How to

Crack CLAT
Know it from experts

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 How to Crack CLAT - Know it from experts

Contents
Introduction3

How to prepare for CLAT? 4

Section-wise Preparation 7

Important Books for CLAT Preparation 9

The Team
’How to Crack CLAT -Know it from experts’ E-Book is the cumulative work of a team and not just one or two hands.
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 How to Crack CLAT - Know it from experts

Introduction

A
s Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is scheduled to be held on
May 14, 2017; aspirants must be gearing up for final round of prepa-
ration for the law entrance exam. This year, CLAT is being conduct-
ed by Chanakya National Law University (CNLU) Patna.

Every year as many as 40000 candidates appear for the most sought after
law admission test, conducted for around 2300 undergraduate law seats.

Law aspirants appear for the common law admission test for pursuing five-
year integrated law programmes offered in as many as 18 NLUs including Ma-
harashtra National Law University Mumbai and Maharashtra National Law
University Nagpur.

With the increased level of competition, you need to have an exam strategy
that can help you in getting an edge over others. Careers360 brings you ex-
pert insights through ‘How to prepare for CLAT ’ E-Book.

This E-Book shall help the law aspirants to prepare for the exam in the re-
maining days to score well by enhancing their strong areas while improving
their weaker sections.

Read here what experts suggest on cracking CLAT .

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How to prepare for CLAT?

Phase-wise preparation
A law aspirant needs to plan in different phases which are helpful in analyzing accuracy skills as well as im-
proving speed. The experts have suggested phase-wise preparation strategy for CLAT .

Rajneesh Singh, CLAT mentor suggests three phases for preparing for the law exam beginning from clearing
concepts till taking mock tests.

Phase One – Conceptual clarity and ability to comfortably solve every type of possible questions likely to ap-
pear in CLAT of each subjects.

Phase Two – Working on ability to solve set of questions with high speed but with 80 to 85 percent accuracy.
Taking small section tests will help a lot. Taking it online will help more.

Phase Three – Taking lots of mock tests under perfect exam conditions is the last task. Analysis is must after
every test. Without analysis (question by question) a mock test is useless.

Work on easiest subjects first

As there are few days left for preparation, experts advise you to focus on the elementary topics first as it will
strengthen those areas.

Expert from CLATapult, Siddharth Dey advises, “Firstly, there is no reason to fret. You will have to chalk out
your strengths and weaknesses that you know.” He says that it will be important in determining your focus
areas, as once you start solving problems, the strengths and weaknesses might change roles and so should be
taken care of.

He suggests that an aspirant needs to plan a rough idea of how the preparation process will be carried on in-
cluding subject-wise deadlines, mock tests and revisions. “The fundamental plan is to work out with the easiest
things first,” he adds.

Solving previous year question papers

Experts advise to solve previous years’ question papers while you have a conceptual clarity of different sec-
tions.

Rajendra Khadav, CLAT Tutorials Director says that law aspirants should concentrate on revising their con-
cepts by solving last years’ question papers. He explains, “Solving the question papers will help aspirants in
acquainting with the paper structure. Aspirants should be abreast with the current affairs till the last day of
the exam”.

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Harsh Gagrani, Director of LegalEdge Tutorials says, “A law aspirant should lookout for sources of intense
testing and revision. The candidate should practice all the previous years’ of CLAT to get a hang of the level of
difficulty which usually comes in these examinations”.

Speed and Time Management – Crucial factor

Experts say that law aspirants should particularly focus on increasing their speed as time is a very crucial fac-
tor in completing the exam. Rajendra Khadav says, “An aspirant should take care of increasing the speed and
managing time while solving questions so that the test is completed well before time. This can be done by
solving the previous

Why is it important to take Mock Tests?

Mock test provides experience of real exam as well as improves thinking and reacting capability for online
mode exams. Experts advocate for mock tests as they help in familiarizing with the online mode exam. They
also advise the candidates to take more and more mock tests as it will help in improving test skills.

Rajendra Khadav of Crack CLAT Tutorials says that the mock tests are the instruments to analyze the prepara-
tion level. He says, “Aspirants need to take as many as 5 to 6 online mock tests in a month during their prepara-
tory days. This will help aspirants in improving their thinking and reacting capability in the stipulated time.”
He further says that taking mock tests will help in getting accustomed to the online mode, in due course of
time.

CLAT Mentor, Rajneesh Singh says that online mock tests are important as they are designed to give you a feel
of the actual exam. Appearing for online mock tests will help law aspirants in improving their speed and ac-
curacy. He suggests, “Once the phase one preparation is over, aspirants should increase number of mock test
they take each month.” However, he advises not to take any mock tests in the month of exam. He explains, “I
would advise no to take any mock tests further in the month of May, as it should be the ideal time for revision
of what aspirants have gone through in couple of last months.”

Whereas, Harsh Gagrani of LegalEdge Tutorials says that a student should appear for as many as 10-15 mock
tests a week. He says, “When mock tests, taken in a simulated environment, replicate the actual CLAT taking
experience. It is highly beneficial to the aspirants. I advise candidates to take a mock test, in every 3-4 days.”

Siddharth Dey, a faculty at CLATapult suggests that an aspirant needs to take mock tests on a regular basis and
determine improving with each mock test. “A law aspirant should work on shortcomings and honing strengths
further. He/she needs to understand that appearing in mock tests without seriousness will lead an aspirant
nowhere. It is an indispensable part of the process,” adds the CLATapult expert.

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Don’t be frayed upon bad mock test scores

Practice makes a man perfect, as more mock tests you take, much improved your skills are. However, experts
advise you not to panic upon your bad scores, as mock tests are just to help you gauge your own preparation.

Siddharth Dey, the CLAT expert who himself was a topper, favors mock tests saying, “Apart from helping you
gauge your level of preparation, the mock tests also emulate how you stand against the clock, which the Com-
mon Law Admission Test is all about. They are thus important and a better way to put things.”

He suggests that aspirants should not be swayed too much by a bad mock score or even by a good mock score.
He further says that it all comes down to what an aspirant does in the exam hours. “I advise CLAT aspirants to
take at least 40 mock tests, including as many as 12-15 which should be taken in the last month alone. Moreo-
ver, each mock test deserves your full effort. A poor effort is far worse than a bad score,” sums Siddharth Dey.

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Section-wise Preparation

L
egal Aptitude is considered most important section of CLAT, given weightage and advantage, it has for
breaking ties. Experts explain significance of Legal Aptitude section in comparison to other sections.
They also say that a candidate needs to prepare a bit more for this section. However, the other weaker
sections and should be equally worked upon.
Harsh Gagrani, Director of LegalEdge Tutorials says that the section carries 50 marks. He also explains, “In case
of tie, the candidate having more marks in Legal Aptitude is given preference over others. Therefore, you need
to concentrate a bit more on this section.”

He shares few suggestions for the important section–

a. Don’t look for multiple sources. Multiple answers to same/similar questions will confuse you and do more
harm than good. Rather, look for one/two good sources where you get atleast 1400-1500 questions before
the CLAT. Join any good coaching Centre’s Test Series for the same.

b. This is probably clichéd – but stick to the principle! And do not use any outside knowledge while answering
questions.

c. Don’t read too much theory, but do prepare for Torts, Contracts and Criminal Law, as questions from these
topics come mostly in Legal Reasoning and not in Legal Knowledge. Reading too much theory will further
make you mark answers not based on your reading of the principle but based on your outside knowledge.

d. Don’t forget to give due emphasis to Current Legal GK. Many questions this year were asked from it. Though
there is no separate source for this, any good CA source will suffice for this.

e. Time is also a key to cracking this section. Less than 45-48 seconds per Legal Reasoning question and less
than 12 seconds per Legal Knowledge question should be your eventual aim.
Rajendra Khadav of Crack CLAT Tutorials advises to prepare for all the sections in a proper manner. He shares
tips for each section –

English – The English section will test the candidate’s proficiency in English based comprehension passages
and grammar. In the comprehension section, candidates will be questioned on their understanding of the
passage and its central theme, meanings of words used therein etc. The grammar section requires correction
of incorrect grammatical sentences, filling in of blanks in sentences with appropriate words, etc. You need to
build a vast vocabulary. This needs long term sustained effort. Go through the word list, words of one letter of
the alphabet per day, and tick those words that you are not familiar with. Use those words in your conversation

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or in any writing. Do read a good newspaper, like the Hindu, every day without fail and a news magazine like
the Frontline. This in any case is essential for your GK preparation.

General Knowledge – This is another area that needs sustained effort. The area to be covered is indeed very
vast. You must go through the 10th Standard books on Geography, History, Civics and Science to get a bird’s
eye view or the subject matter. Do attempt the entire question from the past papers to get an idea of the vast-
ness of the coverage. For current events, reading of newspaper and magazine is important. You must maintain
a GK notebook for short notes.
Maths – This section will test candidates only on elementary mathematics i.e. Maths that is taught till class 10.
You’ll need to understand the fundamentals of the topics of arithmetic. You’ll also have to enhance your speed
by practicing exercises from various study materials.

Logical Reasoning – The purpose of the logical reasoning section is to test the student’s ability to identify pat-
terns, logical links and rectify illogical arguments. It will include a wide variety of logical reasoning questions
such as syllogisms, logical sequences, analogies, etc.

Legal Aptitude – This is one of the most important sections that the candidate should cover properly. It is not
necessary for them to know the laws but must have an inclination towards the study of law. Questions will
be framed with the help of legal propositions to which they have to answer. Solving previous years’ question
papers would help them to enhance their understanding the principles and improve time management skills.

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Important Books for

CLAT Preparation

C
LAT aspirants should get their hands on a guide book, of which sev-
eral publications are available in the market. This will draw a rough
outline of the scope of the exam. You can refer to the below men-
tioned books for preparation of CLAT -

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Subjects Books’ Name Author/ Publisher

English with Comprehension Word power made easy Norman Lewis
Objective English Pearson
Grammar Wren & Martin
English is easy Chetnanand Singh
General Knowledge & Current Affairs Monthly magazine of CRACK CLAT’s
current affairs
GK Today and Jagranjosh Pearson
for Current Affairs
CLAT Magazine Achievers’ Guild
Concise GK Guide for Lucent
Static GK
Manorama Yearbook K. M. Mathew and
Mammen Mathew
Competition in focus Arihant
Elementary Mathematics Quantitative Aptitude for R.S Agarwal
Competitive Examinations
Objective arithmetic R.S Agarwal
R. S. Agarwal on Reasoning R.S Agarwal
and Mathematics
Elementary Mathematics R.S Agarwal
and Analytical Reasoning
Legal Aptitude Legal GK Manish Arora
Ace the CLAT IMS
The Pearson Guide to the Pearson
CLAT
Butterworth’s Lexis Nexis Butterworth’s
for Legal Aptitude
Universal’s LLB entrance Universal Law
guide Publishing Co.
Logical Reasoning Analytical Reasoning M.K Pandey
A Modern Approach to R.S Agarwal
Verbal Reasoning
R. S. Agarwal on Reasoning R.S Agarwal
and Mathematics

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