Now, law course aspirants look beyond CLAT

Even as law course aspirants all over the country hanker for the so-called top institutes within the ambit of the Common Law Admissions Test (CLAT), students in the City say that there are a number of other good options within and outside the State.

On Sunday, Sujeet Hiremath, a law course aspirant from Khanapur, Belagavi, appeared for the entrance test to the National Law University (NLU), Delhi.

“In previous editions of the test, I have heard that 13,000 students applied for 60 seats in National Law University. M S Ramaiah School of Law, University Law College (ULC) in Bengaluru are quite good and commonly opted for by law aspirants,” he said. Sujeet will also be giving the CLAT on May 5.

“A number of my friends are giving entrances to institutes such as Symbiosis Law School in Pune and Christ Law School in Bengaluru,” he said.

Deccan Herald had earlier reported about the lukewarm response from the State to CLAT. Of the over 45,000 students who applied for the test, only 991 students from the State will be writing the test.

Judging by the trends of admissions at institutes under the Karnataka State Law University (KSLU), one might be able to see why. T V Manjunatha, registrar (administration), KSLU, said last year alone 19,000 students were admitted to 92 institutes that are under or affiliated to the university.

Deepthi P R, another law aspirant, said, “ILS Law College in Pune and Government Law College in Mumbai are very good if not better than many colleges under CLAT. In the City, CMR Law College and Christ Law School are also quite good,” she said.  

Vineeth Hegde, a former lecturer at a law coaching institute, was of the opinion that while students usually go after top law schools, they also opt for private law colleges that are quite good.

“Colleges like MS Ramaiah School of Law, ULC are decent places to study and the courses are also quite affordable. There are, however, a few colleges like Jindal Global Law School in Haryana that despite being quite costly are popular among students,” he said.