1. Try to get internship with under a judge. At least a tribunal judge. ITAT/CAT/AFT/NGT/SAT/NCLT judges are top of the game, one learns a lot there, sometimes better than even a HC judge. (Own experience, I interned under an ITAT member, it gave me exposure of tax laws)

2. Try studying Income Tax law. It is one of the toughest in legal circle. But if you are even minimally ok with that, your grasp at other laws gets shot up. (CPC/CrPC/IPC etc laws are too simple compared to Income Tax)

3. Being an intern under a senior is way better than being an intern in a law firm. But you need reference for that.

4. Gujrat High Court streams live hearing on youtube. Watching it is very helpful. (Do it ASAP as CJ Vikram Nath is getting elevated & next CJ may not continue this, as no other HC is doing this)

5. When Gujrat HC stops Youtube, go to ITAT website, they have hearings on cisco-webex with login ID & PW, just observe that, it is too rich

1. Study Study Study - Regardless of whether you are in a T1 NLU or the others, you CAN get into Big 6 firms without shiny grades. BUT grades do help A LOT. Grades are underrated in the initial years of college and by the time you'll realize their importance, it'd be too late. If you are in a T1 NLU, being in Top 20 is good enough. If not, try being in Top 5-10.
2. As someone above said, moots are overrated. While moots and specially grand moots (Vis, Jessup, Manlachs, OxPrice) teach you a lot of law and are a really big achievement (provided you do well), if you feel you are not cut out after trying 1-2 moots, drop it. No need to endlessly do small moots, they don't count for much.
3. Most cells/committees are overrated and add little professional value. Volunteer only in your free time.
4. Joining Law Reviews/Any Good Journal + Writing for Reputed Journals definitely helps, both in terms of learning the law + academic value.
5. Intern Intern Intern - Probably the most important part of law school, other than grades. Internships add most value to your CV and also help you a lot in terms of learning. It doesn't matter if you are interning with small lawyers initially because if you do well enough, eventually one of them will recommend you to a bigger platform and there's no looking back from there. If you are good and hardworking, you can carve out your own path through internships.

I too studied at a mid-tier NLU and here are a few pointers based on what I've seen/experienced.

1. CGPA is important, but it is not everything. I only had a decent CPGA in my first two semesters. It was probably because I was more into extra-curricular stuff like quizzes and football. I used to go for all random college fests and skip a ton of classes (we used to get attendance for representing our college, so it was a win-win). So I lost quite some internal marks (we have a weird marking system that has parameters like class participation, etc) and even though I tried compensating them by studying hard for the final exam, overall, I fell in the top 20-30% of the class. Now looking back, maybe if I had put in an effort, in the beginning, my grades would have been much better. But honestly, I feel that having a well-rounded CV and knowing your shit would count more than having a 10-grade point by mugging up the whole textbook. But if you plan to sit for college placements, CGPA matters as firms usually consider the toppers for interviews.

2. Moots are overrated. From the first week of my college, people considered moots to be huge and seniors who mooted were considered stars. So, everyone wanted to moot, and honestly, I don't think it makes much difference. Our Uni used to notify all random moots from XYZ Law colleges and I spent quite a lot of time in my second and third year participating in these ones. Yes, winning them gave us a bit of cash, but at the end of the day, the only thing I learned from doing these moots was the basics of that particular field of law. But international moots are an exception. Winning them is pretty huge. I'd suggest trying out mooting, and if you don't feel like it's your cup of tea, don't waste time over it because your friends are doing them.

3. Research papers are underrated. Honestly, writing articles or even blogs will probably teach you more than attending a class. There is no such thing as a bad writer and writing is something you get better at when you keep writing more. Start writing smaller articles and send it out to good blogs, including those foreign universities. You might get a ton of rejections, but often, they'll be accompanied by a review and it'll help you get better.

4. Get into the editorial board of any journal. Getting the position of any journal or your Uni's law review is a great thing to put on your CV and it would also greatly help in improving your wiring skills. If you find it too hectic, leave the board after your term, but trust me, it will be a wonderful learning experience.

5. Find out what you love and internships are important. Try to access yourself to find out what field of law you love and then try doing internships in that particular field to see whether you actually like it. I loved IP as a subject, but after doing an internship with an IP firm, I realised I don't want to be doing that for the rest of my career. Sometimes, you might hate a subject, but love it after you do an internship. So intern as much as you can. Be prepared to get continuously rejected, but there are tons of law firms and nothing is stopping you from applying everywhere. And it's okay if you don't have it figured out in the first 2-3 years. You will, eventually.

6. Enjoy your law school. You will be spending half a decade with the people around you and time flies quickly. Don't hustle the whole time and remember to have fun. Once college reopens, hang out with your friends frequently and go for trips. The five years you spend at your Uni will probably be one of the best times in your life. Don't waste it.

I recently got admitted to a mid-tier NLU. Since many fellow aspiring lawyers too will be starting their respective journeys in various law schools, it would be helpful to get some pointers from seniors as to what one must do during the 5 crucial years in college in order to excel academically and build a healthy CV.