Dear All,
Here are a few do's and don'ts for the last month preparation:
Dos
1. Stick to a schedule - Spend at least 6-8 hours (more if you can manage) every day preparing. Divide the time between various subjects, dedicating more time to areas you're weak in.
2. Spend at least 2 hours a day testing yourself - you could practice from past papers, remember to time yourself. Take these tests preferably in the afternoon (or the time slot when CLAT will be conducted) so that you are used to the stress of the exam (especially necessary for people who are in the habit of taking an afternoon nap).
3. Revise. Mugging up a year's worth of affairs is not easy and you would forget most of the stuff you read; so revise. It might be a good idea to find others who are preparing for CLAT and have informal quizzes with them. Basically you have to be on your toes as far as General Knowledge section is concerned.
4. Don't over-analyze problems you don't get right. Very few people have mastered the art of setting a good legal reasoning problem or critical reasoning problem and many problems you'll find in the mocks conducted by coaching institutes might indicate the wrong answer or may be set in such a manner that more than 1 option may appear to be correct. Unless someone gives you satisfactory answers to these problems, don't lose sleep over them, move on. A minute less worrying about a problem that is in all likelihood not come in your paper is a minute you can add to your preparation.
5. Comprehension passages are here to stay and speculation aside about their weightage in the English section, you should ignore them at your own peril. The key to do well in this section is to understand the purpose behind comprehension passages. There will be no straight-forward questions, the question-setters want to test you on your reading speed, ability to quickly understand the passage and analyze it critically (as the name comprehension passage suggests). Expect questions that are close to critical reasoning questions in comprehension passage. Doing a few GMAT passages will be helpful and you can google some comprehension passage tests for practice.
6. Mugging a word-list is not going to be of much help. The synonyms / antonyms section is now part of the comprehension passage. You are asked for the contextual meaning of the words and this requires you to understand the sense in which the author has used the word, or the meaning he wishes to convey by using this word. Simple words that you use in your day-to-day conversations can have multiple meanings depending on the context they are used in and the question-setters do not need complicated words sourced from a word list to confuse you. On a brighter note, even if you do not know the meaning of a particular word, you can still figure it out from the context by carefully reading the sentence in which the word is used and the general idea / sense in the passage.
7. Maths - Practice and practice until you either master it or ... (you don't have an option. You can't afford to lose anything here since all the people who'll ultimately crack CLAT won't.)
Don'ts
1. Don't worry about the question paper or try to predict it. The question-setters will do their job and you should do yours.
2. Don't worry about the competition or the number of spots. You just need 1 spot.
3. Don't worry about cut-offs. Set a personal target (165 or above) and do your best to get there. The rest will fall into place.
4. Don't for a moment believe that you are more than well prepared. Push yourself, a little extra work can't hurt.
When you prepare for CLAT, prepare as if your life depends on it but at the end of the day remember this is just another exam; not your first and it's definitely not going to be your last.
Parag
Here are a few do's and don'ts for the last month preparation:
Dos
1. Stick to a schedule - Spend at least 6-8 hours (more if you can manage) every day preparing. Divide the time between various subjects, dedicating more time to areas you're weak in.
2. Spend at least 2 hours a day testing yourself - you could practice from past papers, remember to time yourself. Take these tests preferably in the afternoon (or the time slot when CLAT will be conducted) so that you are used to the stress of the exam (especially necessary for people who are in the habit of taking an afternoon nap).
3. Revise. Mugging up a year's worth of affairs is not easy and you would forget most of the stuff you read; so revise. It might be a good idea to find others who are preparing for CLAT and have informal quizzes with them. Basically you have to be on your toes as far as General Knowledge section is concerned.
4. Don't over-analyze problems you don't get right. Very few people have mastered the art of setting a good legal reasoning problem or critical reasoning problem and many problems you'll find in the mocks conducted by coaching institutes might indicate the wrong answer or may be set in such a manner that more than 1 option may appear to be correct. Unless someone gives you satisfactory answers to these problems, don't lose sleep over them, move on. A minute less worrying about a problem that is in all likelihood not come in your paper is a minute you can add to your preparation.
5. Comprehension passages are here to stay and speculation aside about their weightage in the English section, you should ignore them at your own peril. The key to do well in this section is to understand the purpose behind comprehension passages. There will be no straight-forward questions, the question-setters want to test you on your reading speed, ability to quickly understand the passage and analyze it critically (as the name comprehension passage suggests). Expect questions that are close to critical reasoning questions in comprehension passage. Doing a few GMAT passages will be helpful and you can google some comprehension passage tests for practice.
6. Mugging a word-list is not going to be of much help. The synonyms / antonyms section is now part of the comprehension passage. You are asked for the contextual meaning of the words and this requires you to understand the sense in which the author has used the word, or the meaning he wishes to convey by using this word. Simple words that you use in your day-to-day conversations can have multiple meanings depending on the context they are used in and the question-setters do not need complicated words sourced from a word list to confuse you. On a brighter note, even if you do not know the meaning of a particular word, you can still figure it out from the context by carefully reading the sentence in which the word is used and the general idea / sense in the passage.
7. Maths - Practice and practice until you either master it or ... (you don't have an option. You can't afford to lose anything here since all the people who'll ultimately crack CLAT won't.)
Don'ts
1. Don't worry about the question paper or try to predict it. The question-setters will do their job and you should do yours.
2. Don't worry about the competition or the number of spots. You just need 1 spot.
3. Don't worry about cut-offs. Set a personal target (165 or above) and do your best to get there. The rest will fall into place.
4. Don't for a moment believe that you are more than well prepared. Push yourself, a little extra work can't hurt.
When you prepare for CLAT, prepare as if your life depends on it but at the end of the day remember this is just another exam; not your first and it's definitely not going to be your last.
Parag
