Value added of Admissions Consultants Forum

[livingandlearning]

Hey,

Just looking to find out from people that have actually used admissions consultants......what, if any, value was added to your application and ultimately your admittance prospects.

I've read through all the past discussions on this subject, so I understand the controversial nature of the topic.
That's why I'm looking for people that have actually used one. Who did you use? Did you feel that it truly helped you(besides for the psychological placebo effect)?

If you don't want to discuss publicly......please PM me.
All advice from those with experience will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!

[DELG]

LS admissions is too mechanical for them to have the opportunity to add much value. I can imagine a situation where someone had a game-changer to offer where they might need help framing it, but that's going to be the exception.

[McAvoy]

Impact will probably be marginal at best if you're not in a very weird scenario, but if you're going to do it, Spivey or bust.

[staysharp99]

Every applicant's case will vary due to the differences and uniqueness of each individual. That being said, there is no controversy if law school applicants should have an admissions consultant. It is a necessity that a Law School admissions consultant is by your side each step of the way if you are applying to law school, even for those who have 180s or graduated Summa Cum Laude.

I did research and I found out about Mike Spivey and Spivey Consulting and I was confident during the entire decision period with Spivey's help. After looking at different consultants, I found no one was connected nationally as Spivey was in the industry, and no one delivered like him. It is CRUCIAL you sell yourself the right way to law school admissions and Mike and his team know EXACTLY what law school admissions are looking for and he'll tell you EXACTLY the direction to take with your statements. This is immensely beneficial regardless if your are in the 75th/75th for each of your numbers, classical splitter, or reverse splitter for the law school you have your eyes on.

When your working with Mike, don't be shy, tell your whole life story, EVERYTHING (what makes you unique, what challenges you faced, etc.), and he'll advise you appropriately how you want to sell yourself.

I felt I had the potential to have a respectable application, but my issue was there were a number of things I wanted to mention in my personal statement/diversity statement, and I kept going back and forth on what I wanted to do. After telling my life story, Mike told me PRECISELY what to do, and I got to tell my whole life story which I was really happy about (I wanted to represent myself entirely to all admissions). It was only with the help of Spivey Consulting that I solidified the potential strength of my application. They ensured I got into schools that were within my reach, as well as some schools that were well outside of my reach. With his advice, you'll maximize scholarship money that accepted schools will give you. In my case, I was fortunate to receive strong scholarships to all schools I was accepted into. When I got into very respectable top 20 law schools, it was a job well done and I was overjoyed. But it didn't end there. When I was waitlisted at my dream school, it was only with the ingenuity and strategy of Spivey Consulting that was I able to get off the waitlist expeditiously and enjoy the remaining months of summer before the first day of class. I can't thank Spivey Consulting enough for what they did for me. They stuck with me from start to finish, and I'm truly appreciative for this. This was a priceless investment and if any law school applicant wants to have confidence and an advantage in the admissions process, Spivey Consulting is your partner.

Mike gave me a real chance and I couldn't have done it without him.

[xylocarp]

Every applicant's case will vary due to the differences and uniqueness of each individual. That being said, there is no controversy if law school applicants should have an admissions consultant. It is a necessity that a Law School admissions consultant is by your side each step of the way if you are applying to law school, even for those who have 180s or graduated Summa Cum Laude.

I think Spivey Consulting is great and I know firsthand that they can be a huge help, but this is a major exaggeration. Spivey himself is known to turn down potential clients whose numbers will almost definitely get them into their target schools, BECAUSE he feels that they won't get enough out of his services to necessarily make a substantive difference.

[McAvoy]

It is a necessity that a Law School admissions consultant is by your side each step of the way if you are applying to law school, even for those who have 180s or graduated Summa Cum Laude.

LJL. Spivey is the man, yes, but this is completely ridiculous. Spivey would say this is completely ridiculous (though in a gentler way).

[staysharp99]

@ "Major exaggeration" and "Completely Ridiculous". Perhaps words could be said more graciously.

The person who used him and referenced me to use him scored a 180. He told me he was glad he used Spivey Consulting and recommended I use him (he was my LSAT tutor). I finished Summa Cum Laude. That's why I said the 180 and Summa Cum Laude statement. In my case, I was out of range with my LSAT for my target schools, but Mike still encouraged me and gave me a real chance and I was fortunate to make it. Hence, why I shared my story.

"Known to turn down clients." This is not an accurate statement of Mike and a defaming generalization. Perhaps you could speak more kindly and accurate here.

I encourage you to give a personal phone call to Mike and ask him if he has/had clients who had 180 or who were Summa Cum Laude, and then ask him if he would say it's "Completey Ridiculous" or completely ridiculous in a nice way that a client with such numbers would approach him for services.

Just my thoughts, if you're applying to law school, and your not 100% confident with the application process, a consultant can be advantageous over competition. In my case, Spivey worked for me.

[furrrman]

One way to look at it is it won't necessarily give you an admissions boost, but might keep you from including something stupid in your application that could hurt you.

[FairchildFLT]

I see some pretty common sense questions asked on here...are you one of those people? If so, go for it!

[McAvoy]

@ "Major exaggeration" and "Completely Ridiculous". Perhaps words could be said more graciously.

The person who used him and referenced me to use him scored a 180. He told me he was glad he used Spivey Consulting and recommended I use him (he was my LSAT tutor). I finished Summa Cum Laude. That's why I said the 180 and Summa Cum Laude statement. In my case, I was out of range with my LSAT for my target schools, but Mike still encouraged me and gave me a real chance and I was fortunate to make it. Hence, why I shared my story.

Wow, you finished undergrad Summa Cum Laude? That's really impressive.

"Known to turn down clients." This is not an accurate statement of Mike and a defaming generalization. Perhaps you could speak more kindly and accurate here.

I encourage you to give a personal phone call to Mike and ask him if he has/had clients who had 180 or who were Summa Cum Laude, and then ask him if he would say it's "Completey Ridiculous" or completely ridiculous in a nice way that a client with such numbers would approach him for services.

LOL. That's not what they said. Yes, somebody who's 180/2.8 or a 4.0/164 could probably use a consultant. If someone was 180/4.0 and Cornell was their dream school, Mike would probably say "hey bro you don't need me."

Just my thoughts, if you're applying to law school, and your not 100% confident with the application process, a consultant can be advantageous over competition. In my case, Spivey worked for me.

This is not what you said. You said

there is no controversy if law school applicants should have an admissions consultant. It is a necessity that a Law School admissions consultant is by your side each step of the way if you are applying to law school, even for those who have 180s or graduated Summa Cum Laude.

What you said was asinine.

[jrthor10]

This threat has serious potential.

[anyriotgirl]

@ "Major exaggeration" and "Completely Ridiculous". Perhaps words could be said more graciously.

The person who used him and referenced me to use him scored a 180. He told me he was glad he used Spivey Consulting and recommended I use him (he was my LSAT tutor). I finished Summa Cum Laude. That's why I said the 180 and Summa Cum Laude statement. In my case, I was out of range with my LSAT for my target schools, but Mike still encouraged me and gave me a real chance and I was fortunate to make it. Hence, why I shared my story.

"Known to turn down clients." This is not an accurate statement of Mike and a defaming generalization. Perhaps you could speak more kindly and accurate here.

I encourage you to give a personal phone call to Mike and ask him if he has/had clients who had 180 or who were Summa Cum Laude, and then ask him if he would say it's "Completey Ridiculous" or completely ridiculous in a nice way that a client with such numbers would approach him for services.

Just my thoughts, if you're applying to law school, and your not 100% confident with the application process, a consultant can be advantageous over competition. In my case, Spivey worked for me.

no wonder you needed an admissions consult

I shudder to think of your original personal statement

[KarenButtenbaum]

Sorry to barge in on this post, but we stumbled across it today and wanted to weigh in.

We would be the first to say that a law admissions consultant is certainly not for everyone. As some people have alluded to in this post, we do turn down prospective clients when we don't think that we can help them. (We even blogged about a few weeks ago http://spiveyconsulting.com/blog/7-thin ... ave-known/)

We, of course, are very grateful for clients like the above poster who we have worked well with. The admissions process is not as mechanical and numbers-driven as some would believe, and the data really supports that. Why are some people with nearly the exact numbers outright admitted, denied, and wait listed at the same schools every cycle? There are a lot of variables and insider strategy that are particularly helpful for people who aren't the hypothetical 180 summa candidate.

We really appreciate the comments in this tread; discussions like these are one of the benefits of the TLS community.

Cheers,
Karen

[McAvoy]

We would be the first to say that a law admissions consultant is certainly not for everyone. As some people have alluded to in this post, we do turn down prospective clients when we don't think that we can help them. (We even blogged about a few weeks ago http://spiveyconsulting.com/blog/7-thin ... ave-known/)

Phew. I think xylocarp was really sweatin' that impending defamation lawsuit

[ms9]

We would be the first to say that a law admissions consultant is certainly not for everyone. As some people have alluded to in this post, we do turn down prospective clients when we don't think that we can help them. (We even blogged about a few weeks ago http://spiveyconsulting.com/blog/7-thin ... ave-known/)

Phew. I think xylocarp was really sweatin' that impending defamation lawsuit

At the end of the annual conference we just attended they have a session on, politely stated, "silly things applicants do"... I am now leaning towards the idea that everyone needs a consultant . I so wish I could share some of these stories with everyone.

[McAvoy]

We would be the first to say that a law admissions consultant is certainly not for everyone. As some people have alluded to in this post, we do turn down prospective clients when we don't think that we can help them. (We even blogged about a few weeks ago http://spiveyconsulting.com/blog/7-thin ... ave-known/)

Phew. I think xylocarp was really sweatin' that impending defamation lawsuit

At the end of the annual conference we just attended they have a session on, politely stated, "silly things applicants do"... I am now leaning towards the idea that everyone needs a consultant . I so wish I could share some of these stories with everyone.

You could make an alt account and share?

[Mack.Hambleton]

I'd say definitely for people who underperformed and are reapplying, being KJD and applying super late is probably what hurt me the most, but I'll be using spivey or another service to make sure everything else is 100%

[McAvoy]

I'd say definitely for people who underperformed and are reapplying, being KJD and applying super late is probably what hurt me the most, but I'll be using spivey or another service to make sure everything else is 100%

You turned down the dill?

[Mack.Hambleton]

@will

yeah I'm pretty set on taking a year off regardless of how my cycle went. dont feel like rushing into law school at 21

[McAvoy]

Damn. Well good luck dude, I'm sure it'll work out.

[Mack.Hambleton]

thanks man

[cron1834]

We would be the first to say that a law admissions consultant is certainly not for everyone. As some people have alluded to in this post, we do turn down prospective clients when we don't think that we can help them. (We even blogged about a few weeks ago http://spiveyconsulting.com/blog/7-thin ... ave-known/)

Phew. I think xylocarp was really sweatin' that impending defamation lawsuit

Hahahaha.