CLAT 2023 Topper Interview: Arnav Maheshwari (AIR 4) says read newspapers regularly to keep up with current affairs
He has not only bagged the top position in CLAT 2023 but also emerged amongst the top 50 in AILET Exam 2023 with AIR 35. He says, "The key to cracking CLAT 2023 exam is to give mock tests regularly and analyze them too." Read further to know how he prepared for the law entrance exam along with his board exams.
CLAT 2023 Topper Interview: Arnav Maheshwari (AIR 4) says read newspapers regularly to keep up with current affairs
CLAT 2023 Topper Arnav Maheshwari AIR 4 in an exclusive interview with Shiksha.com shares his tips, journey and preparation strategy he followed to ace the CLAT 2023 Exam. He has not only bagged the top position in CLAT 2023 but also emerged amongst the top 50 in AILET Exam 2023 with AIR 35. He says, "The key to cracking CLAT 2023 exam is to give mock tests regularly and analyse it too." Read further to know how he prepared for the law entrance exam along with his board exams.
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There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.Q. Congratulations! Did you expect to be the topper of CLAT 2023?
A. Not really, I certainly wasn't the top scorer in the coaching mock tests, moreover, the paper was too tricky to make any guesses about a possible rank.
Q: In how many cities is CLAT exam held?
The exam will be held in more than 139 cities. Candidates can select CLAT exam centres 2025 from the list of test cities while filling up the form only. The details of the allotted CLAT 2025 exam centre, including the name and location has been mentioned on the admit card itself. On the day of the CLAT 2025 exam, a candidate have to report to the exam centre as per the scheduled time mentioned on the admit card. Since, the exam centre authority does not allow entry to candidates who are late.
Q: What is good score in CLAT 2025?
Aspirants who are looking forward to appear in CLAT 2025 Exam should have a clear idea about a good CLAT score. CLAT is a very competitive exam and candidates need to score high to clear the cutoff. All those candidates who will appear for the CLAT 2025 are advised to check out the previous year's CLAT cutoff scores and get a fair idea of the trends that are being followed by the NLUs in the country.
A score above 100 is definitely considered as a good score for CLAT 2025. Candidates must note that the expected CLAT cutoff score for NLUSIU Bangalore is 100 plus, whereas, for NLU Kolkata, NLU Jodhpur and NLU Bhopal, the expected score is between 94 to 98. Candidates who wish to take admission into NALSAR Hyderabad they need to score between 98 to 100.
Q: Why is CLAT exam important?
Q. What was the preparation strategy that helped you crack CLAT 2023?
A. The key part of my prep was mock tests, giving and analysing mock tests regularly. It meticulously resulted in a good understanding of the exam and the resultant increase in marks, apart from this I kept up with current affairs and maintained a habit of reading through diverse content be it newspapers or novels.
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Q. How did you manage time between board exams and entrance exam prep?
A. Initially, I was very casual about CLAT and paid more attention to school, however, seeing my peers overtake and do better than me persuaded me to put a temporary stay on school academics to solely focus on CLAT, the preponing of the exam further put this decision to an advantage as the dates of boards and CLAT did not clash.
Q. Did you take any coaching for this exam?
A. I enrolled in the classroom programme at career launcher, in addition to this I also registered with the mock test series in clatpossible.
Q. What study plan did you follow for this exam?
Q: Why is AILET exam important?
AILET is important because it is the only entrance exam that law aspirants can qualify and be eligible for most prominent National Law University in India; i.e. NLU Delhi. It is also one of the most competitive law entrance exams for admission to NLU Delhi, as it doesn't accept CLAT score. Apart from this, many Public Sector Undertaking (PSUs) in India accept AILET LL. M. scores for the recruitment of candidates.
Q: How will I know about the AILET exam centre allotted to me?
AILET exam centre 2025 will be allotted along with the admit card. Candidates are advised to check the admit card to know about the exam centre and other crucial details. Apart from name and address of allotted AILET exam centre, the admit card comprises details such as exam date, timing, exam day guidelines etc. Date for admit card release is published along with the information brochure on the official website. Candidates have to download the admit card for AILET 2025 after logging and providing details such as application ID, password and others.
Q: What are the Centres of CLAT exam?
CLAT Consortium released the list of CLAT 2025 exam centres along with admission notification. The Consortium also inform about new addition in the list of CLAT 2025 test centre, if any. The exam was held in more than 139 cities listed as CLAT 2025 test centres across the country.
Candidates were given the option to select CLAT exam centres 2025 from the list of test cities while filling up the form only. The details of the allotted CLAT 2025 exam centre, including the name and location was mentioned on the admit card itself. On the day of the CLAT 2025 exam, a candidate had to report to the exam centre as per the scheduled time mentioned on the admit card. Since, the exam centre authority did not allow entry to candidates who are late.
Q: What is the validity of CLAT Score?
No, the CLAT score is valid for 1 year only as previous year scores will not be considered to get admission in upcoming years. The CLAT paper duration is only 2 hours and 120 questions are answered in this time. The syllabus of this course is Legal Reasoning legal general knowledge, English comprehensive, mathematics and Current Affairs. It is valid until the admission procedure of all the institutions accepting CLAT score is closed and expires at the occurrence of the next CLAT exam.
Q: Will there be any break in between CLAT 2025 exam duration?
No, the candidates were not allowed to take breaks or exit the exam centre while they are attempting CLAT exam. Candidates were allowed to drink water, eat or use the washroom only before or after the exam timings. Therefore, on the day of examination candidates should prepare themselves to sit for two hours straight without any breaks. They should use washroom right before entering the examination hall. They were allowed to carry a transparent water bottle for themselves. However, they should limit the amount of water intake to avoid taking break in between. No request to leave examination hall will be allowed by the centre officials to avoid cheating or any other activities. If you have any medical condition that requires you to take a break, it will be allowed only at prior notification and permission by the exam authority.
A. My preparation was mostly limited to giving mock tests as mentioned earlier, I would also try to keep up with gk and current affairs, giving sectional tests for the different sections helped me to manage time allocation and develop a perspective to approach the question pattern.
Q. Which books did you read to prepare for the exam?
A. As there is no specific syllabus for CLAT and hence no books that I read specifically for CLAT, I would maintain a reading habit by trying my hand at whatever content I would discover in newspapers, blogs, books, etc. since it is a reading-intensive paper.
Q. How did you deal with your strengths and weaknesses while preparing for the exam?
A. My weaknesses were GK and logical reasoning like most aspirants, I would try to absorb data and information from a variety of sources for GK (drishti and other compendiums) with regular revision. For logical reasoning, I would try to solve parts from mocks to get a clearer understanding of the question types.
Q. What other law entrance exams did you take or are planning to take?
A. I gave CLAT 2023 and AILET 2023 which are for admissions in the NLUs of the country, I will not be giving any other exams as I have secured admission to NLSIU.
Q. Was law always your first preference?
A. No, Law wasn't my first preference, I had planned to give UPSC after doing a BA degree in economics or Political science while choosing the humanities stream in class 11. However, these plans seemed too abstract and far-fetched, so I explored other options and developed a great interest in law making it my priority.
Q. Any tips for students who are planning to take the exam next year?
A. To all aspirants, some basic principles that would go a long way in your prep would be:
1) give mocks regularly and try a variety of them. Be ready for all kinds of surprises in both the CLAT, and AILET exam
2) Never commit yourself to any section or question. Despite it being my strength, I skipped 2 sets of math which saved me enough time to do well in the other "weak" sections and might as well be the one factor that got me my score and rank
3) Confidence is key, there is no point in topping every mock test if you mess up the main paper just because of a lack of confidence. Have faith in yourself, this might just be more important than studying any GK compendium or giving sectional tests. Have faith, aim high and expect less. In no circumstance must one limit themselves
Q. What are your future plans?
A. Well, my future plans include exploring law school and the opportunities it has to offer. Even if it seems impossible, when I finally enter the legal profession, I want to stand out and leave my mark.
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