I've Been preparing for CLAT since Jan this year and as former 'woh-toh-apne-future-ko-leke-bilkul-serious-nahi-hai' kid, This exam hit me like a bus.

As any dim-witted 16 year old I chose my stream based on a very puerile reasoning; Too smart for Humanities, Too dumb for Science (and I was dumb for both of them) and ended up choosing commerce + Legal studies as an optional subject.

Majority of 11th was fine until finals when I started the preparation and only then was I able to fathom how much work this exam would really take because up until that day I just said that "I'll give CLAT for UG" in a very lax way.

Fortunately, studying in an amazing school in a Tier - 1 city I didn't have too much of a problem with the prep and I started doing (what I thought was) pretty decent. But as I'm typing this post on here today less than 2 weeks from what might possibly be the biggest day of my life which will pretty much decide (or more suitably what could decide) how I'll live for the next 40-50 years, I feel lost. I feel numb, shallow almost as lifeless as one feels when staring at the ceiling when they cannot sleep. I gave a mock today where my score dipped from High 90's to a measly 73.75. Although the institute did claim and I quote 'The mock today was 2 times the difficulty of the actual exam and we just wanted to prepare you for the worst' it isn't providing me any relief at all. I do understand how this was supposed to be in our favor to equip us to deal with the worst of the worst, but it has shattered all my confidence completely.

Now I just want this exam to get over. This may seem like a 'I'm 14 and this is deep' sort of post but from the perspective of a 17 year old who hasn't really experienced as much as a lot of people here on LI have (and it is a shit ton more) this is very dispiriting. It challenges you so much more and demands so much sacrifice. I know it seems stupid for me to say something as cosmetic and superficial as "dEmAnDs sO mUcH sAcrIfiCe" but again, I still had somewhat of a life in 11th as a 'woh-toh-apne-future-ko-leke-bilkul-serious-nahi-hai' kid. Now I haven't gone to school for over 1.5 months, missed out on 2 major events our schools conducts, Missed out on MUN's, my school-team tournaments and just the general experience of being in your senior year of High School. As a kid I always dreamed of being a 12th grader in my school, sitting at the back of the bus, chill around in class, finally have no one elder to you who could fuck around with you just caused they felt like it, and this exam stripped me of my first dream as a child in order for me to have a chance to live the life my present self dreams of now. I've lost connect with most of my friends, they all still like having me around but when I did go to school yesterday it felt as is I'd been living under a rock for a year. Everything had changed, they had new inside jokes, new topics to talk about on, new tournaments to go and I couldn't be a part of anything. And the worst part is that it all seemed worth it until today.

Although I admitted I didn't take this exam as seriously as I should've, in the past 11 months I've basically proven myself and everyone around me wrong by actually doing the hardwork I thought wasn't capable of, but maybe it just isn't enough. I know that CLAT was probably always like this and it will only get worst it is just me who's being soft and entitled but I'd appreciate any advice from people here because I don't think I've ever felt so out of aspiration till now.

P.S. I'm very sorry if this was too much to read.

My guy, chill. One mock doesn't decide anything. If you say you did get high 90's like you said, you have nothing to worry about. It is natural to feel this way. See what mistakes you made in the mock and try to understand why it happened. As for the events you missed and the 12th grader life you missed, everyone who gave clat and are sitting in a good NLU have done that, and believe me, it is worth the sacrifice. While others in your school might run around for colleges here and there after boards, you will sit at home and do whatever you want without anyone judging you. Those will be the best 3 months of your life, no judgment, no stress and only doing whatever you feel like. It also feels good (kinda) looking at your batchmates you always hated running around like headless chickens once boards are over. And also, you've taken legal studies with commerce, i was in the same position, believe me, it is a boon. You will have a headstart because the 1st semester subjects are all based on legal studies of 11th and 12th. Chill out, push for the last 10-odd days, give it your all and don't worry, at the end you will be happy with whatever happens, if you think you won't, you're wrong. Best of luck bud

I can understand how overwhelming the preparation for this examination may get at times, especially with no set syllabus and a lot of emphasis on reading and your grasp of English. I do not claim to have any magic words that would lessen your anxiety. However, if you truly believe that law is your chosen field, then all I can advise is to keep the slogging up as of now, with the exam only a few days to go. Even if you cannot crack CLAT at first attempt, there are still other law colleges in the country to start at. If you remain motivated throughout your five years, keep yourself apprised of whatever your peers from other good universities are doing, study and intern consistently, then you can become a good legal professional. You will also have opportunities to sit for CLAT once again while in your first year of law school, many students crack it on their second attempts these days. You may feel to be missing out on the enjoyment that some of your peers at school are a part of, but the fact remains that you will find a lot of scope for such things even when you're in law school, and without the anxiety for having to sit for another entrance exam. You are almost there, just keep up your efforts for a while longer. You will have to work hard at law school too, but that will require a different kind of effort.

Only need to say two things:

1. All the comments encouraging the kid should be listened to carefully and the advice of the authors of those taken on board.

2. Those comments are the best of Legally India. From time to time, this best side of this site is seen, which is why I will keep coming back. So nice to see that not everyone commenting on this forum is out to do a hitjob on one or more of the usual suspects!

hey, do not worry about it too much, it will be okay. meanwhile, take a step back, relax. you can also check this video out: https://youtu.be/FUX67l-sHhE?si=X0CeEYw8lU6Bhlkb helped me a lot during my time. all the best for clat!