Customer Reviews

The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions: Straight Advice on Essays, Resumes, Interviews, and More

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As a longshot applicant, I have already been accepted to or waitlisted by various top law schools (two of the top three law schools, as I write this, are still considering me, despite being told not to bother applying to those schools). But I couldn't help but be intrigued when I saw that a book by a former admissions officer at the University of Chicago would be coming out with big "secrets." Having already been through the process and having been someone who relied heavily on Richard Montauk's "How To Get Into the Top Law Schools," I would say that I didn't miss too much essential information from not having this book available as I applied. If someone told me there was only one book they could buy on law school admissions and asked for my opinion, I would probably still advise they go with Montauk's book. However, I would otherwise recommend that they pick up a copy of Montauk's book, Anna Ivey's book and, if they were African American, copies of Evangeline Mitchell's books.

For the most part, Ivey seems to reveal similar information as Montauk's book but without as much detail and support (which is kind of a minus for me, but I believe she is holding back all in-depth details and information for those who will pay for her services). She is very straightforward and brief about her points, but you certainly get the message. She does speak a bit more candidly on affirmative action and can't help but give more insider tips that are extremely helpful than anyone else could, including Montauk. Someone who makes a serious error in their personal statement, wants to know whether or not they should apply early action/decision and how that affects anything, how reapplying or a criminal record affects anything, or needs to play schools against each other for better financial aid would get the best tips and info from Ivey.

She also is very detailed in terms of listing every kind of addendum you could possibly need to write and how to go about it or, even, when to forget writing one. At the end of the book, she has examples of good personal statements and bad ones, good addendums and bad ones, good recommendations and bad ones, and before and after resumes. In the book itself, she has chapters on all these topics, including interviews and how to handle them. She is also very candid about the importance of rankings and numbers, but she will also tell you that numbers are not the end-all be-all and what kind of applicants for which that is particularly true (basically, if you have high numbers, it's your spot in the class to lose...it's not entirely hopeless if your numbers are low, but you have to pull out wildcards and/or good addendums/personal statements).

I definitely think this book SUPPLEMENTS Montauk's book but doesn't replace it in getting everything you need. And I also think her chapter on "The Wow Factor" is somewhat lacking, mainly in that she doesn't seem to give many suggestions or examples on/of activities (besides crazy things like being an Olympic gold winner) or anything else you can do before it's time to apply that she considers impressive or which she feels might make an applicant stand out (besides numbers). This wouldn't NECESSARILY be a problem if it weren't for the title of that chapter--to me, when you see "The Wow Factor," you're thinking she's going to talk a bit about who's impressive to admissions officers or how to be impressive to them, but she doesn't really do that--she just suggests a good marketing job is mainly what you need when you're sending out applications. Hence, the title is misleading (in my opinion)--she basically spends the chapter giving a general overview of admissions, as if you're at an LSAC Law School Forum asking her various basic or specific-to-you questions and she's rattling off answers.

To sum up, the book didn't quite meet the hype, for me, but it's still one of the best on admissions to law school. Very easy to read--a quick read. Not quite as detailed and informative as Montauk's book (again, that might be a plus for you--it was a minus for me), but it's certainly worth checking out to get that little bit of info you could only get from someone who has actually served as an admissions officer and to actually try to get a little more into their heads. Most of the questions Montauk's book had left unanswered/kind of vague for me, this book answered them--I truly recommend both books, but you could still do a great job of getting into schools with just Montauk's book (I'm not sure I would EXACTLY say Ivey's book alone would have gotten me to the point I'm at now like I can say about Montauk's).

I've been the prelaw advisor at a medium-sized religious college for more than twenty-five years, and my advice about law school application runs largely along the lines outlined in Anna Ivey's nicely written book. In the future, if a student begins to write me off as a curmudgeon, I'll be able to cite chapter and verse from this author, who's a good quarter-century younger and has a far better claim to speak with authority about such matters than I. So, undergraduates, read and heed.

Nevertheless, I have a few quibbles. One inference of the Ivey Guide is that a great many admission decisions are made on the basis of personal essays, interviews, and recommendations. Actually, as Ms. Ivey would probably agree, most decisions are based flatly and unimaginatively on GPA, LSAT, and minority status (if applicable). My feeling is that the other materials often serve largely as conscience salve for the typical admissions officer (of which Ms. Ivey was certainly not). In my experience, essays, recommendations, and the like prove most significant for those at the top and bottom of the food chain: to students applying at the twenty top-ten law schools (the probable target market for this book) and students who will gladly take anything above the California unaccrediteds.

I also hold reservations about the sample essays and sample recommendations given in the appendix. The good ones are better than the bad ones for sure, but I found myself disliking all the authors. To me the best of the essays sound like they were written by slick showoffs. (At least the authors either have great writing skills or good ghostwriters.) As for faculty recommendations, I've had numerous students admitted to the best law schools without ever having written anything longer than this review. I wonder if there are now admissions officers out there with a permanent wince because of the longer rambling essays and recommendations that are likely to appear because of the advice given in this book.

I am also a former director of law school admissions and proprietor of www.lawschoolexpert.com. My blog is readily available at http://lawschoolexpert.blogspot.com. I have no connection to Ms. Ivey.

The good things about this book are ms. Ivey's insights about who should write letters of recommendation, what to leave off a resume, what not to say in an addendum, and what law school admissions committee members are really thinking when they read applications. I especially appreciated the comment about dreading applications that landed on my desk with a "thud."

The writing style is easy and this is a great reference for people approaching the law school application process. The only downside to this publication is the sample essays - I would not encourage any of my clients to submit these essays. They are elementary, cliche, and sometimes trite. I also believe that law school applicants fail to recognize some of the weaknesses Ms. Ivey points out in their own applications, often citing exceptions to the "rules" for themselves and urge people to seek personalized advice.

Many of my clients put this book down feeling intimidated and overwhelmed. Although I initially recommended that clients read it, they now call me completely stressed out after reading it so I've changed my recommendation. A book that leaves you stressed is not going to help you through the process.

This incredible, seemingly compact, book contains all the essential and critical information one needs in order to prepare for law school admissions, from A to Z. Seriously, what more could one possibly need? Anna Ivey describes the admission process starting from early preparation, to actual interview and picking the schools where you are admitted. Not to mention how to effectively study for the LSAT, what to write in the addenda, optional statements, resumes, how to request LORs, what to wear to an interview (including how to smell!) and even the exact timing and content of thank you notes following the interview! And all of this, mind you, from a valuable insider's point of view - not of undergraduate advisors', other law school applicants', or career advisors' who might have read the theory of the admissions process, or have even gone through it, but being on the other side of it - as applicants.

Having worked a substantial number of years in the nation's top law school as an Admissions Dean (!), which I'm sure is on the TOP FIVE list of all of us, applicants - Anna Ivey tells it all raw and realistically, just how it is. How admission offecers hate pretentiousness, arrogance and cockiness that most kids manifest in their essays, or how they're sick to their stomaches of reading redundant and monotonous essays about saving the world's misfortunate and the environment, whereas they fully realize that it's all lies because the fact is that only 1-2% of all law school graduates actually pursue public interest law, etc., etc., etc.

Read this book, it's priceless. I concur with the previous posters: you'll never find a better investment for your few bucks!

Having worked at 3 law firms, I have received an enormous amount of "advice" on law school admissions. Every attorney I've ever spoken to has graciously added their two cents on "what gets one into law school." While they are all great attorneys in their own right, and their advice is appreciated, I can't help but think that they don't know what they are talking about. Sure, they got into law school...but how do they know exactly what got them in? How do they know what the admissions officers liked about their application?

For these reasons, I knew I would have to buy some sort of guide law school admissions. Anna Ivey's book is exactly what I was looking for. It is extremeley well written, thorough, and helpful. Most importantly, Anna used to be a dean of admissions at Univ. of Chicago Law - so she definitely has some authority on the topic of law school admissions.

I've bought 3 books on law school admissions and Anna's book is easily the most complete book. I've recommended it to all my friends already.

I am hesitant to write this review because I still have not finished my law school applications and I really do not want my competition to read this book. But hopefully for my sake it will take at least a year for most law school aspirants to find out about this book.

It is the best of its kind. I used to think that Montauk's book (How to Get Into the Top Law Schools) was the best, the same way that basketball fans used to have certain names in mind regarding who was the greatest player before Michael Jordan came along and outclassed all of his predecessors. Ivey is not merely a consultant, she is also the former Dean of Admissions of UChicago Law School, so she really knows how decisions are made on the inside. Montauk talks down to his readers while Ivey is completely down to earth and speaks to you like you're a trusted friend. Montauk gives one and two-liners from various current admissions deans who realistically cannot speak freely in the printed media; Ivey gives it to the reader straight -- she is now a private consultant and is no longer required to toe the party line for her university.

It really shocked me when Ivey began by saying that, despite what law schools say about thoroughly considering each of the thousands of applications that they receive, application readers only spend five minutes or so on each app. That's all you've got -- five minutes to dazzle them. She proceeds to tell us exactly how to do the dazzling.

Anna Ivey charges hundreds of dollars per hour for her time, but I benefited from her collective wisdom by simply picking up a copy of her book.

There are a lot of awful law school advice books out there, many of them filled with rumors, inaccuracies, and misinformation. So it's refreshing to read Anna's book. She knows this stuff cold, as former dean of admissions at U. of Chicago, and she writes about it with clarity and levelheadedness. She's a smart, witty, articulate writer. The book is a pleasure to read, and the advice she gives is sound. My only complaint, really, is that the book sometimes feels unfinished; I understand Anna wanted to keep the book to a manageable length, but some of the chapters seem incomplete. But that's a small complaint. Read this side by side with Richard Montauk's "How to Get into the Top Law Schools," and you'll be set.

Ever wonder why people with perfect LSAT scores and GPA's get rejected from elite law schools? Anna Ivey can give you the exact reasons in this book: Your PS was pompous sounding or you wrote about saving some endangered species (which apparently many people write about). After reading personal statements from many people who send it to me on a law school message board I am appalled by what people are actually sending in. They literally break every taboo that Ivey says not to. People with great lsats/gpa are actually writing themselves out of great law schools. She gives so much info from personal statements to resumes to letters of recommendations. This book is one of the wisest investments you can get if you are applying. It even outshines Montauk's book which I thought I would never say. (But both of them together would make a lethal combo in helping you get into LS). Anna Ivey offers law school applicant services but after reading this it makes you wonder what else she could possibly say. One last myth she breaks: it's not as numbers driven as you may think.

I really liked the no-nonsense advice in this book. Anna Ivey gives you straight up advice on how to get into your safety schools and how to tip the scales in your favor on the schools where you have a 50-50 chance of yes or no. There are some good sample essays in the back of the book that are helpful in crafting your own statement, as well as some bad ones that show you what to avoid. Helpful section on financial aid. If you only buy one book regarding the law school admissions process, The Ivey Guide should be regarded as a great primer to answer all of your questions (whether you are a recent grad or an older returning student, the over represented majority or a URM.)

As a recent college graduate, my mom and I were in a Borders Book Store several days ago looking for a solid law school "savoir-faire" book. Of course, I was off in the language section and left my mom searching.

After about half an hour she came over to me and said she found THE BOOK. I looked at her and said, 'mom, I do not have time to read about Law School. You know I am off to China this summer and then matriculating to graduate school in France for two years. There is ample time.'Wow..was I wrong. Mom was RIGHT. This book is amazing because it is easy to read and pretenseless. Unlike other Law School books, I cannot put this one down. I take it to work to read during lunch, before I fall asleep...I have already started implementing the imperative changes on my resume.

Now, Law School is on my mind and all the preparations mentioned in The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions book. Thank you Anna for your genuine counseling and witty tips.