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CLAT 2019: Preparation Tips and Techniques

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a nationwide entrance examination conducted for admission into the 19 National Law Universities (NLUs) across the country (NLU Delhi has its own entrance examination, the AILET). It is one of the nation’s most competitive examinations, with over 60,000 students competing for around 2,000 seats. With CLAT 2019 not far away, here are a few tips and tricks that might help you clear the examination.

CLAT Syllabus

CLAT is a 200 mark, 2-hour examination. It has five sections – General Knowledge, English, Quantitative Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, and Legal Aptitude.

General Knowledge – 50 Marks

This can be either the easiest or the most difficult section of the paper, depending upon your level of preparation. The focus is generally on current affairs, with the topics ranging from treaties, appointments, polity, sports, awards, major births and deaths, scientific discoveries and the like. There are also questions related to static GK, like countries and capitals, geography, history, basic science and the like. This is the make-or-break section of the paper.

English – 40 Marks

This section usually consists of questions based on reading comprehension, vocabulary and basic grammar. This section has the potential of being highly time-consuming, so it is imperative to be selective about the questions one attempts.

Quantitative Reasoning (Mathematics) – 20 marks

Questions in this section come under three basic heads- Arithmetic (Time, Speed and Distance, Time and Work, etc.), Algebra and Basic Geometry (Properties of basic shapes, basic theorems). This section is not hard per se, so the key is speed. So, there are two important things to keep in mind: one, practice a lot, and two, do not feel compelled to try multiple times during the examination in order to arrive at the correct answer.

Logical Reasoning – 40 Marks

This is often one of the most scoring sections in CLAT, with sufficient practice. The questions are usually based on Puzzles, Seating Arrangement, Logical Sequences, Number Test, Verbal Reasoning, Family/ Blood Relation, Ranking & Order, Coding Decoding and the like.

Legal Aptitude – 50 Marks

For this section, candidates are expected to know the basics of Torts, Contracts, Criminal Law, Family Law, International Law, and the Indian Constitution. With practice, this can also be a high-scoring area, and is especially important as it is the first section used as a tie-breaker.

Strategy for Preparation:

Since CLAT is a relatively easier entrance examination in terms of difficulty of questions, it is important to work smart, along with working hard. Put aside a fixed amount of time every day/week for CLAT preparation, and stick to it. Do not blindly focus on covering all topics mentioned in every preparation guide or module; focus on what has regularly been asked through the years and those areas that will yield high marks with lesser effort.

Find your strengths and weaknesses:

Everyone will have one or two sections of the paper that they are stronger at than the others. While one might instinctively try and improve their skills in the other sections, what will give you an edge is working on the sections you are stronger at. By ensuring an almost perfect score in one or two sections will give you an immense edge over the competition. Do remember, however, not to neglect any section entirely.

Writing Mock Tests

This point cannot be emphasised enough. It is important to do mock tests on a regular basis as they provide an effective method of self-assessment, a way determining one’s strengths and weaknesses. Also, by doing an ample number of mock tests, one ensures that as the exam nears, they will have discovered an optimal exam-taking strategy.

Focus on High Scoring areas

As mentioned earlier, one has to work smart in order to clear CLAT. One of the ways of doing that is by focussing preparation on high-scoring areas. High-scoring areas differ from person to person, but GK definitely is one. It requires regular, consistent effort across the year, but during the exam will tale a mere 8-9 minutes because they are questions whose answers you either know or do not. Similarly, in mathematics, if one is thorough with arithmetic, they might have 12-14 questions in their bag already. Find your high-scoring area and work towards perfecting it.

Is Preparing Maths a Must to Crack CLAT 2019?

Short answer – yes. Many people believe that if they work hard enough on the other sections of the paper, they can leave the maths section without any consequences. However, that is not the case. In CLAT, every single mark counts. A difference of three marks may cause a slide of more than a hundred ranks, and therefore abandoning 20 marks without even trying seems foolhardy.

Maths for CLAT can be grasped with sufficient practice. There might be a few difficult or time-consuming questions in the paper, and those are the only questions one should consider leaving at all.  Also, since many CLAT takers are uncomfortable with maths, being good at the subject can provide a huge advantage.

Going Offline is Positive or Negative

An offline exam comes with both advantages and disadvantages. A few of those disadvantages include the ordeal of filling bubbles in an OMR sheet and the possibility of accidentally leaving out a question.

The advantages are several. There is lesser eye-strain for the candidates, opportunity to mark and underline in order to track key points in questions, escape from technical glitches, and a level playing field for all candidates. So, going offline might have been a positive change.

Preparation Strategy for an Offline Exam

One of the key ways to ace an exam is by simulating the exam environment while practicing. This means that since the exam is offline, mocks must be taken offline as well, and answers must not merely be ticked, one must also practice filling the OMR bubbles. There is no correct way of filling the bubbles, so just practice and find out what works best for you.

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