Contents
What Common Mistakes To Avoid While Preparing For CLAT Examination?
The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) has released tentative dates for the CLAT 2024 examination. It is supposed to be held in December 2023 and registrations will start in May 2023. In such scenarios, it is quintessential for CLAT aspirants to get in line with their CLAT preparation.
CLAT stands for Common Law Admission Test. The CLAT entrance exam is conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) at the national level. The aim of the CLAT exam is to enroll law students in 23 National Law Universities (NLUs) of the country for UG and PG law courses.
To enroll themselves for law courses at the National Law University (NLU) of Delhi, students must take the AILET or All India Entrance Test organized by NLU Delhi.
Significantly enough, a lot of private law colleges also enroll students in UG and PG law courses based on a student’s marks on the CLAT test.
About seventy thousand (70,000) forms are filled out every year in the CLAT entrance exam and only about four thousand (4,000) students are able to secure seats in the NLUs participating.
Moreover, only 3000 seats are available for UG law courses, whereas 1200 are available for PG law courses.
Such a huge difference between those registering themselves for the exam and those qualifying arises because of some common mistakes that several students make in the CLAT entrance test. Evidently, those who are able to overcome these silly mistakes have their name marked on the passing list of the CLAT results.
Here are 6 common mistakes which CLAT aspirants make while CLAT preparation. Notably, by avoiding these CLAT mistakes, you can be sure of succeeding in the CLAT entrance exam!
6 common mistakes to avoid while CLAT preparation
1. Not having a clear idea of the CLAT syllabus
Not analyzing the detailed or in-depth syllabus of the CLAT exam becomes a serious hurdle in the CLAT journey of many students.
Almost all students check the overview of the CLAT syllabus to find out the subjects which are covered in the CLAT examination. However, only a few students take the time to read and analyze the in-depth version of the syllabus.
As a matter of fact, the detailed syllabus of the CLAT examination contains all the topics and subtopics within every subject of the CLAT examination. This makes studying easier and simpler.
Suppose somebody tells you to prepare for English. And then, somebody asks you to prepare synonyms and antonyms in English. Which one will be easier? Obviously, the second one!
The detailed syllabus of the CLAT entrance exam can be easily downloaded from the official website of the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) at https://consortiumofnlus.ac.in/.
2. Ignoring CLAT Previous Years’ Questions
Another one of the most common CLAT mistakes is ignoring the Previous Years’ Questions or what we generally call the PYQs.
It is always advisable to have an in-depth analysis of the CLAT’s previous years’ questions. In addition to expressing the general paper pattern of the CLAT entrance exam, the previous years’ questions reflect the level of the questions asked as a mirror.
To put it simply, CLAT’s previous year’s questions act as a foundation on which a student can build his entire preparation.
Consider being asked to study English. You will never know what level of English you are clearly told to prepare for the Intermediate (10+2) level or any else.
Previous Year Questions do this work of leveling out the format of the CLAT exam for you. Consequently, PYQs help greatly in scoring well in the CLAT entrance examination.
3. Not paying equal and equitable attention to all sections of the CLAT paper
One of the most common and absurd CLAT mistakes students makes is not paying equitable attention to all sections of the CLAT paper.
Notably, there are 5 sections of the CLAT exam that form its question paper. These include:
- English Language with Reading comprehensions
- Current Affairs and General Knowledge
- Legal Reasoning
- Logical Reasoning
- Quantitative Techniques or Maths
Out of these 5 sections, Legal Reasoning and Current Affairs along with General Knowledge forms 50% or half of the question paper.
Moreover, English language, as well as Logical Reasoning, together form 35-40% of the question paper. The rest 10-15% of the CLAT paper is made by the Maths section.
Evidently, focusing on one or two parts of the CLAT exam will not be fruitful in qualifying it. Furthermore, to score good marks in order to secure the top NLUs in the country, it is extremely important to score sufficiently higher numbers.
This can only be done by focusing on every section of the exam while investing equitable amounts of effort and time in each section.
In simple words, it is better to sharpen Legal Reasoning and Current Affairs as well as General Awareness for the best results. However, this shall be done along with investing sufficient efforts in other sections, so each section of the CLAT exam is balanced out.
Additionally, equitable studying also means that students focus more on their weaker sections. Obviously, this shall be done along with the reasonable practice of the stronger sections.
4. Not dedicating time to reading
Reading plays a major role when it comes to the CLAT entrance exam. Ironically, avoidance of reading is one of the commonest CLAT mistakes made by students.
Reading comprehensions form a direct part of the CLAT paper. Students are required to read a comprehension and then, based on their understanding, answer the questions asked.
Students who avoid reading are not able to develop analytical and concluding abilities. As a matter of fact, it is these abilities that are needed in solving comprehension questions.
Furthermore, reading is also important for the development of vocabulary. CLAT paper has vocabulary as an important topic within the English section.
Hence, it is highly advisable to read a newspaper, an article, or a book for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
Additionally, reading a newspaper daily will help in current affairs preparation.
5. Saving up Current Affairs for the last
Not preparing current affairs on a daily or weekly basis and saving it up for the last is a grave mistake made by CLAT aspirants.
Along with General Knowledge, Current Affairs forms 25% part of the CLAT paper.
Consequently, it becomes an important and marks-gaining part of the CLAT entrance exam.
Avoidance of the CA/GA section of the CLAT exam can result in low marks. At extremes, this may also lead to failure in the CLAT entrance exam.
The reason why students are unable to prepare or learn current affairs properly is that they save it for last. Day by day, current affairs increase and in the end, students find themselves drowning in an ocean of current affairs.
Conversely, daily preparation does not bulk up current affairs. There is only a day’s news and issues to be learned and acknowledged.
Furthermore, if not daily, it is a must to prepare current affairs on a weekly or monthly basis. However, preparation of current affairs is most beneficial when done daily.
This is because it facilitates learning and at the end of your preparation journey, you only need to revise all the current affairs and not learn the CA bulk which is built. .
6. Not taking enough Mock Tests
Most evidently, not taking enough mock tests is a serious CLAT mistake!
When a student does not take enough mock tests, he or she is risking a great number of marks in the CLAT entrance exam.
Mock tests are designed as per the paper format and detailed syllabus of the CLAT exam. A lot of them are structured based on the previous year’s questions.
When a student takes a mock test, he or she is able to recognize their preparation level. It facilitates improvement. Moreover, scoring well in mock tests develops confidence!
Besides taking structured CLAT mock tests, it is advisable to analyze the answers made by you. Analyzing simply means checking the number of attempted questions, how many are correct, what is your accuracy, etc.
Most importantly, analyze how many guesses the world went right.
While taking a mock test, a lot of students find their hidden instinct to guess the answer right. Conversely, several students find that their guessworks go wrong mostly, and thus, they minimize guesswork.
In addition, mock tests help in building time management abilities.
Students who have done the same thing of solving 150 questions in a time frame of 2 hours several times already can do it well in the actual CLAT exam!
In one way or another, it is always beneficial to take as many mock tests as possible.
Evidently, it ensures success in the CLAT entrance exam.
2 grave mistakes that must be avoided while taking the CLAT examination
Besides the above-mentioned CLAT mistakes which students make while preparing for the CLAT entrance exam, there are many mistakes that occur on the battleground of the CLAT exam.
Here are 2 serious mistakes that students, knowingly or unknowingly, make while taking the CLAT examination.
1. Answering the questions without properly reading
Clearly, this is a serious CLAT mistake that can cost students several marks!
A lot of times, students do not clearly read and understand the comprehension before drawing a conclusion. Then, they wrongly answer based on wrong assumptions.
Furthermore, several students do not read the complete question and just answer. You may think you have understood the question, but half-driven inferences are often incorrect.
After all, the examiner has not designed the questions to be executed halfway.
Hence, it is extremely important to take the time to read and understand the demand of the questions and then mark the answer.
Do not think you are short of time. You have two long hours to solve 150 questions.
Moreover, you can always get better at time management.
2. Wrongly attempting the CLAT question paper, and not switching between sections when needed
A lot of students go on to solve the question paper in line, as it is given. What happens is when they get stuck on a question, they waste a minute or two before moving on to the next.
In addition to being a waste of time, it also reduces confidence and causes anxiety and fear. As a result, students are unable to perform well even though they have fairly good knowledge of the paper questions.
This is the wrong method of attempting the CLAT question paper.
The right method is to quickly read the question and mark in your mind which ones you know or can solve in a reasonable time and which ones would require time. Then, answer.
Only when you are done with the easy questions, go on to solve the tough ones.
Another CLAT mistake students make is not switching between sections when needed.
Since the CLAT question paper has long reading comprehension and English along with reasoning and maths, students may get tired of solving the same type of questions for long.
Switching between questions can be helpful in performing well in the CLAT exam.
Conclusion
Summing up, the CLAT entrance exam is conducted yearly by the Consortium of NLUs. Several students take part in the test with their passionate aims of enrolling in the best NLUs for law courses.
With the right strategy, correct guidance, and consistent hard work, students can turn their CLAT dreams into reality. They just need to prepare well, and avoid making the above-mentioned CLAT mistakes!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- When will CLAT 2024 be held?
Ans: The Consortium of National Law Universities has said to conduct CLAT 2024 in December 2023.
- Can I get admission to an NLU with 80 marks?
Ans: Yes. A lot of NLUs enroll students who have CLAT marks between 80 and 85 or above.
- What is a good score in CLAT?
Ans: Generally, any mark above 100 is a very good score in CLAT. With this score, students can enroll in most of the National Law Universities (NLUs) of the country.
Disclaimer: Target Notes does not own this book, PDF Materials Images, neither created nor scanned. We just provide the Images and PDF links already available on the internet. If any way it violates the law or has any issues then kindly mail us: targetnotes1@gmail.com
