A Journey Worth Living – Prithvi Joshi (AIR 11 – CLAT 2016)

By Praveen Dwivedi -
28
9033

The morning of 12th May changed my life. A score of 169.5 flashed on the screen. I was not too excited about the score as it had been a very easy paper. But as the day passed, the excitement kept growing as I realized that it was, indeed, a really good score. The thought of getting into my dream law school constantly crossed my mind. This was the moment for which I had prepared diligently for two years and all the hard work had paid off at last. And believe me, your hard work always pays.

Looking back on that two-year long journey that started from my room, I decided to take up law as my career after due deliberation with my elder brother. It was a choice that suited me as my interest sprung from wanting to give back to the society and law, as a career, had a lot of scope.

Prithvi Joshi, AIR 11 – CLAT 2016

A coaching institute provided me with the required discipline and regularity that is needed for CLAT (although it is totally fine if you are yourself disciplined enough and can manage by yourself).

The most important thing about CLAT that everybody agrees with is that CLAT is totally unpredictable. In 2014, the CLAT Committee set a comparatively easy paper. In 2015, the level shot up drastically with some claiming it to be on par with CAT. And in 2016, it has been touted as one of the easiest papers till date. The only remedy of this unpredictability that I can think of is to cover up everything, right from the basics to the hardest part and not leave out anything, by thinking that questions of such kind might not come in CLAT. This kind of coverage will act as your much-needed confidence booster.

Coming to the nitty-gritty of the exam, the section that needs the most diligent and honest preparation is General Knowledge. It requires a daily reading of the newspapers. Do not consider the newspaper to be a useless tool by resorting to reading the news on the net. For efficient and quick revision, make sure you have the CLATGyan Compendiums saved on your computer.

Legal Reasoning is another subject that requires careful consideration with regard to reading the principles carefully and practicing as many questions as possible. In case of Logical Reasoning, do practice Critical Reasoning questions along with Analytical Reasoning and do not ignore them just because they do not appear frequently.

English would not prove to be difficult if you are thorough with the basic grammar rules and are regular in improving your vocabulary. Your speed in Reading Comprehension will depend on how much you read throughout the year. A reading habit is always useful.

Mathematics may give nightmares to some of you but with sheer practicing of different patterns of questions that can appear in the examination, you will find it to be the easiest section of the lot. You will have to practice this section no matter how averse you are to the idea of working out numbers. There is no substitute to it.

Although the guidelines may sound clichéd, these are the fundamentals that cannot be compromised with.

An integral part of one’s preparations are the mock tests you subscribe to. Mocks will acquaint you with the pattern and will help you in enhancing the much-needed speed. Try to give as many mocks as possible and do analyze them thoroughly. Do not get bogged down by mock scores and ranks as they do not remain constant and keep on fluctuating.

During the last month, try to get as much practice as possible and do not learn anything new.

That being said, it is definitely a bumpy journey. You will feel depressed and dejected at some point of your preparation and some of you may also think of quitting the preparation. But the thing that I kept in my mind when I came across obstacles was that obstacles always give you an opportunity to rise. These obstacles are a part of your journey which you will have to clear in order to reach your dream law school. Never think that it cannot be cleared in the first attempt. Put your heart and soul into it and enjoy the preparation. Once you get through, you will feel that this so called journey of CLAT was worth living.

P.S – Any doubts can be posted in the comments section. I will be happy to answer them.

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28 COMMENTS

  2. THANK U SO MUCH for ur tips prithvi joshi..and congratulations…!can u tell me that how can one solve questions of legal “knowledge” in legal aptitude…?

  4. Thank you for your motivating words,
    I would be starting my preparation from august for 2017 clat. I am a regular newspaper reader(though I admit I frequent economics section and editorial more than others). I would like to know which sections or which news I should focus on and should i write down the events or giving a glance is alright?(Is TOI good?)
    I used to be a avid novel reader of novels but recently I don’t think I am giving much attention to it.
    I have looked up papers for clat and solved 2011 set, should I solve it before prep or after or simultaneously solve them?
    which coaching institute are good and will just doing correspondence work?
    Please help me with the books that can be used for respective sections.
    I already have started Norman Lewis’s Word Power Made easy.
    I am a science student who is stuck studying what she doesn’t like and therefore it shall be a big help if you answer my query and guide me. This is truly my passion and being the sole person in my class and family being interested in law is tough. So I truly seek your help.
    PLEASE REPLY!

    • Rely on the answer keys of the past year question papers as they are the official ones and the CLAT body is not going to change the answers generally that they only have given.

  6. Hey!! I am almost done with the legal section. And of course I will be practicing it regularly but I am struck with maths what shall I do? I am not that good with maths, can you please suggest me books? And also what if I attend only 12 to 13 questions in maths section? Is it fine or I need to increase the number of questions?

    • The key to maths is practice. I know it will be tough for a student who hates it but after all CLAT is not a cakewalk, you will have to put in efforts no matter what. Also, don’t fix the number of attempts in advance. You should attempt according to the level of the paper. An easy paper may have 20 attempts but on the other hand , in a difficult paper , an attempt of 10 to 12 questions would be fine, therefore adjust accordingly.

  7. Thanks a lot for your tips but can u tell me the names of some books that u were read for ur clat preparation i m 14 year old and i have lot of confusions and i feel very desperate because i dont know anything ,how to read ,how many hours i
    Have to read i have only 1 year 8 months i lost my 4 months without reading more things

  8. Hey, thankyou so much for your tips.
    Can you please suggest me some good books for MATH.
    Math has always been my nightmare.
    I absolutely suck at it.I just joined a coaching. Can you tell me how much time should i invest for preparing on daily basis. Thank once again for the tips and would really be thankful for the help.

    • For Maths, firstly solve the coaching module and then try your hands at R.S.Aggarwal for brushing up basic concepts. Try to solve as many different types of questions as possible and not only just one or two types of questions . That may solve your problem of Maths.
      Your division of time on a daily basis will depend on your strengths and weaknesses , so allot more time to your weaknesses.

  9. Thank you for your motivating words,
    I would be starting my preparation from august for 2017 clat. I am a regular newspaper reader(though I admit I frequent economics section and editorial more than others). I would like to know which sections or which news I should focus on and should i write down the events or giving a glance is alright?(Is TOI good?)
    I used to be a avid novel reader of novels but recently I don’t think I am giving much attention to it.
    I have looked up papers for clat and solved 2011 set, should I solve it before prep or after or simultaneously solve them?
    which coaching institute are good and will just doing correspondence work?
    Please help me with the books that can be used for respective sections.
    I already have started Norman Lewis’s Word Power Made easy.
    I am a science student who is stuck studying what she doesn’t like and therefore it shall be a big help if you answer my query and guide me. This is truly my passion and being the sole person in my class and family being interested in law is tough. So I truly seek your help.
    PLEASE REPLY!

    • English with Comprehesion

      *Word Power Made Easy-Norman Lewis(Bible for English. It’s like the stepping stone).
      *Objective English- R.S Aggarwal.
      *Vocabulary.com(Optional).
      *The Hindu(Headlines and Editorial is a must read).

      Logical Reasoning
      *Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning by R.S Aggarwal.

      Math
      *Quantitative Aptitude by R.S Aggarwal.

      GK
      *Lucents GK Book.

      Current Affairs
      *Gktoday.com
      *The Hindu.
      *Clatgyan Compendiums.

      Legal Aptitude
      *Coaching material is enough.(If you are going to a coaching institute)
      *Past Year Question papers.

      A coaching institute will provide you with the discipline required for the preparation. If you can manage that, then there is no need of a coaching institute.
      You should solve the past year papers as many times as possible.

      Don’t worry , you will get through if you are regular.

      Happy Prep!

  12. Hey,Thank you for your motivating words
    But there is a problem which keep demotivating me and i.e CBSE BOARD EXAMS Preparations
    I am feeling practically impossible to study for both Boards n CLAT n sometime i feel like i will end up loosing both!
    How should I manage them?

  13. Hi Prithvi,
    I had dropped a year this time but due to some reason i cannot constantly prepare for clat and even could not make into nlu…so if i can now start my preperatin high then is redropping adviceable? I know you have done it with 12 but do students redrop too?

  15. Hello sir.. I want you view regarding my problem
    I have just started preparation for clat ..within 35 days it is possible to crack the exam..
    I just want to know whether it is possible or not..
    And is it necessary to prepare for 1-2 years

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