CLAT, or Common Law Entrance Test, as is quite clear from its name, is a national-level entrance examination for aspirants who want to enter the world of law. This examination can get very tough. After all, for this most high-stakes entry, you only need reasonable control over subjects such as the English language, current affairs, reasoning, and math—but this does not strike a chord as a country’s famous passion like JEE and NEET do.

Like any child, I did not know what to aim to take in college until the 9th standard. In my 9th standard, one of the teachers in my school just mentioned that I should seek a career in law because I was capable and interested. From 11th standard, I had started solving questions for just the material, without any coaching support. I can recommend this only for candidates who have enough time on their hands.

At this time, there were 150 questions of CLAT, and it adopted a marking for one correct answer and a penalty of deduction of 0.25 marks for a wrong answer on account of the negative marking. The students were provided with 2 hours to fix questions and the OMR sheet accordingly. I feel CLAT to be one of the toughest examinations; however, if you have a good vocabulary and are a swift reader, and also if you have a bit of interest in world affairs, you will love it.

Being a law entrance, CLAT does have questions related to law; the examiners do not expect you to mug up all the articles and amend the section numbers. A good hold over English and good problem-solving abilities for passages can help one pick up the legal section. Besides GK being the busting section in CLAT, the legal section is more skill- rather than capability-oriented to make the candidate remember.

After putting in good hard work, I managed to fare well in the CLAT exam and I was admitted to one of the topmost law schools in the country.