<p>Hundreds of students from the State and all over the country who wrote the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) this year for entry into prestigious law colleges are having sleepless nights due to the delay in the announcement of the first allotment list and a possible change in the ranks due to rectification of discrepancies in the question paper.</p>.<p> <br /><br />Following the publication of the answer keys of the test, a number of mistakes were pointed out by students. This led to a delay in announcing the list of possible seat allotments, that was originally scheduled for May 31. While the conveners of the examination this time, Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University (RMNLU), Lucknow, formed a committee to rectify the mistakes, there is no word as to when the allotments would take place. Even helplines are not useful and the university has been unresponsive, say students. <br /><br />Changes to affect ranks<br />What is, however, worrying students the most is the fact that there may also be changes in the ranks once the mistakes are corrected. The changes may result in students having to give up hopes of joining their dream colleges.<br /><br />The uncertainty has not spared even top-ranked students in the exam like Spoorthi Cotha, who secured an all-India rank of 57 and a State rank of five. Cotha wants to make it to the National Law School Of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, for its so-called status as the number one law college in the country and because she wants to be at home. <br /><br />Borderline rankings<br />“I am slightly worried as I hold one of those borderline rankings. However, I would not mind going to NALSAR in Hyderabad, although who would not want to go to NLSIU. National Law School, Delhi, is my third option. It is unfortunate that such a prestigious national-level exam continues to be handled with such carelessness,” she said. <br /><br />With the tendency being that several students occupy a single rank, a change of even “.25 per cent or one mark” can drastically change one’s rank, said Charu Jagdish, another student from the City who wrote the exam. <br /><br />“Similar problems cropped up last year at the height of the controversy over candidates’ marks getting mixed up. A senior of mine had got a rank of 12,000, initially. <br /><br />“But when the list was revised, she was ranked somewhere around 100. Such changes can make or break a student’s future,” she said. With an all-India rank of 370, Charu hopes to make it to any of the top six colleges (like the ones mentioned above) or those like the national law universities in Jodhpur and Gandhinagar. <br /><br />Prof J D Gangwar, convener of CLAT 2015 and RMNLU faculty, was not available for comments. However, sources in the university said that the “committee to look into the mistakes had already started their work” and that the announcement of allotments would be made soon. <br /></p>
<p>Hundreds of students from the State and all over the country who wrote the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) this year for entry into prestigious law colleges are having sleepless nights due to the delay in the announcement of the first allotment list and a possible change in the ranks due to rectification of discrepancies in the question paper.</p>.<p> <br /><br />Following the publication of the answer keys of the test, a number of mistakes were pointed out by students. This led to a delay in announcing the list of possible seat allotments, that was originally scheduled for May 31. While the conveners of the examination this time, Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University (RMNLU), Lucknow, formed a committee to rectify the mistakes, there is no word as to when the allotments would take place. Even helplines are not useful and the university has been unresponsive, say students. <br /><br />Changes to affect ranks<br />What is, however, worrying students the most is the fact that there may also be changes in the ranks once the mistakes are corrected. The changes may result in students having to give up hopes of joining their dream colleges.<br /><br />The uncertainty has not spared even top-ranked students in the exam like Spoorthi Cotha, who secured an all-India rank of 57 and a State rank of five. Cotha wants to make it to the National Law School Of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, for its so-called status as the number one law college in the country and because she wants to be at home. <br /><br />Borderline rankings<br />“I am slightly worried as I hold one of those borderline rankings. However, I would not mind going to NALSAR in Hyderabad, although who would not want to go to NLSIU. National Law School, Delhi, is my third option. It is unfortunate that such a prestigious national-level exam continues to be handled with such carelessness,” she said. <br /><br />With the tendency being that several students occupy a single rank, a change of even “.25 per cent or one mark” can drastically change one’s rank, said Charu Jagdish, another student from the City who wrote the exam. <br /><br />“Similar problems cropped up last year at the height of the controversy over candidates’ marks getting mixed up. A senior of mine had got a rank of 12,000, initially. <br /><br />“But when the list was revised, she was ranked somewhere around 100. Such changes can make or break a student’s future,” she said. With an all-India rank of 370, Charu hopes to make it to any of the top six colleges (like the ones mentioned above) or those like the national law universities in Jodhpur and Gandhinagar. <br /><br />Prof J D Gangwar, convener of CLAT 2015 and RMNLU faculty, was not available for comments. However, sources in the university said that the “committee to look into the mistakes had already started their work” and that the announcement of allotments would be made soon. <br /></p>
