Hitting the books with fervour

Intense Preparation

It’s the season of entrance exams. And one of the toughest and most prestigious is the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) for National Law School of India University (NLSIU), that is scheduled to be held in the City on May 12. This year, there are 1,089 candidates (70 LLM and the remaining LLB students), who will take the test at the Bangalore centre of the NLSIU.

CLAT is one among the few exams that students work very hard for. The preparations for the exam begin well in advance and aspirants interact a lot with NLSIU students, present and past, to get a feel of what the test would be like.
‘Metrolife’ speaks to a few students who are writing the exam as well as the management of the institute to understand the challenges the CLAT presents. 

The CLAT is divided into various sections, including logical and legal reasoning, English and maths. The test is meant to judge the students’ ability to reason logically and their language must be perfect. A lot of importance is given to legal aptitude.

Shantanu Kumar is attempting the CLAT for the second time this year. He says that he lost his first chance by a mere 12 points. “You can study in any law university that you want to, but none are as prestigious as the NLSIU. The faculty and the name of the college come in handy if you want to pursue an LLM abroad in Yale or Harvard. The NLSIU has a strong presence of alumni across the world,” reasons Shantanu.

He feels that while preparing for the CLAT, it is important to give equal importance to all the subjects. “The mathematics section may be just the basics, but a thorough preparation and constant practice is necessary. I spend a lot of time practising and make sure that I am able to solve mathematical problems that may appear. The same dedication goes for English and general knowledge, which are just as tough,” he adds.  Madhav Behl, another student who is writing the CLAT this year, agrees that every section is extremely important. “There’s only a small difference in the marks scored by students. Sometimes, even 50 students end up with the same score. So, every section of the paper is crucial,” reasons Madhav. He further states that the competition is intense. “The quality of students attempting the entrance exam is so high that cracking it is getting tougher and tougher every year. Smart and sensible preparation is the key to cracking the CLAT,” he notes.
 
Roopa Shankar, who has just completed her second PUC, is keen on NLS but has kept her options open. “More then preparing for the CLAT, I’ve focussed on performing well in my PUC exams. These marks are the main criteria for admissions into other law colleges. While NLSIU is my first option, it’s not my only choice. There are other institutions that are just as good,” she reasons.

Professor R Venkata Rao, vice chancellor and professor of law at NLSIU, points out, “All arrangements are being to ensure that the CLAT is conducted in a smooth manner. The entrance tests are not only getting better with every year, but more representative as well.”