Tips to prepare for CLAT, 2019

For a very long time, both Law and Management courses have enjoyed huge popularity. The reason which makes them a favourite choice for students is primarily that the courses are neutral to all the streams either engineering or humanities. Secondly, they have huge scope in terms of career and respect in the society. However, larger the picture they show of the future, it also demands a lot of focus for preparation along with determination and perseverance to crack the beast like entrance exams of the reputed colleges and universities.

Majority of commerce and humanities students are the ones who prefer to ride this journey of preparation for the entrances, be it BMS DU Entrance Exam or All India Law Entrance Examination (CLAT) lightly and end up losing the chance of getting into their dream college due to least focusing ability and lack of time-management skill. Courses which are crafted for Commerce and Humanities are now being considered by Science students too and they pose a strong competition for the other two branch students.

Both Law and management courses give huge opportunities like paralegal, detective, litigators, lawyers, judicial services, social work and working on Management level posts in MNCs , banks and also starting one’s own business respectively. Students and Parents both understand how important the foundational step of clearing the entrance exam is and parents need to decide whether they want their child to have fun now and struggle later when the focus shifts to board class in order to score a good percentage for a good college.

Hence the pre requisite hard work required to crack the exam is well evident. Studying at the 11th hour is never a fruitful exercise, it does not fetch the students much benefit, but if they make it a regular routine to prepare for a paper with a disciplined outlook, they are sure to achieve their goals. It’s always good to have a path and vision from an early age.

Preparing for entrance exam of LAW is no rocket science and to understand how, it is always better to start the preparation a year before than to have last minute stress. Syllabus procrastinated to the last minute creates anxiety and confusion for students that leads to demeaning the confidence of students appearing for competitive entrance exams, hence it is very much Important to start the preparation well on time. 

In the initial stage, the syllabus looks humongous but when segregated and planned perfectly it becomes much easier.  As it is well said consistent efforts always tend to make you more confident. Preparing for such exams require at least few hours of practice every day to crack the entrance exams, which is an addition to a busy schedule.

New amendments in CLAT 2019
Here is the new change in the CLAT, 2019 which is national law entrance exam to enroll into the best law colleges and universities is now offline. The major sections in the paper are General Knowledge, Current Affairs, English, Logical Reasoning and, Mathematics.

The dream destination for most of the law aspirants for example IIM Indore and many other prestigious colleges and universities having entrance test that comprises of three stages

a.   Aptitude Test: the test is slightly different from other entrances. It consists of Quantitative Aptitude (mixed bag of multiple choice questions and subjective questions and Verbal Ability (multiple choice questions based on Vocabulary, Grammar, Reading Comprehension and Paragraph Jumbles).

b.   Writing Ability Test: This section checks a student on his/her writing skills. A topic is given and you need to write an essay on it. This section plays an important role in overall rank of the student.

c.    Personal Interview : Hence, it is essential to be very well equipped with all of these topics in order to get an admission, and one of the keys to crack these examination is not only to know multiple things but also to manage time simultaneously.

The difficulty level of an entrance exam seems to increase because as a student we lack:
a)   Time Management: It becomes very important for a student to focus on class 12th boards and to prepare for entrance examinations. It becomes essential for the student to strike out a balance between the two exams. As one is important for you to get an admission based on marks and the other gets you a chance to study in a premier academic institution through an entrance examination.

b)   Practice: It is important for students to spare time to put their efforts in keeping pace with constant practice. This will not only make them well versed with the pattern of competitive exams but also will help them to have a cutting edge over others. So, preparing young minds early can prove extremely beneficial for students, It’s like molding clay into a shape when it’s still wet which is why it stays for a longer duration.

As an aspirant, students should know their pain points like Vocabulary, which cannot be mastered overnight and requires a constant effort. Improving calculations by using techniques like Vedic Math can be used to do faster calculations and Current Affairs are also an ongoing process to make or break section in any competitive examination.

 - Amandeep Rajgotra & Vikrant Bahl 
(The authors are National Product Head – LAW and National Academic Head – PRATHAM, respectively)