The Common Law Entrance Test (CLAT) is a national-level law entrance exam conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities for admissions to the 5-year integrated B.A., LL.B (Hons.), and LL.M. programmes offered by 22 National Law Universities in India (NLUs). The CLAT exam offers you the golden opportunity to secure a seat in one of the top NLUs which are known to provide quality legal education in India
The CLAT exam is highly competitive and thousands of aspirants put in a lot of effort and dedication towards their preparation to clear this exam with a good score. Despite their best efforts, a majority of them fall short due to certain common mistakes that can have a significant impact on their results. However, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that count." It is essential to recognize these mistakes and learn from them to ensure a better outcome in the future.
In this article, we will highlight 5 Common Mistakes that law aspirants should avoid while preparing for the CLAT 2025 exam.
Improper Time Management:
One of the biggest mistakes students make during their CLAT exam preparation is not managing their time properly and are several ways in which they make this mistake. A lot of candidates avoid creating a
study schedule while others struggle to stick to it. For example, some aspirants spend too many time- solving questions of Quantitative Aptitude and neglect Legal Reasoning which is an important part of the
CLAT exam and later they struggle to score in the Legal Reasoning section.
In addition to this, many CLAT aspirants also struggle with time management during the actual exam. They often spend an excessive amount of time on the relatively easier questions, leaving themselves
with inadequate time to tackle the more challenging ones. This improper time management in the exam can often be attributed to a lack of adequate practice.
To avoid such issues, aspirants must make sure to allocate sufficient time for attempting mock tests and analyzing performance. This can help them to identify any issues with their time management skills and develop effective strategies for tackling the exam. The following tips can help you manage time effectively during your CLAT 2025 exam preparation:
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Develop a study plan that includes time for each subject and regular breaks.
- Modify the plan according to your need. Once you have covered the syllabus, give more time to
- mock tests in your study schedule.
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Identify the most important topics according to the weightage in CLAT and focus on those first.
- Allocate sufficient time to each subject, and ensure that you do not miss any topic.
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Use a timer to keep track of your progress and to stay on schedule.
- Keep your study materials and notes organized to stay focused and productive.
Avoiding Mock Tests
Every year, thousands of candidates appear for the CLAT exam, but only a handful of them successfully secure admission to their dream college. What sets these few candidates apart from the rest? What do the other students overlook, and why do some candidates continue to prepare for years without succeeding?
One of the major mistakes that aspirants make is not attempting mock tests on a regular basis. Few aspirants are unaware of the benefits that the mock tests serve and hence they do not give much heed to encompassing them in their study schedule. However, other aspirants miss this crucial step due to two major reasons – Underconfidence and Overconfidence.
Underconfidence & Fear of Failure
Many students avoid attempting CLAT mock tests due to a lack of confidence and fear of poor performance. They believe that they are not yet adequately prepared or have not covered the entire syllabus, so they wait for the right time to attempt a mock test. They may feel that attempting a mock test before their preparation would be a waste of time and resources. However, this approach can be counterproductive, as mock tests can help identify areas where they need improvement and give them a sense of what the actual exam will be like.
Other candidates may avoid mock tests due to a fear of performing poorly and getting demotivated. These students may believe that their performance in mock tests will predict their actual performance in the exam, and poor performance in a mock test could negatively affect
their confidence. However, this fear of failure can be overcome by changing their mindset and viewing mock tests as an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and improve their performance.
- Overconfidence
On the other hand, some have full confidence in their preparation and abilities and feel that they do not require any mock test to validate their preparation. Others believe that they have a good understanding of the concepts and can apply them in the exam without practicing through
CLAT mock tests. This overconfidence could lead to underestimating the difficulty of the actual test, resulting in subpar performance.
You must realize that mock tests are intended to gauge candidates level of preparation and expertise. It is the greatest way to evaluate your preparation and identify the areas that need immediate attention. CLAT 2025 mock tests at Smartkeeda serve many other purposes beyond validating knowledge, such as providing a reality check on time management techniques, speed, and accuracy, which are crucial
factors that help you in leading the merit list of the CLAT 2025 exam. Therefore, you should ensure CLAT mock tests in your study schedule to ace the exam with flying colors.
Click here to attempt a free CLAT 2025 Mock Test Now!!
Ignoring Current Affairs:
Many aspirants often overlook the importance of the Current Affairs General Knowledge section for the CLAT exam devoting the majority of their time to practicing and revising other subjects. The weightage of the Current affairs and general knowledge section is highest in the CLAT exam. 35-39 questions out of 150 questions are asked from this section roughly covering 25% of the paper. Ignoring this section can result in a low overall score, potentially affecting a candidates chances of getting admission to top law universities in India.
The CLAT 2025 general knowledge and current affairs section will focus on the candidates awareness of general as well as current events through passage-based questions from the following topics:
- Contemporary events of significance from India and the world;
- Arts and culture;
- International affairs; and
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Historical events of continuing significance
To secure a good rank in the CLAT 2025 exam, you must prepare this section thoroughly. Therefore, you should allocate sufficient time to prepare for the current affairs section and stay up-to-date with the
latest news and events happening in the world.
The following tips can help you in preparing this section effectively:
1. Read newspapers regularly to stay updated on the latest happenings in the world.
2. Download the monthly Current Affair Mockdrills from Smartkeeda and go through it at least 2-3
times.
3. Make notes of Important Events, Dates, and Figures while reading newspapers and pdfs
4. Attempt Current Affair Mockdrill Quizzes at Smartkeeda to evaluate your preparation level
5. After attempting the quizzes, Check the answers to skipped questions and reattempt them after some time.
Current affairs and general knowledge are one of the most crucial sections in the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT). Therefore, instead of ignoring this section, you should allocate enough time in your study schedule to cover this section. By following the above-mentioned tips and dedicating sufficient time and effort, you can prepare this section well and boost your score in this section
Not Analyzing Mock Tests
Many students rely solely on mock tests for their CLAT exam preparation and make the mistake of attempting mock tests back to back without analyzing their performance in those mock tests. Mock tests are indeed a great tool to improve your scores in the CLAT 2025 exam but attempting multiple mock tests without focusing on your weak areas can be a waste of time and effort. Therefore, performance analysis should be the immediate step after attempting a CLAT Mock test and you should spare enough time to analyze your performance in a mock test thoroughly.
An effective analysis involves the following:
1. Checking the answers to your incorrect attempts to understand where you made mistakes and if it was a conceptual or a silly mistake. You should go through the explanation of such questions to clarify your concepts.
2. Checking the answers to your correct attempts to review how much time you spent on those questions and compare this to the time spent by top performers. This can help you identify areas where you can improve your time management skills.
3. Additionally, checking skipped questions can help you identify gaps in your knowledge and identify areas where you need to focus more attention.
4. Performance graphs can also provide valuable insights into your overall performance, and noting down topics where your performance is poor can help you work on those topics. You can attempt topic tests to boost your performance in those topics and improve your overall performance.
Not Paying Attention to Cutoffs
Not Paying Attention to Cutoffs
Ignorance is bliss, but only until reality hits." This is especially true for CLAT aspirants who underestimate the importance of being well aware of the previous years CLAT cutoff marks required to secure admission to the top NLUs. Just because you are attempting CLAT mock tests does not necessarily
mean that you will meet the actual cutoff required for admission. In fact, not paying attention to the cutoff is a common mistake that many aspirants make, leading to disappointment when they realize they have fallen short of the mark.
Here we have shared the CLAT 2022 opening and closing ranks of the top 5 NLUs:
It is crucial to not only focus on their performance in mock tests but also stay updated on the latest cutoff trends of the CLAT exam. By having a good knowledge of the CLAT cut-off, you can set a target score and modify your approach accordingly to achieve that target. As the competition for admission becomes increasingly fierce, staying informed and well-prepared is the key to success.
Here we have shared the CLAT 2022 opening and closing ranks of the top 5 NLUs:
Conclusion
Although the competition in CLAT is tough, aspirants can overcome it by avoiding these common mistakes and working smartly towards their goals. As Nelson Mandela said, "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." It is essential to learn from our mistakes, stay motivated, and continue striving towards success.
All the Best!
Author : Rohit Sharma
Hi, I am Rohit Sharma, the head of the Law exams vertical at Smartkeeda and an alumnus of NLU Punjab. Having successfully cleared the CLAT exam twice, I am currently engaged in teaching Legal Reasoning on the LawEx YouTube channel. Moreover, I contribute by writing blogs that are specifically tailored to the CLAT exams.
