If you are starting from ZERO, like, you have just heard of CLAT and yet want to have the daring experience of attempting it, read below.

Unapologetically, it's pretty lengthy but it'll probably save you hours of YT strategy video binging sessions!

• STEP 1: Know your target score for your required range of college, based on previous year 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 score vs rank trend analysis. Arrive at a clear number or atleast a range.

Open a few trusted coaching websites and write down the clat syllabus on a paper/printout. Make sections and their sub-topics wise list. Always keep this paper handy during your prep.

 

• STEP 2: You need to know where you stand now = knowing WHAT you have to do + in how much TIME.

1. Give atleast 2 mocks in a timed manner: You will get a sense of WHAT you have to do and a very clear idea of the TIME in which you are expected to complete the exam. This is to get you a 1^(st) hand feel of the time pressure.

Focusing on your score isn’t the most important part here. People go from 95+ in mocks to 65 in the actual clat and vice-versa.

Rather, analyze how comfortable you are with each section. This will determine how much effort you have to put in that particular section in the next few months.

Try to answer the following questions yourself:

Did you see all the questions or you ran out of time?
Did you have a strategy of attempting the paper and if so, did it work?
Were your mistakes mainly due to lack of practice, knowledge or both?

Based on these you will prioritize theory syllabus completion, questions practice or mocks quantity.

 

2. Go through atleast the past 3 years clat actual question papers: You may also attempt these as mocks but only if you haven’t already seen the questions or topics beforehand.  Focus on observing the syllabus extent and depth, question types and your comfort level with each of the section.

Here, you’ll get to know WHAT to study: in how much depth and extent. Based on this you will determine your sources. Whenever you select a source for theory or practice questions or mocks, always compare them with the actual clat questions and themes. Only by this can you filter the relevant content from the irrelevant one, although it’s a pretty tricky task.

 

• Step 3: Through step 1 and 2, you will get to know where you stand now and what score you want to achieve. You have to cover that gap in these next few months. Based on the gap, decide your intensity and strategy of prep. Try to think in terms of weeks left rather than months left, it would seem like every week is a new opportunity to increase the level of your prep. At the end of every week:
• Take a few moments and reflect on how you utilized the week and what more could you have done to make it better.   
• Relax a bit maybe? High intensity prep = more chance of burnout = strategic breaks become much more important:)

 

A general strategy for the next 3.5-4 months or 15 weeks:

Mid-August to September end, max. till 1st week of Oct:

You don’t have the ideal time to complete the A-Z of your syllabus, so don’t try to artificially finish it by rushing. Understand that 4 out of the 5 sections in clat are practice-based.

1. Make a priority list for each of the sections based on your comfort level + list of high-yield topics as shared by clat coachings/YTbers + PYQ trends.

Legal: Cover all the concepts + basic laws etc. Max 15 days. Watch YT playlists and make short notes, tricks, techniques etc. No lengthy notes.

Don’t focus on remembering what the law is, it will be provided in the exam anyway; instead focus how the law works.

Law = Principle + illustrations + exceptions. Focus on the illustrations/examples to understand HOW the law works. Take your time here. Pls don’t rush. Use AI intelligently- you may provide it a law/principle and ask it to break it down for you and give examples for each component of the law.  

For legal, best source= PYQs analysis.

Along with PYQs, start giving sectionals but always keep the PYQs as gold standard.
Remember, mocks are set by educators/teachers and clat is set by the actual people conducting the exam.  

LR = CR + AR. Both have very few concepts but 80% performance is dependent on MCQ practice + identifying your errors + rectifying them. That’s it.

Identify sub-topics of CR and AR and cover them from YT playlists. Get your concepts crystal clear.

Pls don’t rush in concept building phase. Always prioritize accuracy over speed. Speed comes naturally from more practice via sectionals/mocks.

If you have good conceptual understanding but slow= 2/4 questions attempt and correct, 0 error.

If you have bad conceptual understanding but are speedy= 4/4 questions attempt and maybe 1-2 right, rest = wrong= you spent time on getting negative marks:(

Here, you’ll be stuck in an endless loop of identifying errors and rectifying them. You are essentially treating the symptom and not the disease, therefore, no cure is effective.

 

English: Once again, very few concepts. Understand them slowly. Watch YT playlists. Once again, don’t rush.

This section is basically skill building. How you understand the concepts and the first few practice questions of each concept will build 60-70% of your understanding, rest you just better your skill with more practice.

 

QT: Note down the topics. Select 6-8 sub-topics which are very high yield like percentages, ratio proportion, averages etc. Give atleast 2-3 days/topic. Cover from YT playlists, one shots and marathon videos. Once again focus on the first few practice questions for each concept to get your basics clear.

 

GK/CA: This section is a beast in itself and I will try to cover this in a separate section-wise post. Brief overview: Cover the next 4 months thoroughly. Try to cover the last 6-8 months in a reverse order, like, july then june then may….. Cover these months from weekly/monthly compilation videos. Cover last 3-4 months from weekly videos/imp topics for that week.
If you do manage to cover these and reach Jan, Feb, March- atleast cover their monthly videos/month wise imp topics.

Don’t make lengthy notes. It’s better if you can highlight them online. This saves note-making time.

Focus on repeating themes which develop organically over months

 

Logical, legal and English- doesn’t have much syllabus and are much more dependent on sectionals, better test taking strategy, reducing errors, daily practice and staying calm. 

 

 *****Chapter-wise PYQs book*****: One of the 2 most imp resources, the other one being mocks.

After completing each sub-topic of any section other than GK/CA, refer to this book. If the questions look doable, you’re on the right track. If they look alien, change your sources. This is the compass of your clat prep. Referring to this validates your prep strategy + sources.

 

Note: Except GK/CA, give atleast 45 mins  to 1 hr/session for each section, else, you won’t build a flow state or a state of spontaneous learning.

Eg.: Say you are learning the concept of strengthen/weaken the argument for CR.

Model A: It may take you 1.5 hrs to understand this concept but once you do you’ll remember it for years. You’ll have no doubts in this area. If you attempt 10 questions, you’ll get 8-9 Qs 100% right.

Model B: you spend 15 mins/concept, you may have the false confidence that you are done with it. But when you attempt 10 questions you will barely get 3-4 questions right and will spend the next hour, reverse engineering the errors you made.

I believe model A is simpler, better and less draining/confidence-killing:).

 

Take your time in this phase. DIGEST the concepts. The next phases depend heavily on how efficiently you understood your concepts.  

Pls don’t rush and pls don’t panic. Stay calm and complete your theory portions. This phase is like loading your gun, the more you panic, the more time it takes and the messier it gets.  

 

While it looks good on paper, I don’t think a weekly/daily topic-wise routine is practical or even useful unless it is set by you. The reason is simple: A may cover ratio proportion in 3 days while B may take 8 days.

 

October: Practice questions + sectionals/mocks + error identification and correction.

Practice questions from coaching materials or any other high quality sources. This is for solidifying your concepts + building question solving stamina/speed/accuracy.

Sectionals: To adjust to time pressure + test different strategies.

Mocks: To combine and test all your skills + stamina building for those 2 hrs.

Mock analysis: To highlight your strong and more importantly your weak areas.

November: Test different mock strategies + revision+ reduce errors as much as possible.

You can also dare to cover low-priority topics/new concepts, only if you have your high-yield/top priority syllabus covered nicely.

 

Mocks:

Give mocks ASAP, don’t wait for syllabus completion. 4 out of the 5 sections don’t really have a fixed theory syllabus that you have to memorize. It’s an application-oriented exam.

 

Invest in a good test series. The level of data analysis the coachings provide is top-class. It’s simply unmatchable. Plus you get something more important than your mock score: your rank/percentile. This gives you a real-time idea of the competition you’ll face on the exam day.

The rule is simple, for the next few months, there will be 3 types of days: one where you are taking a mock, one where you analyzing a mock and one where you are fortifying the weak areas that got exposed in the mock.

There should be no days where you are disconnected from the mock-taking process.

Pls understand that you are building skills/habits that you are practicing in your mocks, you won’t magically do something different on the exam day.  

 

• August-September: atleast 1 mock/4-5 days and a maximum of 2 mocks /week.
• Oct: 1 mock/3 days
• November: 1st half = 1 mock per 2-3 days 2nd half=1 mock/4-5 days.

 

Atleast 1-2 sectionals of each subject/week. Except GK maybe.

 

General tips:

1.      How to choose sources on YT: Watch a single YT video from top few playlists on the same topic and glance at the chapter-wise PYQs, see which playlist makes you feel comfortable+ confident.

2.      Unless you ask doubts, avoid live YT videos, watch them later at 1.5-2 x speed. Skip forward unnecessary yapping and save time.

3.      Please be ruthless towards the exam, don’t spend much time on hoarding materials, making better daily routines or making bulky notes. You simply don’t have the time to crack it in a traditional way, it’s gonna be a nasty fight and you need to accept that.

4.      Try to have study slots of 1-2 hrs, it would build your stamina + attention span for the 2 hrs of the exam day.

5.      Try attending AIOMs, they give a better idea of your actual rank/percentile and people from diff coachings attempt them.

P.S.:The strategy shared is a very rudimentary one, pls personalize it with full confidence to suit your style of prep. Remember, the more you sway from traditional targets, the more individualized your strategy gets, 'cause no one knows you better than you:)

 

NEXT UP: Section-wise detailed strategy + resources.

My last post was an impromptu rant/motivation. Didn’t really expect anything of it. Eventually spent the entire day replying to genuine concerns of folks who were just trying their best to clear clat in a limited time when most of their fellow aspirants discouraged them directly/indirectly.

Have decided to conduct a series of AMAs, FAQ/doubt sessions and much shorter strategy/tips focused posts in the coming days.

Given below is my clat journey to provide a real-life experience. In darkness even a ray of light seems like the sun.   

Yup, that was the background pic of my mobile during my prep of 4 months.

 Background: PCMB in 12^(th).

Prepared for JEE and NEET simultaneously. Failed both, unsurprisingly. Took admission in a pvt. Engg collge in CSE. After the first semester, felt that engg aint for me. Dropped out. Came back home w/o knowing what to do next. Wasted a few months coping to the situation.  

Came to know about CLAT and NLUs from an acquaintance. He said nlus are prestigious colleges through which you can become HC/SC advocate and Judge. Didn’t know much about law as a career. No one in my family belongs to that field even remotely.

Bought Universal’s CLAT guide just to see the syllabus and paper pattern.

Felt really comfortable with the pattern and syllabus.

I had strong background in English, firstly, from being a 10^(th) class ICSE student(Wren & Martin the OG) and secondly, by being a voracious reader from my early days(read classic/Russian literature novels and encyclopedia for passing time).

For LR, I had natural aptitude. Practiced LR booklets from class 9^(th) onwards for fun. Planned on attempting the MENSA in my 11th grade.

GK/CA felt neutral. Maths felt terrifying as usual.

Legal- The saving Grace. Basic knowledge of legal principles + common sense for the win. Had 95%+ accuracy in PYQs which were principle/passage based.

 Was set upon clearing the exam. Only 2 issues arose, 1^(st), I barely had 4-5 months and 2^(nd), no offline coaching in my city had a course for less than 1-2 years. Crash courses weren’t popular back then.  

Decided to experiment by myself without any coaching. Though I enrolled in a mock series by CL, just to check my progress and gauge the competition level.

The next 4 months looked something like this:

Morning: Completing the theory portion of legal from YT videos+ YT PYQ analysis videos to understand the approach +self PYQs practice/analysis(2-2.5 hrs).

: Completing GK backlogs from monthly YT compilations + note making+ mini week-wise tests(2 hrs)

Afternoon: English/Grammar YT videos + theory portion of English+ solving live YT English MCQs(of various other exams like SSC, CAT etc.) + sub-topic wise 100+ MCQs solved in a timed manner from a Arihant book (1.5-2 hrs)

Evening: Completing LR/AR theory portion/concepts from YT videos + atleast 50-70 topic wise MCQs(1.5-2 hrs)

: Current Affairs + Backlog revision+ CA MCQs from various websites+ note making(1.5 hrs)

Post Dinner: 1 mock test of CL(2hrs) + GOATed analysis(1.5 hrs, it definitely drained my life) + note-making of silly mistakes, scope of improvement and analysis of topic-wise strengths and weaknesses(max.30-40 mins).
Edit: I didn't give much mocks during the first 1-1.5 months, mainly started from 2nd month onwards. In the last 2 months, I tried to give a mock every 2/3 days, since I had to work on my weak areas. No point is giving mocks when your weakness remains the same. Probably gave around 20-25 mocks in total.

What about Maths, you ask? I simply didn’t have the time or energy to even make a strategy for maths. Entirely left maths to God. I knew if it was an easy maths section on the d-day, I would get behind a solid 10 marks, so prepped the other sections accordingly. Luckily, that year had one of the toughest maths section.

Not 1 day went by where I was not anxious, panic stricken or having mini breakdowns, yet something felt positive. I simply wanted to escape the stigma of being a college dropout and clat prep gave me an excuse to keep myself busy. I never questioned my decision of giving clat or dropping out. I simply didn’t have the energy to think anything except how to improve my weaknesses or increase my mock scores or cover the GK backlogs.

 

My objective was crystal clear: The last seat of the last NLU. Nothing more.

I just wanted to get in a NLU, didn’t matter which state or which rank.

If I could pull this off, I would consider it a miracle that turned around my life.

Even saw pics of NLU Assam during my prep for motivation. No hate though. Its pretty solid up and coming uni.

Result: A rank bw 900-1k. Got my 2nd preference NLU(now a top 10, very strong Tier 2, verified by MODS) in the first allotment.

Fast-forward 5 years: Had the best 5 yrs of my life so far. Made amazing friends. Had a bunch of amazing experiences. Maintained a top grade. Represented my uni in debate championships. My research work got published in platforms like London School of Economics and Political Science, UCLA, Cambridge and Oxford. Interned in international research organizations. To top it all, our Convocation was attended by none other than the Hon’ble President of India. What more could I have ever dreamed of!!!

My objective for this post: To inspire the few folks who won’t give up even if they have less than 1/4^(th) of the time required to clear this exam. They are no less deserving. Will do my best to improve their chance even if by 1%. That’s it. AMA posts regarding prep to follow very soon.