How to clear the CLAT
Common law admission test will be entirely objective type

By Kunal Mehra
Until 2007 law schools conducted separate entrance examinations as a part of their admission processes. The impact was that in 2007 students gave more than 15 exams in May and early June. The only relief was that the papers were largely similar since the areas being tested were the same.
2008 will significantly be different from the previous years where admission process is concerned. Judicial directions and consensus amongst the law schools has led to the creation of a Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) for the seven national law universities. The effect: 11th May 2008 will witness the first CLAT for national law universities.

The significant change from previous year law entrances is that CLAT will be an entirely objective type test. Needless to say that the descriptive writing section will be conspicuous by its absence.

According to the CLAT committee, the distribution of marks across different sections will be as follows:

• English - 40 marks
• General Knowledge - 50 marks
• Mathematics - 20 marks
• Legal aptitude - 40 marks
• Logical reasoning - 50 marks.

The above findings make the weightage quite clear, but it's difficult to say anything about the structure and the pattern of CLAT at this stage, but one thing is for sure that the nature, or the feel of the test won't be too different from previous year NLS papers. Keeping in mind the mystery surrounding the paper, we at LST have decided to launch a completely one of it's kind platform, answering all your queries on CLAT. www.clat.in, the website, will be a one-stop shop for all information on CLAT, from the projected pattern, to the expected format. Tips and advises on ‘how to prepare’, ‘strategies and various approaches’ and key areas for CLAT. From any change in structure, to the latest buzz on the campus about CLAT. You will find all that you need to know about CLAT, from the model test paper of CLAT to the plan of action for the next 100 days, telling you how to go about your preparation. We at LST will render constant support to you, and will keep you abreast on trends, projections and important news. Also to add that touch of authenticity to our plan we will be doing a round of interviews and shall bring you reports straight from the horse's mouth (directors and VCs of National Law Schools).

Aside from the seven law schools, RGNLU Patiala, RMLNLU Lucknow and CNLU Patna have also joined the ranks and shall use the CLAT scores.

You can download the form from the website and mail it to NLSIU, or buy it from any of the branches of Corporation Bank or SBI. Also students have the option of sending the draft to NLSIU, and requesting for the application forms.