https://www.legallyindia.com/convos/topic/263287-should-i-take-a-partial-drop-or-not-after-nluo

There is a very beautiful response (and ofc others as well) by a graduate (current student my bad) from NALSAR. As you already know that till 20/20+ the first year is pretty much secure and normal as well. But don’t worry. There will be a couple of people who will be/who already were 21 when they entered law school. I can understand the anxiety. When I joined law school around a year back, I was 20. I had a ‘phew’ reaction because I wasn’t 21 yet- so I wouldn’t feel old. But honestly that’s quite immature. I saw a bunch of 21 year olds doing well in law school from the first year. In fact one of them is a topper already. And it won’t matter because anyway 50% of the graduates will be around the age limit of 23-25. You will be just a year older.

If you are doing well on your mocks - just focus on that and secure your career. No one will remember. Rather what will be remembered is if you get a single digit rank in clat. Right? Think like that. There are a lot of options (some uncertainties as well) in a tier-1 nlu. Don’t worry. And don’t feel old. You will be a year or a two older than the bunch. It’s not like you are pre-historic or something!

At your age people care too much about age. I have worked in a US law firm. At 35 years of age someone is still a senior associate, while someone else just made partner. Even back when I was in class xii, I vividly remember the age gap being three years between the youngest and the eldest in the same class. It;s fine bro, don't try to confirm to societal standards of being in a particular age group to achieve a particular milestone. Also apart from what has been pointed above, there is one more beautiful answer by another Nalsar alum on graduating at 25 from Nalsar. I am sure if you put in the right key words you will find it. Now when I am 35 I really see 25 as very young. Nothing wrong in graduating at 25 from a T1 school. Nothing wrong in graduating even at 30 from anywhere for that matter.

Age is never an issue bro. In fact in one of our junior batches a lot of 19-20 aka droppers are there. They haven’t turned 21 yet but they will be like after 7-8 months. An 18 year old will also turn 19 after the aforementioned duration. Why/How does it matter? It’s a five year course. There are a lot of precedents. You may not find someone in the same boat but in nujs and in fact nls as well (my bff is from there) you have a lot of overachievers who are from your age bracket. No 19-20 year old is even a ‘old’ student. They are quite young. 21 can be a bit old but again nowadays even that has become common. And trust me this age is nothing.

In fact one of the graduates whose age range was 24-25 got a good LLM scholarship plus now working at a magic circle.

Plus you can offset some credits after an exchange, get extra credit to reduce a semester (you may participate in an international moot and can have it evaluated - it happened with one of our junior batches) and even perform brilliantly well to spend the final year at a foreign Uni to negate the factor of ‘being old’. This can be a good ripple effect. But honestly you are relatively young. My advice would have worked for a 23-24 old incoming student (although I will never judge them) but you still have time. I don’t know why y’all are getting worked up for this.

Hey all, op here.

Thanks everyone who responded. I have read the threads that people have referenced here. You all have helped me gain a little perspective and have eased my worries to an extent. While I still have a few things to be concerned about, I will no longer dwell on my age (as a commenter said I'm not "prehistoric" afterall haha).

I also feel well enough to fill the registration form.

And if I clear clat, just know that your encouraging words helped me gather enough strength to do it.

Thankyou folks.

Sometime age gap happens due to even one month! Does anyone question that? NO! No one cares brother. Even if you announce it on mic, then also everyone won’t judge you. Because it normal. Also lemme tell you an interesting incident.

One of frnds had to undergo a 2.5 year drop (clat happened 6 months early last year and this year as well for 2024) due to his silly OMR mistakes. He was a tad bit concerned about him being around 19-20. But some students informed him that it was very common and in fact entering law school around 19.5-20 has become streamlined to a substantial extent now. He cracked clat with a flying score, bagged tier-1 and no one even questioned about his age. But he did get a lot of hype (more than me) because of his result. He even cracked lnat and bagged a decent scholarship to go to a decent UK Uni. He became more famous. Use this situation to your advantage not as an unnecessary burden.

Just to intervene politely. Clat has become annoyingly unpredictable so good mock scores are not a way to judge your good outcome. So instead of worrying about your age (which isn’t that big of a deal trust me) prepare well. The people in your boat may have given clat again and failed to crack it. That’s why the silence :). Just an educated observation and I love your determination.

All the best brother! Any help you need, you can text here.