The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions: Straight Advice on Essays, Resumes, Interviews, and More | Book Review
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Author Information
Anna Ivey, JD, served as dean of admissions at the University of Chicago Law School. She now runs Anna Ivey Admissions Counseling, a counseling firm for college, business school, and law school applicants. She divides her time between Boston and Orlando.
Publisher Description
Every law school applicant has questions. There is no one better to answer those questions than Anna Ivey — she decided the fate of thousands of applicants while she was dean of admissions at the University of Chicago Law School. Using examples drawn from actual admissions decisions, Anna Ivey will help you dramatically improve your applications and your chances of landing a spot at the school of your choice.
Testimonials
“An invaluable examination of every aspect of the law school admission process from a trusted authority. Simply a book no law school applicant can afford to be without.”
-Robert H. Miller, author of Law School Confidential
Students who read this book will not only have a leg up in selecting and getting into the right law school, they will get more out of it when they are there connecting with their professors and conducting their job search.”
-Diane M. Downs, Associate Dean, Career Planning & Placement, University of Pennsylvania Law School
“Anna Ivey’s advice is real insider information. I was put into her shoes as a former dean of admissions, and I saw the application process from that side of the desk. A must-read for anyone considering law school!”
-Katherine Cohen, PhD, author of The Turth about Getting In and Rock Hard Apps
james madison
If you are applying to law school, ABSOLUTELY BUY IT!!!!! Save yourself a lot of sleepless nights of agony and wonder. The answers to any and all questions you can possibly ask about the admissions process + about how to make your application bullet-proof are all in this one book.
As a prospective law student and active LSAT instructor, I am forced to be up-to-date with the most comprehensive and effective law school admissions guidebooks.
Anna Ivey’s book is excellent! No, IT’S GOD SENT! As she makes it clear in her book, nothing can take the place of a strong LSAT and GPA, BUT you can TOTALLY control the soft factors, which for many of us in the “mushy-middle” will make or break the deal.
While I think Richard Montauk’s book is as good as it can get from a law former-law student’s point of view, Anna Ivey’s book has that extra insight, which only someone who has been behind the curtains (Dean of Admissions)could possibily know (i.e. how and when you should or should NOT write an addendum; what makes admissions officers wince, etc).
Plus, she’s a really funny person; relieving a lot of the pressure/stress associated with law school admissions. My friends and I got to page 150 in one sitting (no joke!)!
I whole-heartedly recommend this book to EVERYONE applying to law school. It’s like GOLD!
H.Miers
This book is outstanding. This and Richard Montauk’s book are the two guides to the law school application process that every conscientious applicant should buy. Montauk’s because it is much longer, and laboriously detailed, and Anna Ivey’s because as a former Dean of Admissions at Chicago, has the insider perspective that all applicants need to hear.
You are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t read The Ivey Guide BEFORE you apply to law school — preferably long before, so you have time to implement her many excellent suggestions.
Katherine Jules
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! Anna Ivey, former Dean of Admissions at The University of Chicago Law School, provides an insiders guide filled with practical advice for any aspiring law student. It’s not too often you will come across a book written by someone from the “other side” of the application process telling you what they are looking for from you when applying to law school. I first started reading this book at the bookstore. To my surprise, I couldn’t put it down and sat there reading for at least an hour! If you are planning to apply to law school read this book! You will not be disappointed!
San Franciscan
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!
J.Lerman
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.
Anonymous
I ordered this book because I was considering law school as a career change and needed some help with personal statements. The very candid information in this book actually helped me realize that law school is not the way that I want to go, but I used the information on resumes and personal statements for another application, and was easily accepted into another graduate program that will be more suited to my needs and career aspirations. I recommend this book for anyone pursuing admission to any graduate program, as a lot of the information in transferrable to other programs. And if you are considering law school, read this and you’ll definitely get some perspective on whether or not it’s really for you.
This book is great!
Out of the mountains of “how-to” books I’ve read, this book stood out from the rest of the pack. Anna Ivey has been at the very heart of the admissions machine. She knows how the application processes works from the inside out. As a former Dean of Admissions for a top five law school in the country, her perspective sets her apart head and shoulders above all the rest of the books on the bookshelves.
I read this book in one sitting from start to finish. I was completely engaged in the content and motivated to roll up my sleeves and work on my law school application. Her writing is personable, honest, and believable. Really good, solid information.
The law school application process is an expensive endeavor.
If you only can buy one book, I highly recommend getting this one. You really can’t afford not to, I only wish I knew about this wonderful book sooner.
Anthony Morrow
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.)