How to crack CLAT

For preparing to take a test like CLAT, it is very important to study judiciously rather than just mugging up from study material

Law as a course to study has undergone a sea-change over the years with establishment of National Law Schools and the corporatisation of the placements in top law schools in the country.
Last year National Law Schools decided to conduct Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) for admissions into various under-graduate and graduate study programmes in leading National Law universities of India.

For preparing to take a test like CLAT, it is very important to study judiciously rather than just mugging up from study material readily available in the market. Not only will CLAT pursuers have to be adequately prepared but also for their board exams.
Now is a time where CLAT aspirants should maintain a fine and a judicious balance in preparing for CLAT and their boards.
If you are a CLAT aspirant, you will need to know what portions of the syllabus you should be sticking on to now and how much time you ought to allot for it, where the time allotment itself would vary from student to student depending on their understanding skills.

Time management

Aspirants should proportionately allot the available time and resources to cover the topics like General Knowledge, English, Mathematical & Logical Reasoning and Legal Aptitude.

Go through the newspaper everyday. Most aspirants sometimes start skipping the newspaper sometime in February thinking that they can manage the skipped portion after the board; however it is better to study fewer portion on a daily basis. For example, there is continuous change in posts and ranks in many government departments, new amendments in the laws, etc. Instead of piling it all up its better to study this on a regular basis. This is the time where your focus on GK must be restricted to areas, which you can grasp and recall easily. Don’t sit hard intending to finish your module by February, rather just brush through it a certain times when you are stained from studying for your Board Examinations. Again do the part that you can grasp easily.
Focus on the vocabulary section, in tandem with reading the newspaper by picking out words that you don’t know. As far as grammar and comprehension go, try doing it on the weekends, but if you are not too confident about English, give an hour or two more per week on this section.

Mathematics & Logical reasoning – these two areas are the most strenuous of all, as they require relatively more analytical understanding. What is suggested is in this phase is that you concentrate more on GK and English. Try doing 5-10 questions from a particular topic on every alternative day. Do problems in the sections that are pretty simple and enjoyable like speed, work, ratio and permutation or calendar sums. Remember the range of marks that one set of students (like top 100 or 100-200 students) score in the difficult sections is usually the same (like 16-20 or 18-24 out of 26 for 13 * 2 questions); at times these simple sections can turn whole paper around.

Legal Aptitude

The idea in this section is not to understand the LAW but to know how to apply it to the given facts. As it turns out it’s more of logical reasoning with a tinge of legal principles and Jargons.
However, with an expected surge in the questions in this are, make sure you go through the ‘Legal Knowledge” portion on your weekends. Try this until the end of February, after that it’s better to restrict yourself only to the newspaper (GK on alternative days, brush through it when you are watching TV or during your tea break) and English and very occasionally other sections. Don’t push yourself too hard. ‘Work smart not hard’ is the key.

Legal knowledge has always been an integral part of the curriculum, and requires you to go through the recent updates happening in the legal field such as the recent judgments etc. Answer: Read. Next Question; How to read? Our advice is to always read things extensively and in detail. Whenever you are reading an article, read it carefully and completely and not just go through a summary or skim through a bunch of prepared points.

For example, if you happen to read about Rajiv Gandhi.

Browsing through a few points will tell you that ‘He was the youngest Prime Minister’ and ‘A militant outfit called LTTE killed him’. But what you can and will miss out and what the National Law Schools will test you upon is ‘where was he killed’, or ‘what policies did he adopt in India? ‘what were the landmark moves taken by him?, ‘What was his tenure?’ You could be asked about the importance of these events and if you don’t know it in details and are prepared superficial things could miss out if you miss even a small ink. For example if they ask you where was Rajiv Gandhi assassinated? What was his impact in Shah Bano?

Eligibility

Under-Graduate: Academics: 10+2 Examination or equivalent with not less than 50% marks for General and 45% marks for SC/ST OBC and persons with disability.(Students taking qualifying examination in March/April 2009 are also eligible to apply)

Age limit: Not more than 20 years in case of General and 22 years in case of SC / ST / 0BC Post-graduate (EXCEPT FOR NLU, JODHPUR) Academics: 55% marks in aggregate in LL.B. / B.L. 50% marks in case of SC / ST/ OBC and persons with disability. Application form can obtained from the designated branches of National bank and State Bank of India or any of the National Law School against the payment of Rs.2500/- (Rs.2000/- in case of SC/ST). The last date for receipt of application forms is April 10, 2008. The test would be held on May 11, 2008.

Candidates can get further information by sending mails to info@lawentrance.com or visit www.lawentrance.com