Status Check with Spivey

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Anna Hicks-Jaco interviews Natalie Blazer, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Chief Admissions Officer at the University of Virginia School of Law, on the upcoming 2025-2026 admissions cycle, how applicants should be thinking about and taking into account relevant current events, and advice for prospective law students preparing to submit their applications. They discuss predictions for the 2025-26 cycle (1:56), rising LSAT and GPA medians (20:22, 27:45), changes they've made to their application this year (12:30), the new student loan cap (30:26), how admissions offices are considering applicants writing about politics and protest in the current political climate (4:18), how they evaluate applicants who have been unable to get a job after graduating from college (7:36), whether writing about AI is overdone (36:34), advice for the "Why UVA" essay (13:05), and much more. As a brief disclaimer, Dean Blazer speaks for herself and often for UVA Law in this episode; her opinions do not reflect those of all admissions officers. In addition to her work at UVA Law, Natalie has served as Director of J.D. Admissions at Georgetown University Law Center and was Associate Director of Admissions at Columbia Law School. She hosts the UVA Law podcast Admissible [https://www.law.virginia.edu/admissions/admissible-podcast], which "offers insights into the world of law school admissions and a behind-the-scenes look at life as a law student through interviews with students, faculty, alumni and staff." We've interviewed Natalie twice for Status Check before, and though we weren't able to get to all of the questions that Redditors requested we ask, we answered many of them in these past episodes: * An Insider Look at Admissions with UVA Law Dean Natalie Blazer (Reddit Q&A + Artificial Intelligence in Admissions) [https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/blog-post/dean-natalie-blazer-podcast/] * UVA Law Admissions Dean Natalie Blazer Dives Deep into Law School Admissions [https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/blog-post/uva-law-dean-blazer-podcast/] Please note: At the time that we recorded this episode, we noted that August 2025 LSAT registrants were up 27% relative to August 2024 registrants but that that number would come down over the days of the test administration. Ultimately, August LSAT registrants landed at a 23.7% increase vs. last year. You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/status-check-with-spivey/id1477090223?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io], ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1axZqBvq28wpvhKEq2l7sV?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io], and ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA_Rbmm6gSV09dUwrnlBjyQ/?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io]. You can read a full transcript of this episode (with timestamps) here [https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/blog-post/dean-natalie-blazer-podcast-2025].

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike interviews William ("Bill") Treanor on his long and recently-concluded tenure as Dean of Georgetown University Law Center as well as his experiences and perspectives from a 40-year career. Bill talks about the the biggest changes he's seen during his time in legal education (16:06), the coming changes he foresees in the short-term future both good (19:22) and bad (20:56), his proudest accomplishments as a law school dean (41:57), the biggest challenges law students face today (24:27), and how he reacted and famously responded to the letter from Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin threatening not to hire Georgetown Law graduates if the school was found to be teaching a curriculum involving diversity, equity, and inclusion (1:33). You can read Dean Treanor's full response to then-Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin here [https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/06480bde-06ed-419f-841e-762c8198b508.pdf]. Other topics they discuss include the value (and lack of value) of the Socratic method (16:30), experiential learning in law school (16:06) and the potential effects of a current proposal before the ABA (20:56), the growing field of law and technology (19:22), the prospect of government taking accrediting authority from independent organizations (21:57), the current and coming impacts of AI on legal education and practice (23:43, 46:58), how law firms have learned from past recessions and overreactions (29:33), Bill's take on the current surge in law school applicants (30:36), his advice for prospective law students today (33:48), and his thoughts on the law school rankings (35:18). Bill Treanor served as Dean of Georgetown University Law Center for 15 years, prior to which he served as Dean of Fordham University School of Law for almost 20 years. His accomplishments at Georgetown were innumerable—you can read more about him and his impressive career here [https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/william-m-treanor/]. You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/status-check-with-spivey/id1477090223?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io], ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1axZqBvq28wpvhKEq2l7sV?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io], and ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA_Rbmm6gSV09dUwrnlBjyQ/?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io]. You can read a full transcript of this episode (with timestamps) here [https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/blog-post/bill-treanor-podcast].

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Spivey J.D. admissions consultants Danielle Early (former Associate Director of Admissions at Harvard Law School and military/veteran admissions specialist) and Mike Burns (former Director of Admissions & Financial Aid at Northwestern Law and Navy veteran) interview Brian Henson, a former consulting client of Danielle's, Navy Intelligence Officer, Service to School [https://www.service2school.org/] mentor, Harvard Law Armed Forces Association president, and recent HLS graduate. They discuss Brian's story of applying to law school from the middle of the ocean on an aircraft carrier and his experiences as a veteran at HLS, plus insights into admissions and legal education specifically targeted at military veterans and those on active duty. What considerations should military applicants keep in mind that differ from non-military applicants? What is the adjustment like moving from the military to law school? What sorts of admissions resources are available for military members and veterans? What are common pieces of misinformation that military applicants may encounter, and what's the true story? They cover these topics and more, including admissions for enlisted soldiers vs. officers (29:36), getting letters of recommendation from supervisors/commanders (36:44), application timing (5:28 and 21:51), resumes (43:36), personal statements (46:08), determining your chances and making a school list (31:51), job search advice (1:03:42), and more. You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/status-check-with-spivey/id1477090223?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io], ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1axZqBvq28wpvhKEq2l7sV?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io], and ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA_Rbmm6gSV09dUwrnlBjyQ/?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io]. You can read a full transcript of this episode here [https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/blog-post/podcast-military-members-and-veterans].

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Anna Hicks-Jaco interviews Sam Parker, Spivey’s newest admissions consultant, on her top 25 (or so) strategic law school admissions insights from her years as Associate Director of Admissions at Harvard Law School. They discuss advice for prospective law students getting ready to apply for the 2025-2026 cycle, advice for recent college graduates, and advice for current undergraduate students planning to apply to law school in the future. They cover topics including application timing, over-sharing in essays, when and how applicants’ online activity can be a red flag in admissions, faculty admissions committees, the importance of work experience, and much more. You can read Sam’s full bio here [https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/about-us/]! You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/status-check-with-spivey/id1477090223?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io], ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1axZqBvq28wpvhKEq2l7sV?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io], and ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA_Rbmm6gSV09dUwrnlBjyQ/?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io]. You can read a full transcript of this episode here [You can read a full transcript of this episode here: https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/blog-post/sam-parkers-top-admissions-advice].

In this episode of Status Check with Spivey, Mike Spivey and Anna Hicks-Jaco have a conversation with Sarah Zearfoss (also known as "Dean Z"), who has long led the admissions office at the University of Michigan Law School as Senior Assistant Dean and who hosts the admissions podcast A2Z with Dean Z [https://open.spotify.com/show/5r7gs1boxeDQR0q4plOGeZ]. The group discusses using generative AI to write your essays vs. to research admissions advice (including asking ChatGPT a few admissions questions and critiquing its answers), the prospect of law schools using AI to evaluate applications, grade inflation (and how admissions officers saw it before open access to generative AI vs. now), application timing (and how early applications correlate to stronger admit rates without necessarily causing them), and more. Plus, Dean Z introduces a new question being added to Michigan Law's application this upcoming 2025-2026 cycle. You can listen and subscribe to Status Check with Spivey on ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/status-check-with-spivey/id1477090223?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io], ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1axZqBvq28wpvhKEq2l7sV?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io], and ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA_Rbmm6gSV09dUwrnlBjyQ/?ref=spiveyconsulting.ghost.io]. You can read a full transcript of this episode here [https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/blog-post/dean-z-podcast-2025].