An alumnus of sls pune who is doing rlly well is suggesting me to choose symbiosis pune over all nlus including nls.

He claims he earns triple the money that associates earn after graduating from nls. He lives in Qatar and hence doesn't even have to pay taxes.

Is Symbiosis actually good?

Ps: I promise I am not studying in symbiosis but I have been admitted provisionally.

Earning triple over any grad depends on what exactly this person is doing. The NLS grad might be inclined towards litigation while he is stable in a high-paying law firm. That being said it depends over which NLU you choose symbiosis. Till MNLU mumbai or HNLU - I will strongly suggest to skip symbi. After that try for scholarships in JGLS (minimum 50%). If you don’t get that , then go symbi. So the structure goes like this

1. Top 8

2.JGLS(with suitable financial aid aka scholarship)

3.Symbiosis

4. Remaining tier-2 and Tier-3 colleges

I know a lot of NLUites will say otherwise, but this is it. NLUs and JGLS are based on written format only. SLS only accepts students once they also clear the PI-WAT stage. So the quality of the students is very good and diverse. They are not a bunch of nerds but street-smart as well. JGLS is the easiest college to crack but its placed above SLS as if offers good opportunities and exchange programs.

Tell them about the management seats too, don't be shy. It's super easy to get into SLS-P. Don't act like you are studying in some elite and hard to get institution. Every top 8 nlu student could get into SLS-P but they chose not to. Don't go by this year's placements, they used to be pathetic just 2 years back. This year is an exception

Symbiosis Pune is good but it doesn't mean u prefer symbiosis pune over Tier 1 Nlus it doesn't make sense because in Symbiosis u have to pay heft fees 2 or 3 times more than Nlus and the placements rate is the same in both

And the second thing is tell that Seniors in nls also students are placed in the foreign law firm who earn 2 or 3 times more than the Indian law firm associate but it doesn't mean that when u are working for foreign law firm u are earning more than the Indian associate in purchasing power parity more or less both are earning the same amount of money

One last thing in symbiosis there is no foreign placement like the tier 1 nlus the senior whom u talking about he might get the job in Qatar because of his approach and hard work not coz of the college

Any affirmatives in this regards boils down to why this college is still surviving i.e. ALUMNI. Having had interactions with their batchmates at my internships, I've been told that the college has a very bad grading system and ties you up with assignments and exams, leaving no room for anything else. Now coming to your question, I feel its the best choice after NLSIU, NALSAR, NUJS, NLU-D, NLU-J, GNLU & NLIU. Do not prefer JGLS over SLSP though, good luck!

Can't deny that. Despite good placements, they bury us with dumb assignments and exams. But SLS is definitely the best option after top 5 NLUs. I interned with a fintech startup last summer, their entire legal team including the GC was dominated by SLS grads. Plus Pune is fun.

SLS is seeing a significant increase in hiring from renowned law firms such as Trilegal, AZB, Bharucha, and DSK over the past few years. Firms like Khaitan, SAM, CAM, and JSA visit but hire only a handful of students. Despite this, SLS manages to place around 50-60 students in Tier 1 firms every year, and many students also secure positions in in-house companies such as ICICI, HDFC, Tata AIG, IDBI, HSBC, JM Financial, and Bank of America, who visit the campus regularly. Others also take up LLMs in Oxbridge and IVY League colleges.

SLS also has a strong alumni base, especially in firms like AZB and Khaitan, and GCs in many companies, VC firms, and startups.

Last year, SLS successfully placed approximately 150 students, and the placement prospects are only improving. However, you need to be within the top 30% of the batch to get the best jobs.

The college has also seen success in the international market recently. One student from the 2022 batch secured a TC at Linklaters, and two more students from the 2024 batch have secured TCs from both Linklaters and Baker McKenzie. Two students from 2023 batch were placed in boutique firms in Europe.

It’s known for doing well at International moots and debates as well. Also consider that the campus in located in uptown Pune- a privilege many NLUs don’t have. Many NLUs are located in outskirts of boring cities. Last year, the college was ranked 3rd by NIRF. Many think SLS to be undeserving of this rank, they clearly don’t know how well the college has done recently. SLS is the underdog but there is no reason why a private college can’t outrank a state run college if it does better in metrics.

Unless you have the top 3-4 NLUs, choose SLS eyes closed.

Symbiosis is as good as a law school can get. Obviously, everything after getting an admission depends on how hard you are actually willing to work. We get paid at par with NLU kids if not more. The quality of intake is good and you can have healthy competition with ambitious kids around. However, when someone tells you that SLS is better than NLS based on their personal accomplishments, that cannot be considered as reliable because that is one person's case. Ask about how his batchmates are doing in life. As far as I know, SLS Pune grads are placed at an equal footing in the corporate world as NLU grads.

No, definitely not on an equal footing with tier-1 NLU grads. And that's because getting into SLS is simply not as hard as getting a high rank in CLAT/AILET. Majority of people at SLS don't really crack even tier-2 NLUs with atleast 3-digit CLAT ranks. It's not a bad law school considering the pathetic state of higher education in India, and legal education in particular. But overall, the learning atmosphere, opportunities, competition, academic rigour, graduate outcomes and most importantly, personal growth, will be much better at a top 5-6 NLU. Out of a batch of 300+ at SLS, some kids will be driven and successful, but you can't extrapolate that to say that people from SLS are as good as tier-1 NLU grads.

A good rank in one exam does not define how your career will turn out to be. The people who are driven, make it big in life, be it through NLU or SLS. People getting into T1 NLUs only have to clear a written exam. The Symbiosis screening process is very strict and I personally know friends in GNLU, RGNUL and NLiU who didnt even get a seat at SLS. If we have a batch of 300, its a batch of 300 very smart kids. And then to be in the top 30% of the batch adds another advantage. Conclusively, top 30% at SLS is as good as T1 NLU kids.

Load of BS about your crowd and GDPI process. Look, I know you want to feel good about the place you are studying at and are investing your money and time into. Even top NLU students feel like that sometimes. But claiming that only "nerds" clear CLAT while SLS-P students are some street-smart all-rounders with multiple talents because of some GDPI process is a pretty lousy argument to make. It's not some rigorous interview to select only the very best. In the past, SLS never even released the marks given at the interview stage and I know for a fact that they tend to prefer folks with slightly lower CLAT ranks since the ones with better ranks generally choose tier-1/2 NLUs and drop SLS. Regardless, GNLU, NLIU, etc. are atleast a tier above SLS-P.

And you have clearly not seen the profile of students at the tier-1 NLUs, the quality of education and the crowd at SLS-P and places like JGLS simply does not compare, and I've experienced both places. Top 30% of the crowd is a large generalisation of the crowd at SLS. They are comparable maybe to the tier-2 NLU grads from where many folks work hard to crack judicial and other competitive exams, get occasional tier-1 jobs, etc., and not to tier-1 NLUs (maybe the top 5-10% are). And like JGLS, SLS just started having somewhat respectable placements only 1-2 years back, probably owing to a booming hiring market. Don't make it seem like the place has some historically excellent track record. Its alumni achievements are also largely owing to its age than the college itself.