Section by Section Books and Strategies for CLAT 2013

By Samyak Sibasish

 I dropped a year to prepare for CLAT. And yes, this has been an eventful year for me. Unlike that of many other exams, preparation for CLAT is something you can thoroughly enjoy.

First up, now, when you have a good few months on your hand to prepare for the D -Day, I would just share my views on how to just effectively kick-off your preparations. How to go about it, as the months progress, is another different matter altogether.

The very first thing you should do is to collect the past year question papers. Not only of CLAT, but also the papers of NLSIU, NALSAR, NUJS, NLU-J and HNLU, when they used to conduct their own entrances.

Just go through these once and try getting a hold of what an aptitude law entrance test really is. You will be able to get a fairly good idea as to how the examination is gonna be. However, don’t start solving them systematically, unless it’s around mid-October or so (i.e now)- My own personal opinion.

By that time, you would have taken a few mocks and you might be capable of handling these papers with ease. And getting these papers is quite easy. Most of your seniors would be having soft copy versions of these papers. Shoot them a mail or drop in their FB inbox. They will be more than willing to help. There are also a host of websites which provide these papers.

Get yourself some books

To start it systematically, if you want to have a good command over the English Language and a good vocabulary, for starters, Norman Lewis’ Word Power Made Easy is a must.

It is a thoroughly enjoyable book, if you read it in a light mood.For practice in questions on English Grammar, a book by RS Agrawal would do. It has got a plethora of questions. I don’t remember the exact name of the book, however if you ask for ” English Entrance book by RS Agrawal” at the nearest bookshop, he will be willing to help you.

Logical Reasoning. THE Bible. MK Pandey. My dear ladies and gentlemen, if you want to master the logical reasoning section, you cannot do without MK Pandey.

It is the best in business, to the extent that NLU-J had actually copied some questions from this book in CLAT 2012. It has got a host of questions on analytical and critical reasoning, covering most aspects of both the section, that really come in handy.

Practise them. It has also got a nice theoretical back-up to each and every chapter, that would help you understand logic even better.

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Legal Aptitude. It would have two sections. Legal Reasoning and Legal GK. Legal Reasoning – There are no good books available, as such. Practise legal reasoning from past year papers and from mock tests and modules provided by a good coaching institute.

Online, on the ClatHacker and ClatGyan forums, you will get all sorts of questions on Legal Reasoning for free. CLATapult, I hear, too will be coming up with some good legal reasoning exercises here. These are apt platforms to discuss questions and get your doubts cleared.

Legal GK. Read up your 10th Standard Civics book thoroughly. Legal GK asked in law entrance examinations generally deal with Constitutional GK. So, do buy a pocket-size version of the India Constitution and read it whenever you have time.

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Maths. Maths will not be a very difficult section. All those who are pretty strong at maths, can breeze through your modules and just do the questions in the different mocks that they would take to be assured of a good score.

However, in a competitive examination like CLAT, it is important to develop a good speed while solving mathematics questions. So, having a knowledge on time-saving shortcuts is necessary.

For those not so confident about maths, it is time to set the ball rolling. Buy the big, fat M.Tyra book and start practicing the questions. In the end, maths will be a cakewalk for you.

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General Knowledge / Current Affairs. It also has got two sections.

Static GK. May people say that the term is a misnomer and misleading, as well. However, for CLAT purposes, let us stick to it (let us also assume that static GK will be a part of CLAT 2013). Static GK is basically traditional or conventional GK. Histoty, Economy, Polity, Geography etc.

To master this section, read some books. Basically, your standard school level textbooks on these subjects would do. Added to that, Pearson’s book on Static GK is the best in business. It is a big book, literally and you might find it somewhat dreary.

But I will advise you to cover it up. I didn’t and now I am regretting it.

For Current Affairs preparation, go through online forums, Hindu and Pratiyogita Darpan.
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And yes, be sincere and diligent from Day 1. Enjoy your life. However, the time you devote to study for CLAT, make the most of it. Utilise it effectively. The key is not the quantity of preparation, but the quality of it. Make sure that the 60 minutes of the day, you sit to study for CLAT, is the most fruitful hour of the day.

More in the next thread. Happy CLAT-Cracking. Adios! 

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Samyak Sibasish is a 1st year law student at NUJS, Kolkata. This article was also put on Gyan Central forum here.