News so far of law grads cracking UPSC:

- Rank 33: Jaspinder Singh Bhullar, BALLB (Hons), Punjab University (2019).

- NLU results awaited, but fierce competition expected between traditional frontrunners NLSIU NLUD and GNLU.

Meanwhile, the top 3 rankers this year are all girls (from Delhi, Kolkata and Chandigarh). Full merit list here: https://upsconline.nic.in/FR-CSM-21-engl-300522.pdf

Moderator: Please pin this thread at the top and mark it featured!!!

Top law schools do not dominate upsc for the same reason that AIIMS does not dominate upsc. These are professional courses where people have struggled hard to even enter. 99 percent of these people don't even have upsc as a career goal because they have a well paying job at the other hand and upsc was not ever on the card.

UPSC domination has historically been done by traditional universities and colleges, wait till you see the result of Delhi University and Allahabad University etc. And rightly so. If you want to become a civil servant then 3 years BA is enough. Also not everyone makes into top colleges with top professional degrees. So then the best remaining option is a good sarkari job. Hence you will always see traditional local colleges dominating upsc, and not because nlu students are any less intelligent.

To 9.2 I don't buy this number. And even if I were to believe this, in my opinion these are just law school curiosities. 12 people in first year would drop to 5 interested people by final year. And once you witness the struggles of civil service preparation and dropping year after year and wait for success only 2-3 people remain. This is because Tier one NLU kids have anyways job prospects of earning a lot, and that is the truth. Traditional college grads have more chances of sticking on this path because they know this is the only way they can get a decent paying/rewarding job. Source: I am myself a civil service aspirant from tier 1. And comment 9 is absolutely bang on, you will find similar numbers in AIIMS as well. Success of law schools/med schools has never been measured by UPSC performance. UPSC is largely an Indian middle class dream supported strongly by Indian parents from previous generation who believe no one is better than an IAS officer (thanks to colonial mindset, which is slowly going due to enormously well paying jobs in private sector). Once the kid of 1st years grows into the fifth year of law school, he has seen enough of the world to take decisions of his own. So many of my friends who were wanting to be aspirants had dropped out by 5th year as they already got great packages, leaving me alone in this hunt.

I do not think law schools put us through that rigor required to clear an ultra competitive exam like UPSC. 99 percent of the law graduates cannot even draft a basic complaint to be lodged with the police. Kids from law school may have their English language skills to gloat about, but UPSC is not for English teachers. The exam does draw its share of criticism. It is however a tough nut to crack and no wonder a handful crack the exam every year.

NLSIU has consistently had the best strike rate in UPSC over the years. Also, it’s important to remember that NLSIU alumni have almost always got the top 3 services (IAS, IFS and IPS). The truth is that getting a Service outside the top 3 is not considered that prestigious and the possibility of making a big impact is low, barring the IRS to some extent.

And to the trolls who are saying that JNU has a better success rate, please compare the batch sizes! JNU has a few thousand students!

The biggest obstacle that NLUs face is that the syllabus at NLUs is very rigorous, the exams are very tough and attendance is compulsory. It is not possible to devote time to UPSC preparation during those 5 years but instead one has to take 2 years off. In contrast, in most TLC colleges there is no attendance requirement and people prepare for UPSC during their college years. The quality of exams is also very low, which enables people to pass easily. So they get a head start. What I am saying is absolutely true. I actually know someone who regretted leaving AMU for a top NLU for this reason.

To 2.6. You are not getting it. Law school's reputation depends on the quality of lawyers it produces (not civil servants) just as AIIMS' would depend on the quality of doctors. Wanna join government? That's great for anyone who chooses that route. But last I saw upsc result was not a criteria for nirf or any ranking. Basically don't start this nlu versus traditional colleges debates. People are happy bout results, people are unhappy about politics and dick measuring.

@1: Buddy, if you don't know then don't talk. Several law grads cracked UPSC this year, including from NLUO. Media has reported it. See below.

- Jaspinder Singh Bhullar, rank 33 (Punjab University)
- Karthik Panigrahi, rank 63 (NLUO)
- Gourav Kumar Agarwal, rank 86 (local law college grad from Odisha)

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2022/may/31/upsc-cse-2021-results-with-air-63-karthik-panigrahi-from-sonepur-is-odishas-topper-2460055.html

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2022/may/31/upsc-cse-2021-results-two-youths-from-odishas-sundargarh-crack-civil-services-exams-2460070.html

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/upsc-results-punjab-s-jaspinder-naman-in-top-50-101653942358385.html

In the real world of academia, almost every professor must regularly write recommendation letters. Although the ethics of the act are seldom discussed and rarely studied, at least two dissertations--both in the 1930s--tackled the subject of faculty recommendation letters. In this article, the author discusses the ethical responsibilities and how to artfully criticize when writing recommendation letters. A letter of recommendation lives or dies on its examples and evidence. Among the best ways to present credible, concrete examples about a student's accomplishments are to: (a) compare the student to others, especially peers, graduate students, or professionals; (b) comment on the student's role in the classroom dynamic; (c) offer the student's grade, academic record, or other quantitative measure used for evaluation; (d) quote from a paper the student wrote or otherwise interpret the student's qualitative work; (e) discuss the student's contribution to a team or in a lab setting; and (f) discuss the student's favorable contribution to the recommendation letter or application process itself, highlighting evidence of professionalism. Among other things, the ten commandments of writing recommendation letters are also presented.

Please consult this source instead of posts on LI (which clearly gave wrong info).

The final break-up is: 3 NLSIU, 1 NALSAR, 1 HNLU, 1 NUALS.

We can draw these conclusions prima facie:

1. NLSIU is the undisputed #1 if we look at UPSC results on a long-term basis.

2. NLUD's duck this year may or may not be a sign that its UPSC dream run is waning. We need to see next year's results before commenting. It could be a one-off.

3. NALSAR maintains a reasonably consistent trend at UPSC of at least 1 candidate per year.

4. Tier 3 NLUs like HNLU and NUALS outperformed Tier 2 NLUs like NUJS, NLUJ, NLIU and GNLU this year. So Tier 2 NLUs need to introspect on their poor run at UPSC in the past few years, especially NUJS and GNLU.

5. Overall, it appears that the higher the academic standards as a law school to better its chances of cracking the UPSC. Working hard in college conditions you to do better in the UPSC.

6. However, one negative trend is that the reserved category students of NLUs have not been qualifying for the reserved seats in UPSC. So maybe some special coaching can be arranged for them.

https://www-barandbench-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.barandbench.com/news/lawschools/upsc-2021-results-three-nlsiu-grads-one-each-from-nalsar-nuals-hnlu-clear-exam