navigating the current reali

Law School Admissions Now vs. 10 Years Ago

Feb 12 2024 38 mins  
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Anna has a conversation with Joe Pollak—one of Spivey's consultants and a former admissions officer at the University of Michigan Law School—about differences and similarities in law school admissions today vs. ten years ago. Anna brings the perspective of someone who was applying to law school a decade ago, while Joe brings his

The Growing Epidemic of Addiction in High Achievers, with Dr. Peter Grinspoon

Jan 30 2024 47 mins  
In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike interviews Dr. Peter Grinspoon—physician, Harvard Medical School instructor, and author of Free Refills: A Doctor Confronts His Addiction, in which he writes about his struggles with and recovery from opiate addiction. Mike and Dr. Grinspoon discuss mental health and wellness for high performers, why lawyers have such high rates o