Now, as I’m sure you know, your 12th Board score is not taken into consideration for CLAT. But saying this is of no use, because there are plenty of other places where the 12th Board score matters a lot, and anyway it is never a good idea to place all your bets on one horse. Preparaing for CLAT in Class 12 would require you to manage your time very effectively. Think of it as important practice for life ahead as a busy lawyer with a dozen meetings and court appearances in a typical day.
CLAT (Common Law Admission Test) is a non-statutory body created under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the convenience of the students seeking admission to various National Law Universities in the country. An entrance test is conducted to provide a list of candidates on the basis of ‘merit-cum-preference’ to each University for admission to their UG/PG programs, as per the eligibility, reservation and other criteria laid down under the respective statutes of the participating Universities. The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), is an all India entrance examination, conducted on rotation by 17 National Law Universities (NLUs) for admissions to their Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate degree programs.
Preparing for CLAT
The eligibility criteria for CLAT examination is that you need to clear the 12th standard examination. Since students do not wish to spend time after their board examinations to prepare for CLAT, they start preparing simultaneously for CLAT and 12th examinations. The best method to prepare for CLAT and 12th simultaneously is by taking weekend classes for CLAT as soon as you enter 12th standard. It all comes down to effective time management. Think of it as important practice for life ahead as a busy lawyer with a dozen meetings and court appearances in a typical day.
You will just need to become very efficient in your time management skills.
You should have some sort of a daily and weekly schedule for how you plan to attack the syllabus and preparation for both CLAT and your boards. Unfortunately, the CLAT syllabus is only mildly related to your boards. That’s just how it is. So you’re going to have to make time for both.
The advantage on your side is that you have about 5 weeks more for CLAT after your board exams get over. This is time that you can use to exclusively focus on CLAT topics.
Your subject combinations do not have any impact on the entrance part. The papers are different to what you study in XI and XII. As far as Time Management is concerned, you can have a routine where you need to put up 75 to 90 minutes every day, with 30 minutes devoted to current affairs and other 60 minutes to one subject each day. CLAT syllabus is follows:
English
This test will assess the candidate’s proficiency in English. It will comprise comprehension and grammar.
Preparing for CLAT- English
- To prepare for English, you can begin by strengthening you grammar by going back to the basics and understanding them once again.
- It will be a good idea to start reading an English newspaper and English magazines on a regular basis.
- Try to learn few new words every day, including their synonyms and antonyms. This will help you in understanding the comprehension thoroughly.
- Solve as many past questions as possible and also take the numerous English tests that are available online and in the process develop your own mechanism to solve the questions
Tip: Try to read faster to take care of RC and brush up your grammar fundamentals. Online reading is a must for CLAT.
General Knowledge and Current Affairs
In this test, the candidate will be assessed for his knowledge in current affairs and their general awareness.
Preparing for CLAT – GK and Current Affairs
- Keep yourself abreast with the latest happenings within India and around the world
- Browse through the latest GK books so that you are well-equipped for the GK section
- Refer to past question papers, see the pattern of the occurrence of the questions and prepare accordingly.
- Attempt as many mock tests as possible. There are many available online.
- Reading newspapers and watching news regularly will also help in preparing for this section
Mathematics
This test will cover elementary Mathematics – Mathematics taught till class X. It carries 20 marks and if you prepare well, you can score full marks.
Preparing for CLAT – Mathematics
- Refer to past question papers and see which topics are being repeated. Prepare them first and then move on to the other topics.
- Clear your concepts thoroughly. Once you have a clear concept of the topics, it will be easy for you to answer them.
- Have a methodology in place that you don’t take more than a minute to solve one question
Tip: Questions are direct and formula driven. Do not get into details. Learn through solved examples in books.
Legal Aptitude
This test will assess the candidate on how inclined he is towards law, his expertise in research and his ability to solve problems. The questions will include legal principles that have to be applied to certain situations. The candidate will have to judge the situation and come up with an apt conclusion or solution.
The score in legal aptitude will be used to break the ‘tie.’ By ‘tie,’ we mean when two or more students score equal marks, then the score in this section will be used to decide the better of the two. So, it is important that you score well in this section.
Preparing for CLAT – Legal Aptitude
- Refer to past question papers and solve as many problems as possible.
- Understand the question thoroughly and come to a logical conclusion.
- Try to time yourself when you are attempting this section so that you know exactly how much time is to be spent on each question
Logical Reasoning
This test assesses the candidate’s ability to think logically, identify patterns, spot correct arguments and the like. It will comprise questions from syllogism, analogies, logical sequence, and the like.
Preparing for CLAT – Logical Reasoning
- Refer to past question papers so that you have an idea as to what to expect in the exam.
- Refer to logical reasoning books and solve as many problems as possible.
- Take as many online tests as possible.
- Learn tricks and short cuts to solve the problems easily.
- Have a time-management strategy in place so that you are able to attempt each question and not leave out any. The strategy will also focus on how much time you need to devote to each question.
Tip: Practice only helps in this section. The more you practice, the better you get to it.
The best way to prepare would be to attempt a number of mock tests to understand your level of preparation. ExamVictor provides online courses for CLAT. Giving these mock tests one can assess their time and accuracy towards questions from every section. Another thing that would help in preparation are attending live classes which are conducted by ExamVictor. These live classes are an opportunity to learn from home and have a firsthand advantage of a student teacher interaction in order to solve doubts.
Things to keep in mind while taking CLAT law entrance exam:
- Since there are no specific time limits for any section, you can follow any order while attempting. However, it is better to start with the GK section. It has got 50 questions for 50 marks which you’d either know or won’t know. You can get over with this section in no time & rest assured of at least 30-40 marks if your GK preparation has been good.
- Completing a section in the first 15-20 minutes will give you a psychological edge & will bolster your confidence as you proceed to the next section which ideally should either be English or Logical Reasoning. The English section too will have some sitters like antonyms, synonyms, fill in the blanks etc. which can be tackled in a few minutes.
- The Mathematics & Legal Reasoning sections should be kept for the end as they can be quite time-consuming.
Preparing for CLAT is not tough but it requires the same consistency, dedication & focus that other entrance exams require, especially now that the number of students giving CLAT is increasing dramatically every year. One can take into considerations some tips from the CLAT topper, Nidhi. She is currently pursuing her first year of LLB at the National Law School, Bangalore,
“I gave the entire series of mock exams. It was just about giving the exam and knowing what kind of questions to expect and how to prepare for them and developing an understanding of what you really had to do.
The fact that during Class 12, I gave myself the entire year to understand what exactly to study. So, by the end of the academic year, I was very clear about which books to refer to, what not to study etc. It really helps if you have a clear idea of what exactly you have to do in those two months. I wasn’t at all confused as to what to do in those two months. I think any newspaper would help you as long as you really read it properly and daily.”
ExamVictor suggests the following study strategy to be followed by every CLAT aspirant currently preparing for their board examinations.
