UVA Law Admissions Dean Natalie Blazer on Top 5 Tips, What Happened Last Cycle, & What’s to Come

<p>In this episode of <em>Status Check with Spivey</em>, Mike and Anna interview Natalie Blazer, the Dean of Admissions and Chief Admissions Officer at UVA Law. Mike and Dean Blazer discuss the unusual nature of this past 2025-2026 admissions cycle (2:11), why Dean Blazer loves waitlists and why this past cycle ran about three months longer than usual (4:32), why having high numbers means less for an applicant now than it did in the past (10:59), the “prisoner’s dilemma” of increasing medians (13:59), predictions for the upcoming 2026-2027 admissions cycle (15:21), the impact it can make for an applicant to submit in September (17:14), why admissions interview matter more now than ever (20:12), Mike’s two best pieces of admissions advice (21:54), and Dean Blazer’s two best pieces of admissions advice (23:22).</p><p>Then, Anna and Dean Blazer discuss Anna’s biggest admissions mistake/piece of advice (26:50) before answering questions from Reddit: why UVA’s LSAT and GPA medians stayed flat this year (28:47), how the tough job market for new college grads influences how admissions offices look at resume gaps (32:45), whether retaking a 173 or 174 is a red flag (38:04), whether Dean Blazer anticipates medians continuing to rise (43:34), advice for reapplying to UVA Law (46:56), and the “soft” factors Dean Blazer values most (49:40).</p><p>Dean Blazer’s podcast, <em>Admissible, </em>is available<em> </em><a href="https://www.law.virginia.edu/admissions/admissible-podcast"><u>here</u></a>. Listen to the episode she mentions, one of her favorites, with a successful reapplicant <a href="https://www.law.virginia.edu/news/video-audio/202410/admissible-s5-e3-what-makes-successful-reapplication"><u>here</u></a>.</p><p>You can listen to our previous episodes with Natalie here: <a href="https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/podcasts/dean-natalie-blazer-podcast-2025"><u>2025</u></a> | <a href="https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/podcasts/dean-natalie-blazer-podcast"><u>2023</u></a> | <a href="https://www.spiveyconsulting.com/podcasts/uva-law-dean-blazer-podcast"><u>2022</u></a></p><p>You can listen and subscribe to <em>Status Check with Spivey</em> on<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/status-check-with-spivey/id1477090223"> <u>⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠</u></a>,<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1axZqBvq28wpvhKEq2l7sV"> <u>⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠</u></a>, and<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA_Rbmm6gSV09dUwrnlBjyQ/"> <u>⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠</u></a>. You can read a full transcript of