CLAT day is approaching, and many of you are excited, while some are scared about it. Ever wondered what makes a topper’s preparation different from yours? Let’s dive into how you can prepare like a topper and come out with flying colours in the upcoming CLAT Exam.
What Toppers Follow?
First thing you need to ensure that whatever time you are spending in CLAT preparation counts and you do not waste your time reading things that are not relevant. Starting with Previous year papers. One thing that is common in all CLAT toppers is that they know the past year pattern in and out, so when they study, they are guided by the lighthouse of PYQs that keeps their boat in the right direction. Starting from the year 2020, when the CLAT pattern became the current type with passages, you should go through every section of the past year’s pattern to understand what areas are frequently tested in CLAT.
Once you have gone through the past year papers, you will have a clear understanding of where your efforts should go while preparing and where to pay extra attention.
Having done that what toppers do is that they take reading newspapers very seriously. I am pretty sure that you have been reading newspapers too, but the difference is how you approach the papers. A newspaper itself is a labyrinth of information, and what matters is how you focus on the relevant stuff. Topper’s pays special attention to legal news, whenever there is any bill or amendment or a relevant Supreme Court Judgement or any event related to legal fields. They write it down in their notes so by the time to approach the D day their notes act as a summary of all the news that they need to revise in the last moment.
For general Knowledge and current affairs, you have to have a topper’s eye to decide which news to follow. For example, the Prime Minister of your country visited a different country, so the facts about that other country become your current affairs. Even the static items of that country become your current affairs because they become relevant today. You need to have the eye to differentiate between relevant news and irrelevant news for example, the awards and prizes become relevant but some business or sports news might not be that relevant. This comes with continuous practice coupled with keeping PYQs in mind.
You need to be extra careful while reading newspapers and focus on every detail of mainstream news. If you have gone through the past year’s papers, you must have discovered that CLAT even asks spelling of the names of world leaders involved in current affairs, so reading is not enough, but having a Topper’s eye is all that makes the difference.
Next is your strategy for Mocks and the final exam. BY now should have realised your strengths and weaknesses. Where you are losing marls and which sections you are comfortable with. More than writing the Mocks it’s important to analyse the marks and see where you are repeatedly failing to score and where you don’t have to put much struggle. Once you know that, you need to know what your strategy is going to be. Which sections to attempt first and which questions to leave. It’s a paper that penalises wrong answers, so you have to be very calculative in cases where there is a question and you are not too sure about that. A topper weighs the question and applies elimination after taking into consideration the probability of that question being correct. You need to develop that ability to make this judgment.
Now is not the time to experiment much and you should stick to the strategy that has worked for you in mocks. Topper’s usually keep a separate diary of news words they discover in newspapers and books, and keep revising it. CLAT is such a paper where Command over the English language gives you an edge, and it is useful in every section, including English, Logical reasoning, which is more of a critical reasoning, legal reasoning and more. Having a good vocabulary already gives you an edge over other competitors.
Conclusion
Last but not least, you must learn to relax and keep your mind fresh. CLAT is a paper of speed and accuracy, and most of the paper requires your presence of mind rather than cramming up and memorising facts. Your state of mind while writing the paper is most important. I most of the sections, almost everything will be served on a plate, and all you have to do is choose the relevant portion from the given passage and arrive at the write options. Of course, there is pressure to complete the paper, so you need that ability to judge quickly and arrive at the right option, displaying your reasoning skills.
Having said that, pick up your notes for revision and work on the areas that you feel needs more effort and refine the areas that have been rewarding in mocks. Write as many mocks as you can in these last days, and most importantly, analyse those mocks to see what is working and what is not. Use past year papers as a guiding light and pay special attention to the type of questions that are frequently tested.
Think like a topper and be a topper!
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