How to prepare for CLAT without coaching

How to prepare for CLAT– This has become a general perception in the mind of many law aspirants that CLAT preparation is tough and that CLAT cannot be cracked without coaching. As CLAT coaching centers are sprouting up everywhere, students may be tempted to enroll themselves in any of them.

It seems imperative to us before we begin the article “How to prepare for CLAT without Coaching,” that some myths about joining coaching institutes be dispelled.

We have a few questions to ask and candidates too should start asking themselves the same question before falling into the advertising bait of any coaching institute.

Does the CLAT exam 2022 notification explicitly ask you to join CLAT coaching? Does the coaching institute you are considering guarantee you admission to your dream college or university? Did every student plan to join the coaching class as part of their CLAT preparation?

If you look at the stats of past years, a lot of students who did not join the coaching institute were able to crack the CLAT exam on the first attempt and scored impressively as well.

Then who’s to blame for those who joined the coaching, paid a hefty amount of time and money, and yet, couldn’t make it to their dream college/NLUs? Students themselves. As a result of the student’s failure to follow the right procedures, like starting early, avoiding procrastination, and not taking it seriously enough to study for 6-7 hours every day, they choose random topics to read or follow the wrong strategy.

Now that we have busted the myth surrounding the coaching institutes, let us now begin with our article.

“How to prepare for CLAT without coaching?”

Many students have scored well and managed to get into their dream NLU by following the tips below.

Let’s look at the tips now, without further delay.

Start your preparation early: One common tip that law students have shared often is that they started preparing for CLAT exam preparation well in advance. This gave them leverage and that is they had a substantial amount of time to familiarize themselves with the syllabus and previous years’ question papers as well. With an early start to the preparation, they had time to cover complex topics and examine them in-depth. Shifting things to tomorrow was never on their to-do list.

Befriends the Syllabus: Your syllabus should be your best friend throughout your CLAT exam preparation. No matter how complex this new best friend of yours is, you’re supposed to understand it.

Spend as much time as you want on the syllabus and familiarize yourself with it. This will save you a tremendous amount of time from not reading random topics, and attempting useless test series. The more you’ll be able to understand the syllabus the more cautious you’ll be while choosing your test series. This is because you’ll be able to compare the test series and judge whether they are aligned with the current CLAT exam pattern. You will not blue your money once you befriend the syllabus.

Have a glance at the previous years’ question papers: Supplementing your understanding of the syllabus with the previous years’ question papers is a must.

Acquainting yourself with the syllabus and not studying through the previous years’ question paper is a waste of your knowledge of the syllabus and time as well. We gave our preparation an early headstart to save us some time for the syllabus and previous years’ questions. Do not waste that time by not doing the steps that are required and by doing useless stuff. Because what we have at stake here is TIME.

Make and follow your study plan: We concur with you when you say your plan is to crack the CLAT EXAM 2022 or 2023 or 2024, for that matter. But every big plan is followed by small sub-plans. These sub-plans should be the only holy book you worship throughout your CLAT exam preparation.

Make that study plan and follow it religiously. It should cater to the needs and requirements of your schedule. If you’re comfortable studying at night, distribute your hours of studying at night. Your plans should be realistic and achievable. A well-chalked-out, structured plan is always easier to follow and execute. Your plan should not become a Herculean task to achieve in the long run.

Make a list of Resources to follow: Take a pen and a piece of paper, jot down the booklist you’re supposed to follow throughout your CLAT preparation, and take a vow never to breach that list. This list should become a binding contract between your preparing self and your future attorney self. It is important to not be distracted by the multitude of resources available these days on the internet, in the market, and even on your phone through various apps.

We are living in an era of endless resources, but we do not know how to pick them correctly that match our needs and considerations. So, choose your booklist wisely and stick with it.

Clear your doubts: Having doubts is a sign that you’re reading and preparing well. Doubts will surface, some of them will be fleeting and some will be lasting and that’ll create a loop of doubts and thereby leave you with frustration. Because of this, we started our preparations early, so we could address our doubts as soon as possible and satiate them with the exact degree of knowledge it requires. So, keep calm and clear doubts proudly!

Keep Revision Regular: CLAT syllabus is like an ocean, and in order to navigate it, you must review everything twice. However, CLAT does not test your memory, but the revision will help you to retain all you have read and studied so far all the well-known facts, and sometimes even figures, which is the right approach to take.

Analyze the previous years’ question paper again: In the beginning, we looked at the previous years’ question paper to understand the type of questions CLAT has been asking, and now it is a test of whether you can solve the type of questions CLAT has been asking. Before picking up any test series, you should pick the Previous Years’ Questions.

Mock-Test times: This time usually comes a month or two before the actual date of the exam. Attempting the mock tests with a timer on will give you the ambiance of an exam. You’ll be able to know your shortcomings which generally come in the format of time management. Inability to solve application-based questions due to a lack of knowledge of a given topic. You’ll be well aware of your strong suits as well.

Stop living in Denial: Now that you’re well versed with your weaknesses, it’s time that you disassociate yourself from those pitfalls and rise above them. This will only happen by improving your skills by managing time and applying focus. Also, just because you’re strong in a particular section doesn’t mean you stop practicing it because now you’re all confident about it. You can lessen the time of practice, but you can stop practicing altogether.

Stay Upbeat: There will be days when you’ll be able to study a bit less than what you’ve planned in your schedule or what you expect out of you. Take a day off or some time off. Enjoy that day or time fully rather than sulking and being melancholic about not studying because you have done well so far. A day off won’t cause any harm to our preparation. In fact, it’ll make you more efficient because you’ll start with a fresh mind the next day. Staying positive will help you a lot through the ocean of CLAT.

Stay Disciplined: Because motivation is momentary, discipline is a way of life you have to choose and adapt to. Displicine will help you sail in this ocean that we have been metaphorically talking about. A disciplined student always has a higher chance of cracking any exam than a motivated student.

Time Management: Management of time is often difficult for students, and by the time they realize they need to change, it is already too late. It is for this reason that we advise you to take mock tests. So, you have the time to correct your mistakes and shortcomings. A lot of times in exams we know the answer to the question, the solution, and the steps as well. However, due to the fact that the time is running out, we cannot attempt it. We advise you to correct the mistakes in the mocks so that you can perform exceptionally well in the exams.