CLAT is one exam which always keeps itself in the news for a variety of reasons and this year was no different. IMS CLAT tracker and teacher Rajneesh Singh shares some of the highs and lows and how to proceed.
The good
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A PIL was filed to remove the age bar and was finally implemented even after high resistance from the CLAT body
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The CLAT was changed to a computer-based test (CBT) for the first time
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RMLNLU, the CLAT convenor, was able to beat any apprehension of fewer applications, perhaps due to the CBT format. There was more than a 20% jump in UG and 150% in PG applications.
The less good
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Maharashtra with 3.1 lakh km sq km area had only one CLAT exam location while UP had 8. Maharashtra is 25% larger in terms of area and the third biggest state in India. Interestingly NLU Mumbai has announced 6 exam locations in Maharashtra for its test and has not given a single exam location to UP, UK, Bihar and Jharkhand. And these are NATIONAL law universities and not STATE universities.
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CLAT picked up many questions from several materials including the CAT. One set of puzzles was taken from the CAT 2013 question paper and is one of the toughest set of puzzles ever asked in the history of the CAT exam.
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Sad to say that CLAT core committee is still least bothered about the correct way of picking up the best talent for their NLUs. The casual approach is very evident. There is no harm in picking up questions from good resources but it is being done without planning. Many questions had different fonts. Current affairs were mostly from a few months ago even after announcing in the syllabus questions going back 13 months. I argued about the way CLAT paper may be framed in an interview with Legally India in 2012.
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The paper was amazingly tough and very different from last year. Although such papers can filter better talent, unfortunately the most hardworking and intelligent mass did not get what they deserved this time because they kept preparing for something else.
Takeaways
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LSAT-India, which unfortunately could not become popular in India because it has only one good college that uses it, can be a good mentor for the CLAT committee. Their pattern is fixed and the nature of the exam never varies. They have such a large size of questions of every variety, originally and scientifically framed, that they are able to maintain the level. The questions are of superb quality too and yet very fresh. No cheap coaching institutes can become effective here. Preparation has to genuinely enhance the reasoning ability of students’ mind and not to mechanically make them practice and practice and practice stupid things. CLAT can also learn from NLU Delhi. They have been able to manage the exam for a long time without any chaos and controversies. CLAT can also learn from the way HNLU conducted CLAT 2013.
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The need for a CLAT permanent body is becoming more and more important.
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But, I do appreciate the person or persons who have decided on the nature of the question paper (probably some of the NLUs Honourable VCs). The change is good as the previous 3 years’ papers were testing too much on hard work because highly typed questions were coming. This question paper penalized those heavily who used to make a lot of guess work. But those who framed the questions did not do justice to the intentions of the strategists.
The winners of CLAT 2015
Yes, DHONIs won the race this time
D – Duck
Duck is cool and calm like Dhoni above the water but is very active under the water which is actually required. Those who could do this during CLAT 2015 won the battle. After seeing a very different paper, those who could keep their heads cool marched ahead of others.
H – Hand Pick
Those who could aptly select the correct set of questions to be attempted and also rejected the right ones at the right time according to their strength and weaknesses. This was a crucial factor this time.
O – On the correct lines
The mind which had the ability to reason out on the correct lines of rationality won the race. The offbeat questions were handled with a calm and efficient mind.
N – Never Give Up
After experiencing shocks and surprises in almost all sections, the majority gave up. Those who did not give up did well.
I – I am Prepared for everything
Many CLAT takers prepare in their comfort zone. Questions of the last three year papers were of average to easy standard. The majority used to feel lots of comfort in dealing with such questions which never used to pressurise their mind. Although they were not able to achieve a good rank because it was a high scoring paper, they still used to be happy with a 100+ score in the mocks. Such people did disastrously this time.
Takers who were prepared for all types of paper did not panic and took this as an opportunity.
CLAT Admission Helpline
The admission process
This is how the admission process will go on.
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You need to fill the preference list provided to you in your page. You need to log in with the provided password. The link is available at http://clat.ac.in
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On 31st May based on your rank and preference list, the listing will be done and then released.
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The listed ones need to pay 50,000 INR as a booking amount.
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Around 250 to 400 seats in general category is expected to go vacant (those who do not deposit 50k).
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The 2nd list will come out with lots of people shifting up according to their pref list and newly listed ones according to the vacant seats created. These newly listed candidates will be advised to pay 50k.
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After a similar process the 3rd list will be announced.
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Finally at the end of June, all vacant seat lists by all NLUs will be sent to CLAT and then the final list will be released.
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On 6th July the process at the CLAT secretariat will end.
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You may check the deadlines here. http://clat.ac.in/?page_id=625
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But there will be vacant seats left at 4 to 8 bottom NLUs after 6th July too. To complete this, CLAT may extend date of closure from 6th July and take care till the end which has not happened in past years. If CLAT does not intervene then NLUs will announce about their admission process for the vacant seats created. Keep a watch on the websites of NLUs.
How to fill up preference list
The preference list will play a vital role in allocating a seat for the listed candidates along with the CLAT rank. One must fill up the preference list very carefully. The list has to be exactly the same as one’s correct choices of preference of NLUs irrespective of whatever rank achieved by the student.
This preference list can be followed in case you do not have any locational advantage, constraints or preferences. It is roughly how candidates choose last year.
- NLSIU - Bangalore
- NALSAR - Hyderabad
- WBNUJS -Kolkata
- NLIU - Bhopal
- NLU - Jodhpur
- GNLU - Gandhinagar
- HNLU - Raipur
- RMLNLU - Lucknow
- RGNLU - Patiala
- NUALS - Kochi
- NLU - Odisha
- CNLU - Patna
- NUSRL - Ranchi
- NLUJA - Guwahati
- TNNLS – Tamil Nadu
- DSNLU - Vizag
Here few NLUs are very close and deviating from the above sequence and where it does not make much of a difference. These pairs are
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NLIU Bhopal and NLU J (a very close call to choose between them)
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HNLU and RMLNLU
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NLU O and CNLU
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NLUJA and TNNLS
If you want to deviate from the normal ranking by a big margin then you should have a good reason. For example, if one is from Bhopal and has to work in a law firm there while studying, would has a very valid reason for deviating from the normal ranking. Say this guy has a rank of 23. In this case he should fill NLIU Bhopal as the first preference (otherwise he will get NLSIU and later this can not be changed), and after this normal ranking can be followed.
Example of how preferences works in practice
Candidate - Mr Vakil
Rank – 233
Category - General
Say, listing till 232 is done, now for 233 begins. His first preference will be checked. Say that is NLSIU, but there won’t be any seats left. 2nd pref, NALSAR - again no seats. 3rd pref – NUJS, no seats again. 4th pref could be NLIU Bhopal: Yes 20 seats left. Allotted to NLIU Bhopal.
This person will be listed in the first list coming up on 31st May and will have to pay 50k to book the seat by 10th June. Now say, 18 higher ranked seats were vacated until rank 232 due to non-payment of 50 k by these 18 candidates. Now this guy would get upgraded to NUJS in the 2nd list.
Estimated rank cut offs for 2015 general list
Read the table given below. This may help you to asses and plan your admissions and selection of a law school.
| NLUs | 1st List | Last list | Last list at the NLU |
| Rank | Rank | Rank | |
| NLSIU - Bangalore | 58 | 60 | |
| NALSAR - Hyderabad | 124 | 130 | |
| WBNUJS -Kolkata | 215 | 235 | |
| NLIU - Bhopal | 305 | 320 | |
| NLU - Jodhpur | 320 | 340 | |
| GNLU - Gandhinagar | 430 | 450 | |
| HNLU - Raipur | 580 | 625 | |
| RMLNLU - Lucknow | 615 | 650 | |
| RGNLU - Patiala | 730 | 770 | |
| NUALS - Kochi | 775 | 850 | 1600 |
| NLU - Odisha | 800 | 1075 | 1200 |
| CNLU - Patna | 870 | 1125 | 1300 |
| NUSRL - Ranchi | 890 | 1225 | 2000 |
| NLUJA - Guwahati | 980 | 1325 | 3500 |
| TNNLS - Tamilnadu | 1032 | 1430 | 5000 |
| DSNLU - Vizag | 1000 | 1450 | 6000 |
| Nirma Univ - Ahmedabad | 1300 | 1400 | 2200 |
| UPES - Dehradoon | 3000 | | 5000 |
| KIIT - Bhubaneswar | 3000 | | 6000 |
Rajneesh Singh is mentor at CLAT preparation company IMS.
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Whom should poor CLAT rankers trust? Your Rajneesh? Or Lawctopus' Tanuj Kalia? Or their own coaching centres?
Are you hear to help us or further confuse us?
I agree. Why is this Rajneesh getting so much of Online space? Does he pay you Kian? Why not get better agencies like LST to give their views than this Rajneesh who is not even a law graduate from an NLU himself and most of his comments/ opinions/ views, etc being controversial and biased? I do not question that someone not from an NLU cannot coach, but he knows nothing about an NLU, life in an NLU and how it functions like some of us do. We may have mooted, gone for paper presentations and seen life at other nationals in a more neutral manner. LST would always guide well. I do not know if LST is still run by rainmakers, but unlike BCI we will not accuse you as being "the assoiate" of Rainmaker if you get LST's views on the exam than someone who started coaching recently ( a kid in front of LST). It just seems that he is promoting his oaching classes at every website I visit :/
Secondly, LST of today is not the same it was during the times of Sachin Malhan, Bhavin Patel or even Kunal Mehra (am a product of LST).
PS- I'd still say that LST is your best bet for CLAT coaching preps.
-LST is NOT run by Rainmaker.
-Rajneesh Singh has all the rights to promote his product on as many platforms as possible. The reason why LI and BB publish him is because he is good.
Because IMS is a trusted brand and Rajneesh Singh has been leading the IMS' law preps for over 7 years now.
2. Why not any other CLAT coaching mentors?
It depends on a. who approaches you b. how good he/she is.
Now there are very few (less than 6-7) good CLAT mentors. And, someone has to feature somewhere, right?
3. Whom should the poor CLAT rankers trust?
Rajneesh Singh has been interacting with law aspirants for the last 7 years. For my work at Lawctopus, I've been interacting with law students for the last 5 years.
It's our job/duty to follow the developments at law schools and publish our views on various fora to help CLAT aspirants.
Our views will always be subjective (we don't have in-built algorithms) but it's always sincere. And we try to be as objective as possible without letting biases and prejudices affect what advice we dispense.
Three more things:
1. There's no law college ranking out there that's good.
2. There's enough data out there to allow CLAT aspirants to do their own research (after getting inputs/prods from any of the CLAT mentors).
3. Career choices or choices (when presented with multiple options) in general are always confusing. There's no clear cut way.
What matters a hell lot more (and it's pretty obvious too) is what you did in the 5 years of college. (And it's true not for just for placements but for the overall college experience).
Can you name any other CLAT mentor at any other coaching institute? Does any other coaching institute prepare cut-offs, etc and share them in public with anyone but their own students? I for one don't know any, but they're more than welcome to get in touch with us too.
NUALS placement is much better than RGNUL's.
1. Placements: NUALS has not been able to show a great track record w.r.t placement viz RMLNLU or RGNUL. This has allowed the above mentioned two to sneak into the space in the rankings.
2. Mooting: Though NUALS was a university with a good mooting record, in the past few years RMLNLU and RGNUL have done comparatively better. Though a sound mooting record isn't capable by itself to life a university over some of the higher placed places (NALSAR, NLIU, GNLU - all of which have struggled at some point or the other in last 2/3 years); but it does help you make minor jumps.
3. Geographical location: Though Lucknow & Patiala are not cities with any real corporate presence, they nonetheless have Delhi within a travel time of 6/8 hours. This makes their convergence with the firms at Delhi much easier than NUALS.
4. Campus Infrastructure: RMLNLU always had good infrastructure campus-wise; and RGNUL has recently shifted to their new campus which is really good. NUALS, being slightly older, also lags behind these two on this marker.
5. Discipline: Strictness in campus routines I can't speak for as I haven't been a student at any of these places. However, what I can speak off is the fact that such considerations are cyclical. Changes in administration etc. can and will radically alter them during the time a student stays in these universities. Therefore, they shouldn't be accorded a great value while selecting the place where you shall be staying for the next five odd years.
A more important marker than any of these considerations ought to be:
- The Faculty: Not having studied at any of these places I can't really comment. What an outsider should do is -
(a) pay little consideration to what student at these places say on public forums, they will usually tell you the teaching staff isn't upto some mythical mark that they might have set-up in unreal terms.
(b) there is genuine dearth of good (again by own mythical and unreal standards) teachers, and researchers in all universities. One reason for this is the fact we have 17 of them now. However, you do find that each place; whether NLSIU or NALSAR or NLU-D or NUJS - like any of those mentioned above in this post - have their good, bad and downright ugly (academically).
(c) in case you wish to 'really' find out about the faculty. Find a student from these places and talk to them via personal messages (not on public platforms; they all want to look cool and bad-mouth the teachers)
- The student body: One of the most important factors in a place. The more diverse it is, higher are the chances that it is a 'good' student body (again based on personal experience). Reasons for this are:
(a) you meet newer people from different backgrounds and grow as a person. This helps you when interning in Delhi and Bombay, or Bangalore and Hyderabad. You'll have people from all over there and chances of you being able to feel comfortable in the surroundings will rest on the fact of how well your law-school prepared you for it (by giving a diverse group for those five years).
(b) further, your seniors - if from different places - are more likely to move out and find work in a large expanse of the nation. As their junior it allows you the benefit of being exposed to opportunities in those nooks and corners of the country.
(c) It is on this that RGNUL scores better than both NUALS & RMLNLU. RMLNLU has 80/160 seats (50%) for students from UP only; NUALS has 48/104 (46%) for Kerala; while RGNUL has only 18/180 (10%).
This is the view of an outsider to all three places. The choice is yours, make it intelligently.
I agree that NUALS should be above RMLNLU and RGNUL!
Take up whatever you get, then in case you of vacancies above you - you might get lucky.
PS: I just find the question nonsensical. I agree you are all worried and stuff, but just chill and in a few days you'll know.
Now, go somewhere else to spread the shit.
Jodhpur is better this year, but NLIU has been doing better at moots otherwise. I think NLIU is better than Jpdhpur in every other sense. The Associates at firms are also better than the ones from Jodhpur and NLIU have many more Partners in top law firms than Jodhpur, almost equivalent than those at Nalsar. I do not even need to speak at the past 2-3 batches passed out from NLUJ as I have seen few in the firm I work at and few others I have interacted with!!
if you don't make it to an older NLU, seriously consider your non-law career options. pick a lower law university only if you have broader career goals than "easy corporate job".
basis of advice: went to an older NLU, easily got a job at a top 10 firm and then a top 3 firm. am not exceptionally smart.
- Candidate-having-to-take-a-loan-due-to-his-not-so-affluent-background-and-wondering-if-he-would-be-able-to-pay-it-back.
Thanks.
Avimukt mishra
Patna
And please it's at par with Lloyd Law College. Don't under estimate the power of Jodha
1. Mooting - www.legallyindia.com/Mooting/jindal-law-school-wins-v-singapore-at-nls-arbitration-moot-2015-now-9th-in-mpl
2. Placements- NLUJ- www.legallyindia.com/Law-firms/nlu-jodhpur-s-day-zero-set-to-may-double-last-year-s-record-with-massive-ppo-haul-for-2016-batch
NUJS- www.legallyindia.com/Law-schools/new-day-zero-record-nujs-4th-years-bag-40-jobs-4-foreign-gigs-khaitan-biggest
Off topic I would like to know if My AIR 6884 State rank in CG where HNLU is located is 134 is there any chance for me in any NLU this year BTW i was able to appear in this year because upper age limit was removed so i hope next year will be the same ? Awaiting your reply's.
I think your knowledge about NLUO is outdated. You need to do a fresh research about NLUO.
You may not be wrong but there are few factors which I think I should draw your attention to. You wrote that NLUO and CNLU is almost at par. My hometown is in Patna so i have been close to CNLU and I study in NLUO, so I am in a fair position to compare and contrast between both the universities. According to Last 3 years performance in MPL, NLUO far ahead of CNLU and other NLUs and some private colleges. The fact that NLUO does not have state reservation gives it a better student quality compared to CNLU which provides heavy no. of state reservation. In 2014 the topmost CLAT ranking student in our university was 500 something. Our faculty members also seems better as most of them have studied in NLS and are accustomed to NLUs culture. And our placements are not zero as compared to CNLU. We have some disadvantages too, but these were the factors i wanted to draw your attention to.
Thank You
I have lived Patna more than what your age is. But it has no connection with my efficiency in knowing CNLU. Also there is every possibility of you being biased towards NLU-O but there can be no reason for me being biased towards any NLU. and if i do so then i will lose my relevance. I know that very well.
I have followed CNLU and NLU-O very closely from day one. and i do not miss any opportunity to update myself. Fortunately i had a long talk of almost one hour with you former and founder VC Honorable Dr Fizan Mustafa just two days before he left and joined NALSAR
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Let me give you more reasons to cheer for NLU Odisha.
1. The founder VC has sown the seed and left behind a vibrant culture which very few NLU have.
2. In terms of mooting you should not compare NLU - O with patna. This will be an insult to your mooting team. They should be now compared with top 5. Those follow my posts must have seen my posts in this regard.
3. It has a very good and flexible course curriculum which no other NLU has.
4. You have had better rankers in past than Ria (524 to be exact) in 2014. Satvik with 253 and many more.
5. Along with you NLU-o is blessed with lots of wise students who miss no opportunity to spread good things.
6. In my last year NLU popularity index article the heading was NLU O beats CNLU for the first time. This ranking was done on the basis of each and every students rank till the last list.
Now, when i say that NLU O is almost at par with CNLU. there are reasons behind the same.
1. NLU O began with lower cut off than NUSRL. Therefore being even at par or surpassed CNLU is very good performance.
2. No NLU has set of faculties which the students deserve to have.
3. Ever since Dr Mustafa left, NLU O has missed him badly.
4. Complete infra took lots of time to get completed. CNLU also has the same.
5. When i google for NLU O placements i have nothing to see. where as when i do the same for CNLU i see some data justifying decent placements at least.and only top 8 have better placements than this.
But. you impressed me a lot because you came up with logic and hence i took time to answer you. i am sure this may help many others too.
Do not worry, the moment at your NLU-O decent to good placements start happening and it is officially announced it will take another leap.
and i wish both CNLU and NLU O grow well in future and students there get the benefits.
my A I R is 2992 and state rank in Gujarat is 58. And also i have Gujarat domicile. So i wanted to know is there any chance of me getting into GNLU ?
IF not , what are other options?
Please do reply soon..
jharkhand state general rank 37
can i get NUSRL under state domicile quota in general category IN THE FIRST LIST ITSELF??
it has got 60 state domicile seats out of which 30 are for general.
I've got AIR 3455 in CLAT(unreserved). DO I have a chance of getting into any NLU whatsoever ? yo stated above in your rank wise college list that students getting AIR 3500 will get through NLUJA-Guwahati . Consedering my rank will I get it?
Thanking You,
Adit Sharma
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