CLAT Preparation Tips: A talk with Gauresh Chaudhary (Academic Head at Coachmeforclat)

CLAT Preparation Tips: A talk with Gauresh Chaudhary (Academic Head at Coachmeforclat)

With almost two months left for CLAT 2021, there are a lot of questions going through the mind of students for CLAT 2021 preparation. To solve some of the important questions through expert opinions, I got a chance to be in conversation with Gauresh Chaudhary – Academic Head at Coachmeforclat and currently studying in  NLSIU Bangalore.

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Here are the excerpts from the Interview

Harshita - Availability of study materials for the preparation of CLAT & AILET is really tough for the students who might start their preparation now, although cracking CLAT is quite tough but are there chances that a student starting his/her preparation now can crack the examination? If yes what would be some of the major tips that you would like to give these students?

Gauresh - Unlike other knowledge-based examinations, cracking CLAT is not contingent on a student finishing their syllabus. CLAT tests the skills you have already learnt in school (English Comprehension, Logical Reasoning etc.). Study Material and Coaches only polish the skills you have learnt in school and teach you to effectively manage time. So yes, it is definitely possible for someone who is starting now to crack CLAT and get into a good college. If you’re starting at this point however, you need to ensure that you pick the most relevant practice material and that you take a lot of mock tests before you appear for the test. Your strategy has to be developed keeping your strengths, weaknesses and requirements in mind.

An aspirant must also take care of their mental health as 3 months before CLAT the pressure is really high and it becomes all the more important when you’re preparing in a rush.

Harshita - Giving enough Mock Tests and good Mock Tests have been a concerning point for a lot of students before giving CLAT. According to you what should be the right approach that a student must follow for giving Mock Tests before CLAT?

Gauresh- Taking and analyzing mock tests can never be emphasized enough. All the hard work one puts in completing their syllabus would fail if they don’t practice enough mock tests. The ideal strategy should be to try and take at least 20 mock tests prior to CLAT. You must also analyse every mock test you take to get an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Once you are comfortable with taking mock tests, try and change the sequence in which you attempt all subjects as this might help you improve your speed and accuracy. For example, try doing Logical Reasoning or Maths in between 2 reading intensive subjects like English or Legal Reasoning for your mind to take a break from focusing too much on reading.

Figure out all the easy questions in the paper before you move on to the tougher questions as all questions carry the same marks. Lastly, keeping your calm is very important as it majorly determines every single aspect of your exam.

Harshita - Choosing the right Books and Preparation material have always been a concern for many students preparing for CLAT as they don’t find enough past CLAT aspirants around them. So, according to you which are some of the best books for preparation that you recommend for CLAT 2021 for each of the 5 sections and overall preparation?

Gauresh - While I do not think there is any book that covers the entire syllabus, I would say the following books decently cover what CLAT requires:

English: Word Power Made Easy, Objective English by Pearson

Analytical Reasoning: R.S. Agarwal & MK Pandey

Critical Reasoning: MK Pandey

Maths: RS Agarwal

Harshita - It is always advised that a student who is preparing for CLAT examination must go through the previous year papers of exam. According to you why is it important to solve the previous year question papers and how they are helpful for the student?

Gauresh - See CLAT is an exam unlike most competitive exams in India. The kind of questions aren’t something you would find very commonly in any other exam. Neither do most major books cover something of this kind as there’s no competitive exam in India that requires you to prepare for the CLAT kind of questions. That’s where previous year papers come in. Not only do they inform you about the kind of questions, they also help you build effective time management strategies. In fact, up until recently, a lot of questions were also repeated from previous year CLAT papers which would get you bonus marks and save a lot of time which you would have spent solving the questions. I would say solving past year papers is irreplaceable.

Harshita -CLAT examination consists of 5 different sections each & every section having their own importance and without doing well in all of them a student cannot clear the examination well. There are even sections like Legal Aptitude/ Reasoning and Logical Reasoning which is not there in the student’s school curriculum. So according to you what could be a specific preparation strategy for each of the five sections? Kindly put some light on the same so that it can benefit the students a lot from your vast experience.

Gauresh - At Coach Me For CLAT, we believe that every individual should have a different preparation strategy for they have their own strengths and weaknesses. However, I’ll still list a few general subject wise tips that one should keep in mind.

English: Reading the newspaper is a must. It helps develop your comprehension ability which is important not just for English but 2 other subjects. Practicing comprehensions online would also help improve your performance. For Grammar, I would recommend reading the rules well from a good English book.

General Knowledge: GK always takes most of your time since there’s never an end to what all you can possibly study. However, focusing on current affairs can be an efficient strategy. Current Affairs usually form at least 60-70% of your GK section. You could take 2-3 sources and start preparing for Current Affairs. Do remember to keep revising what you have read.

Maths: Maths has always haunted CLAT aspirants. There may be short tips and tricks to solving questions, but there is no shortcut to getting better at Maths. The only key is practice. You have to practice as many questions as you can. While it is not recommended, if you are very scared of Maths, you could at least try to understand Data Interpretation as the topic could fetch you a very easy 3-4 marks without having to put in much effort.

Legal Reasoning: With the new pattern, there’s nothing predictable left in Legal Reasoning. Reading the newspaper could help develop your ability to find principles from a passage so that you can apply them. I do recommend reading general legal topics like contracts, torts as they would help you understand the passage better during your CLAT exam. You can also have a look at Coach Me For CLAT’s legal affairs which are published on our telegram group every second day. These would help you understand current legal issues better so that you can read faster and answer more accurately in your CLAT exam.

Logical Reasoning: Most of the contents of the Logical Reasoning portion are reading intensive. So again, reading the newspaper would help. For the ones who aren’t very good at English, you must perfect your analytical reasoning part so that you don’t lose out much due to you lack of command over the English language.

Harshita -If the student does not get into NLU, suggest some other good options for  Five – year integrated LLB course other than NLU?

Gauresh - If anyone asks me this question, I would always recommend them to try again next year. The five-year experience at a good law school is very enriching. You learn a lot and become a much better person that you would at any other not so good law school. However, for the ones who would not want to try again, I would recommend Jindal Global Law School, Sonepat, Symbiosis, Pune and Nirma University, Ahmedabad for a good five-year law course. These universities ensure to put in good effort into their curriculum and produce good law graduates.