5 Mistakes I Made Which Every CLAT Aspirant Should AVOID
This post was first published on July 9, 2019
Before you read any further, full disclosure, I did NOT crack CLAT, yes I took a failed attempt at CLAT (TWICE). So listen to me when I say this and listen to me well, because I used to ace the mocks, I killed at the subject-wise tests and I was an aware student who was yet to see suits but dreamt day and night to live the “Suits Life”.
As Steve Harvey said, “Failure is a great teacher, and I think when you make mistakes and you recover from them and you treat them as valuable learning experiences, then you’ve got something to share“, here are 5 mistakes I made which you should avoid.
P.S – I took a 2-year classroom program.
David and Goliath.
During the early days of my CLAT prep, I was acing through mocks and practice papers. So I started to get ahead of what the tutorial was teaching and started solving more and more papers, I realized I could solve Reasoning, Maths and English sections without attending classes and saw people struggling with simple concepts so I started bunking classes because apparently there was no need to attend classes anymore.
As it turned out, students who were slower in these subjects and struggled with concepts ultimately cracked CLAT and I was waiting for the vacant seats invite to come and it never came.
So never forget, you may have a strong base or aptitude for this exam but you need hard work or people who do not have your sharp mind will be posting selfies at their NLU campus and you’ll be liking them.
Isn’t it scary that Lawyers call what they do “practice”?
Practice may or may not make a man perfect but it does make a (wo)man a part of the First Merit List.
I cannot emphasize on it enough that the CLAT paper is one which is structured to be aced with practice, the sheer number of questions that your brain has dealt in the same pattern will decide how quickly you solve a particular question in the strict time frame of the exam. SOLVE AS MANY PAPERS AS YOU CAN!
Visit this link for mock test series of Clatapult.
Don’t plant a tree before the feast.
This applies to all sections of the paper but specifically to the General Knowledge section. If you have not been reading your share of yearbooks, newspapers and current affairs, do not waste time heavy reading on them weeks before the exam. Focus on aptitude and maths instead, G.K is vast and unpredictable.
On the other hand, there is a finite type of questions which can come in reasoning and maths, therefore, the Endgame (No spoilers, guys) should focus on these sections.
Also, read our article on 6 books to read for CLAT.
It’s not U.P.S.C (Thukra ke mera pyar plays in the background).
CLAT is not U.P.S.C and it’s not I.I.T mains, please do not treat it like one, if you don’t fare well, don’t drop a year. The pattern of the paper is such that a rigorous and dedicated 3-month preparation will land you in the merit list.
While I have seen some people taking up their score considerable after dropping, a whopping majority falls around the same mark even the next year or sometimes even less (CLAT 2014 batch, am I right my people :P).
Instead of losing one precious year out of your life, invest it in a long term internship at the end of your course, trust me one-year internship will do you far greater good than a one year prep.
For a little motivation, read CLAT Bihar topper Shivam Sharan’s interview whose first attempt landed him at 6000ish rank and second at NALSAR.
Non-NLU grads make it big too.
Lose the mindset that not being able to crack CLAT ends your shot at being a good lawyer, it’s the same as we thought Ned Stark would survive and triumph The Iron Throne (did I get that right ? Not a GoT fan :P).
There are non-NLU grads I personally know who have not only interned but joined the Tier I law firms straight out of college and after a few years opened their own firms and are living the dream. Join a college in a major city where you can intern while you study, all year round.
This will give you an edge over the other candidates because at the end of the tunnel there are about 150 dream jobs per year for thousands of law grads (and Suits Fanbois). e.g Mumbai University students intern all year, work as paralegals and by the end of 5-year law school, they have more experience and contacts than any other NLU student.
The gist of it is, there is no fixed way to succeed in this field.
I wish you all the best for your CLAT paper, go and triumph the mammoth if even one of you could benefit from the mistakes I made, I’d think I cracked CLAT too.
First published on December 18, 2020
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Aditya Anand
Contributing author
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