Hello Legally India folks. I am a 3rd year student studying in a lesser known college in South India. I have written CLAT previously two times and got somewhere around 2400 - 3000. I will turn 21 this year. Should I retake CLAT ?
I have one Tier 1, one Tier 2 and one Tier 3 internship under my belt. Or will me getting NLUD, NALSAR, NLSUI or NUJS negate help me more than these internships?
Another major concern is that in the past I have had problem with their changed exam pattern of giving paragraphs to read instead of just single liner MCQs. This meant that I couldn't complete the question paper on time when combined with the fact that my exam centre always distributes question paper a solid 20-30 minutes late.
So again working proffesionals (not law students) here please answer. Is the drop worth it? Or will I be a budhao inside law school?
Most law students here are from NLUs and therefore it is automatically expected for them to stress importance of getting into NLUs as UG.
However working professionals may be able to give clear insights on whether they reject people just by looking at their college or is there anything which can trump the college brand value inside your CV
Do not write CLAT again if you're in third year. If you've done/will do tier 1 and tier 2 internships, do good work that leaves an impression, maintain relationships with the associates and partner at the internship, and try to leverage that into a job. You'll be at the same place that most NLU people aspire to be at.
Alternatively you could finish your course in your university. Then take 3 year LLB from NLU or even a BCL from Oxbridge. Will help you in career prospects and face value. And both my suggestion and your plan mentioned in the post takes the same number of years = 8.
Brother there are examples of NLU students graduating at 26 or 27. Some great answers have been written on legallyindia.com by them. I suggest please google those answers by relevant keywords and decide for yourself. Don't listen to people doing age shaming on this thread. There are multiple factors at play here.
Graduating at 26 and making it to a T1 law firm is still much better than someone who bothered about age and graduated pristine young at 23 but from a Tier 3 local law school and still after 4 years not being able to get into a T1 law firm or get any good job for that matter. There are several factors at play, I suggest you research and find what is most applicable in your scenario. Exceptionally talented people with the right internships and right contacts can make it into T1 even if they are from local law schools.
Imagine you are 20 at the moment and will turn 21 in some middle month of this year. The CLAT exam is in December. By the term your result comes and the course starts you will almost turn 22. Then the 5 year course, occasional delays etc, after that considering that your day zero goes well you will land a job at 27. Are you willing to sacrifice a solid 9 years post 12th just so that you can earn around 12LPA in hand ?
Cliche advice but first slog at Tier 3 law firms for few years and then even move up the ladder or appear for CAT exam. You will not waste a single year taking gap shap. And IIM placement salaries are also more than that of NLUs even taking into account the difference in taxation. And after ESOPS start kicking in...then even more.
Nah. Not worth it in 3rd year. Bust your ass off for good research papers with an actual research gap and try and connect with partners. In T1s across Mumbai, sometimes even over NLUs, there this 'KC College' that gets its students placed and gets long term assessments. Gets more employment than most T2 and T3 NLUs ffs.
My point is if your college is not strict on attendance, intern every day of the year and pass your exams using a guide. A lot of GLC kids do this.
I'm in a T2 NLU and I'm telling you, you have one advantage over us, EXPLOIT IT.
I have one Tier 1, one Tier 2 and one Tier 3 internship under my belt. Or will me getting NLUD, NALSAR, NLSUI or NUJS negate help me more than these internships?
Another major concern is that in the past I have had problem with their changed exam pattern of giving paragraphs to read instead of just single liner MCQs. This meant that I couldn't complete the question paper on time when combined with the fact that my exam centre always distributes question paper a solid 20-30 minutes late.
So again working proffesionals (not law students) here please answer. Is the drop worth it? Or will I be a budhao inside law school?
However working professionals may be able to give clear insights on whether they reject people just by looking at their college or is there anything which can trump the college brand value inside your CV
Graduating at 26 and making it to a T1 law firm is still much better than someone who bothered about age and graduated pristine young at 23 but from a Tier 3 local law school and still after 4 years not being able to get into a T1 law firm or get any good job for that matter. There are several factors at play, I suggest you research and find what is most applicable in your scenario. Exceptionally talented people with the right internships and right contacts can make it into T1 even if they are from local law schools.
Cliche advice but first slog at Tier 3 law firms for few years and then even move up the ladder or appear for CAT exam. You will not waste a single year taking gap shap. And IIM placement salaries are also more than that of NLUs even taking into account the difference in taxation. And after ESOPS start kicking in...then even more.
My point is if your college is not strict on attendance, intern every day of the year and pass your exams using a guide. A lot of GLC kids do this.
I'm in a T2 NLU and I'm telling you, you have one advantage over us, EXPLOIT IT.