I have a friend whose parents sold their house to sponsor her education in SLS-P. I don't really know how she is doing right now, but the decision to do that was beyond my understanding since she had a reserved quota.
If you have some kind of reservation too, be it domicile or anything, then don't shy away from taking another drop year while getting yourself admitted to a local college.
Coming back to the question, SLS-P is quite a competitive law school as far as I've heard. If you're confident enough that you'll get placed one way or the other and maintain your enthusiasm throughout the length of the course, then I would definitely suggest that you go for it. There is no possible way one could fail to get placed in an ever-growing market like the legal sector from an institute like SLS-P after giving their 100%.
I appeared for CLAT in 2018 and secured a rank within 1000. I was allotted DSNLU Vizag, and after applying for upgradation, was allotted CNLU Patna. Both of these are good law schools too, but I opted for SLS, Pune after clearing SLAT and the GD-PI process, due to its great alumni base, location, opportunities for networking etc. Some people also get in through management quota (by paying more.)
I'm set to graduate this year and have secured placement in a Tier - 2 firm with a package of 12 LPA (fixed) through campus recruitment. I'll share my experience with you, and highlight the pros and cons, so that you can make an informed choice:
1. Academics: The faculty consists of a a mix of some very good professors, who will help you out with research, collaborate with you for publications, teach their subject well and will be approachable throughout the 5 years that you spend here. At the same time, you'll meet Professors who may not be so invested and may not be so good at teaching/research.
2. Access to learning resources: We have a great library, where you'll find the latest versions of books in any area of law. Also, we are given access to an e-library, which includes all major legal database used for research (Manupatra, SCC Online, Lexis Nexis, West Law, AIR, and many other portals).
3. Research: Our research cell is not very active and like most NLUs, we do not have Centres dedicated to researching on niche areas of law. However, I have seen my peers/seniors publishing their work in SCOPUS journals, NLU journals and blogs etc. You can also collaborate with good Professors, who will be willing to help you publish in good journals.
4. Internships: It will be very easy for you to secure good internships, even without contacts. And no, you don't have to be rich/have contacts within law firms for getting internships. Every month, our placement cell shares internship opportunities at several Tier-1/Tier-2/Tier-3 firms, companies with in-house legal teams, start-ups etc, to which you may apply, and secure the internship through the placement cell. You'll need to maintain good grades to get shortlisted through the cell. However, many people secure internships purely through networking with alumni/seniors as almost every tier-1 firm has one Partner from SLS and has SLS alumni working across all levels in the firm. With decent grades and some networking, you'll easily secure good internships. I'm saying this, coming from a middle-class family, with no lawyer in my family.
5. Placements: Our batch (which includes both BBA LLB and BA LLB students) has a strength of around 300. Till date, around 140 students have been placed through Campus Recruitment with several others having secured PPOs through assessment internships. For the rest, a majority of them are doing assessment internships and are expected to be placed by May/June or have plans for higher studies, judiciary etc. If you manage to maintain a decent CGPA (8+/10), you'll not have a problem getting shortlisted for campus recruitment. We had AZB, Trilegal, Khaitan, SAM, Bharucha, DSK Legal, Argus and Partners, ICICI Bank, Wipro, EY ( to name a few) and several other top recruiters come to our campus for placement this year. People from my batch have secured PPOs across all good law firms/companies through internships as well (for example, at NDA, ELP, IP firms that do not come to campus etc). Unless you slack off throughout the 5 years and don't make an active effort to keep good grades, placement won't be a problem for you.
6. Moots: You can look up online and find out for yourself that SLS has an amazing mooting culture, and apart from internal moots that everyone gets to participate in, students from SLS regularly win accolades at prestigious national/international moots, such as the Philip. C. Jessup International Law moot, Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot, Stetson International Environmental Law Moot, Oxford Price Media Moot (South Asia rounds) Louis M. Brown and Forrest S. Mosten Client Counsultant Competition, GNLU Investment and Securities Law moot etc. The list is long. Also, the college reimburses all your expenses for the moot, so that everyone can participate.
7. Accommodation: The hostels are pretty clean, spacious and well-maintained, there is little to no bullying (at least in my time there), the food is good. You can opt out of hostel and stay at a PG/Flat on a sharing basis if you want to spend less on accommodation.
8. Campus Life: Contrary to what you may have heard, there are people from all economic backgrounds studying here as it is a decent alternative to the mid-tier/lower NLUs, albeit with higher tuition fees. Not denying that there are some extremely rich kids too, but in my batch itself, we have so many people from middle-class families (including me), who are very conscious about spending money wisely during college. You'll meet some really, really, smart and kind people, who'll support you through your law school journey. There will also be people who may while away their time doing drugs, partying every other night, but you'll never be forced to associate with them. You choose your own circle and I can assure you that a majority of the batch would consist of kind, smart, helpful people.
9. The city: It's one of the best cities you can be in, it's pretty safe, has good weather, you can have a bustling social life and make good memories here, if you decide to join. Also, quite a few law firms have a Pune office too, so it might be easy for you to intern there, whole staying at the hostel/PG.
If you have some kind of reservation too, be it domicile or anything, then don't shy away from taking another drop year while getting yourself admitted to a local college.
Coming back to the question, SLS-P is quite a competitive law school as far as I've heard. If you're confident enough that you'll get placed one way or the other and maintain your enthusiasm throughout the length of the course, then I would definitely suggest that you go for it. There is no possible way one could fail to get placed in an ever-growing market like the legal sector from an institute like SLS-P after giving their 100%.
Best of luck!
I'm set to graduate this year and have secured placement in a Tier - 2 firm with a package of 12 LPA (fixed) through campus recruitment. I'll share my experience with you, and highlight the pros and cons, so that you can make an informed choice:
1. Academics: The faculty consists of a a mix of some very good professors, who will help you out with research, collaborate with you for publications, teach their subject well and will be approachable throughout the 5 years that you spend here. At the same time, you'll meet Professors who may not be so invested and may not be so good at teaching/research.
2. Access to learning resources: We have a great library, where you'll find the latest versions of books in any area of law. Also, we are given access to an e-library, which includes all major legal database used for research (Manupatra, SCC Online, Lexis Nexis, West Law, AIR, and many other portals).
3. Research: Our research cell is not very active and like most NLUs, we do not have Centres dedicated to researching on niche areas of law. However, I have seen my peers/seniors publishing their work in SCOPUS journals, NLU journals and blogs etc. You can also collaborate with good Professors, who will be willing to help you publish in good journals.
4. Internships: It will be very easy for you to secure good internships, even without contacts. And no, you don't have to be rich/have contacts within law firms for getting internships. Every month, our placement cell shares internship opportunities at several Tier-1/Tier-2/Tier-3 firms, companies with in-house legal teams, start-ups etc, to which you may apply, and secure the internship through the placement cell. You'll need to maintain good grades to get shortlisted through the cell. However, many people secure internships purely through networking with alumni/seniors as almost every tier-1 firm has one Partner from SLS and has SLS alumni working across all levels in the firm. With decent grades and some networking, you'll easily secure good internships. I'm saying this, coming from a middle-class family, with no lawyer in my family.
5. Placements: Our batch (which includes both BBA LLB and BA LLB students) has a strength of around 300. Till date, around 140 students have been placed through Campus Recruitment with several others having secured PPOs through assessment internships. For the rest, a majority of them are doing assessment internships and are expected to be placed by May/June or have plans for higher studies, judiciary etc. If you manage to maintain a decent CGPA (8+/10), you'll not have a problem getting shortlisted for campus recruitment. We had AZB, Trilegal, Khaitan, SAM, Bharucha, DSK Legal, Argus and Partners, ICICI Bank, Wipro, EY ( to name a few) and several other top recruiters come to our campus for placement this year. People from my batch have secured PPOs across all good law firms/companies through internships as well (for example, at NDA, ELP, IP firms that do not come to campus etc). Unless you slack off throughout the 5 years and don't make an active effort to keep good grades, placement won't be a problem for you.
6. Moots: You can look up online and find out for yourself that SLS has an amazing mooting culture, and apart from internal moots that everyone gets to participate in, students from SLS regularly win accolades at prestigious national/international moots, such as the Philip. C. Jessup International Law moot, Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot, Stetson International Environmental Law Moot, Oxford Price Media Moot (South Asia rounds) Louis M. Brown and Forrest S. Mosten Client Counsultant Competition, GNLU Investment and Securities Law moot etc. The list is long. Also, the college reimburses all your expenses for the moot, so that everyone can participate.
7. Accommodation: The hostels are pretty clean, spacious and well-maintained, there is little to no bullying (at least in my time there), the food is good. You can opt out of hostel and stay at a PG/Flat on a sharing basis if you want to spend less on accommodation.
8. Campus Life: Contrary to what you may have heard, there are people from all economic backgrounds studying here as it is a decent alternative to the mid-tier/lower NLUs, albeit with higher tuition fees. Not denying that there are some extremely rich kids too, but in my batch itself, we have so many people from middle-class families (including me), who are very conscious about spending money wisely during college. You'll meet some really, really, smart and kind people, who'll support you through your law school journey. There will also be people who may while away their time doing drugs, partying every other night, but you'll never be forced to associate with them. You choose your own circle and I can assure you that a majority of the batch would consist of kind, smart, helpful people.
9. The city: It's one of the best cities you can be in, it's pretty safe, has good weather, you can have a bustling social life and make good memories here, if you decide to join. Also, quite a few law firms have a Pune office too, so it might be easy for you to intern there, whole staying at the hostel/PG.
Good luck!