What is CLAT?
CLAT stands for Central Law Admission Test and it is a test for the 16 National Law Universities (NLUs) of India.
What are the prerequisites?
There are no prerequisites to take the exam, per se, but to be eligible to apply to the colleges you need to have a minimum 50% overall in your 12th board exams.
What subjects are you tested on?
CLAT is split into 5 subjects with the respective weightage:
English: 20%
Legal Aptitude: 25%
General Knowledge: 25%
Logical Reasoning: 20%
Elementary Arithmetic: 20%
Each correct answer gives +1 and an incorrect answer gives -0.25
How much time is required for preparation?
That is a very subjective question. it depends on the individual. It can take from one month to anywhere up to a year of serious preparation. Some people even drop a year after their schooling to prepare for the CLAT.
Best Colleges in India?
Every National Law School is of very high standards but the best are NLSIU (Bangalore) and NALSAR (Hyderabad). NLU-Delhi is also a very prestigious law school, but it requires another test very much like the CLAT known as All India Law Entrace Test (AILET) to be taken. Symbiosis Law School, Pune is also a good college for which the Symbiosis Entrance Test (SET) must be taken. Private schools such as OP Jindal Law school are also fast catching-up now.
Prospects outside India?
The CLAT, like many other entrances, is only valid in India and not abroad. But although if one would like to apply abroad, there are a myriad of countries to apply to that include the United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
What after CLAT?
After CLAT, you have a choice of a 5 year course of a BA/BCOM/BBA/BSc/BTech integrated LLB, depending on the college you choose.
Tips for preparation:
1) Read the newspaper everyday without a gap to improve your general knowledge and your vocabulary.
2) Prepare with a plan. Do not save work for the last minute.
3) Do not cram. It does not help you retain what you have learnt.
4) Work out a lot of mock papers to help simulate the test environment as well as to maintain time.
5) Do not compare. You are your own competition. Always try to push yourself.
Good luck!
Contributed By – Trinethra
Advertisement