Do you want to pursue law after Class XII? Abhishek Chakravarty shares tips that can help aspirants to clear one of the toughest exams

Of late, there has been a major shift of students towards opting law. When it comes to a career in this field, most students aim for the top law schools in the country. The main entrance exam to get into these top law schools is Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), which is held for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

This exam is the key to secure admission into the premier national law universities of the country. Many private universities also accept CLAT scores. The competition is very high. Therefore, it is important to not only clear the exam but also to secure a high rank so as to get admitted into the top-ranking law schools. The question is: How to prepare for the CLAT? Here’s what to do

Start early

Many students are clear about career choices and start preparing for entrance exam even before starting their 10+2 education, it becomes important for others to start early as well. Usually, a two-year long preparation moving along with the 10+2 is considered apt to clear the entrance. But there are students who have secured high rank with six months to a year of preparation. However, it is recommended to start early and gradually develop an understanding of the various subjects of the entrance, starting from the basics to getting into complex questions and taking mock tests and sample question papers.

Understand syllabus

Many students tend to ignore the most important part of the preparation process, which is having a clear idea of the syllabus, the various sections and topics under it and the question pattern. A clear idea about the syllabus and examination pattern helps formulate a strategy for preparation.

Formulate Strategy

Based on the syllabus, a meticulous preparation strategy needs to be planned allotting time for each of the topics, and in the process also identify the strengths and weaknesses across subjects. A section-wise analysis of the topics is helpful. This should be followed by allotting specific time to each section and building a regular time table. The weightage given to each section for UG entrance is:

English Language: 28-32 questions, or roughly 20% of the paper

Current Affairs, including General Knowledge: 5-39 questions, or roughly 25% of the paper

Legal Reasoning: 35-39 questions, or roughly 25% of the paper

Logical Reasoning: 28-32 questions, or roughly 20% of the paper

Quantitative Techniques: 13-17 questions, or roughly 10% of the paper

For the PG exam, the trend has been that a large chunk of the questions come from Constitution, Jurisprudence, Company and Criminal Law and the rest of the questions come from Administrative Law, Law of Contract, Torts, Family Law, Property Law, Public International Law, Tax Law, Environmental Law, and Labour & Industrial Law.

Regular revision

After each round of preparation of a particular section, it is important to make notes on the same and regularly revise the section by following the notes from time to time. This helps in retention of the information, and also to brush-up the already learned topics.

Attempt mock tests: This helps to understand exam ambience, check progression, identify the strong and weak areas, and build a clear idea about the question patterns. Regularly solving question papers in a time bound manner helps overcome examination hall anxiety and fear, and improve time management skills.

Staying healthy and positive: Like any other entrance preparation, there will be highs and lows in the process. However, it is important to keep anxiety and stress away, and make attempts to stay positive and confident about the examination. This can be achieved by acknowledging the stress and working towards removing it through a balanced daily routine (with activities for mental and physical wellbeing like yoga, meditation and exercise and a healthy social life.

The writer is an Assistant Professor of Law at Sai University