How to prepare for CLAT without coaching?

Common Law Admission Test, or CLAT, is one of the most challenging exams conducted in our country. It is conducted nationally for admission to Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG) programs offered by 22 National Law Universities in India. Every exam is tough for unprepared aspirants, and so is CLAT. Many aspirants go to these giant coachings who claim 100% selection results but let us remind you - no number of resources ( be it money, time, or technology) at your disposal can provide you selection until and unless you are entirely devoted to it. The task of cracking the CLAT exam is not a piece of cake. Thus, the aspirants need to do a lot of hard work in order to succeed.
 
Most aspirants believe that cracking the CLAT exam without coaching is not possible. Not anymore! Smartkeeda has brought to you a comprehensive CLAT package for beginners, which can help you cope with the syllabus without any external help. It includes full-length mock tests, sectional mocks, topic tests and video classes to solve all your queries.
 
This article will discuss tips for getting you to your dream college without investing money in the hands of coaching giants. 
 

1. Know Yourself first: 

To achieve any target, you must focus on your own abilities. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Know what motivates you and what distracts you. 
 
Since you are hoping to prepare for CLAT without coaching, we assume you are a beginner and have sufficient time to prepare for the CLAT exam. To know where you stand in the race, the best way is to give a 'Mock Test', preferably a Smartkeeda mock test and analyse how much you know about CLAT. Now that you have given the mock test, Smartkeeda provides you with several features to analyse it thoroughly. 
 

2. Understand the CLAT Exam: 

The candidates preparing for the CLAT exam, especially without the coaching, must have complete information about the exam, such as the CLAT exam pattern, syllabus, marking scheme, cutoffs etc., to start their preparation in the best manner. CLAT tests your lawful thinking, lawful general information, English understanding, general information, and current issues. 
 

 

3. Plan your Journey: 

Now that you have gone through the details of the CLAT exam, you must make a comprehensive and robust study plan. Make monthly, weekly and daily goals to efficiently cover the entire syllabus. Make small, achievable goals. Keep the weekends for the revision, so you remember what you've read. Doing so will help you in concept building and concept retention. It would be best if you prepared for all the subjects individually to clear your basics first. 

A. Preparation for English: 

This segment is the most important for clearing CLAT, the most important thing you need is good reading and comprehension skills. Read the newspaper, such as The Hindu daily, to improve your retention skills. 'Reading Comprehension' is getting more difficult with every passing year, so you should practice reading articles and editorials a lot. 
 
Once you gain confidence, start giving 'topic tests' provided by Smartkeeda to check your progress. Smartkeeda provides you with  80 Reading comprehension Topic Tests  and more than 200 topic tests just for English Sections, so you can practice better.

Attempt CLAT Topic Test Here!

B. Preparation for Legal Reasoning: 

The legal area is the most crucial factor in deciding rank. It is also the section which is new to most of the aspirants. For this, the student can rely on the previous year papers and Smartkeeda youtube classes. Smartkeeda provides you with free youtube videos to clear your basics. Each lecture is followed by a subsequent lecture, discussing the topic test provided. In this way, you can clear all your doubts about the chapters and get the recorded video solutions of the topic as well as sectional tests. 

C. Preparation for Logical Reasoning: 

The CLAT UG Logical Reasoning section consists of around 300-word passages. To master this section, the aspirants must develop a 'natural problem-solving ability', which can be done only by practice. Simply memorising the topics is insufficient to pass this subject; you must be familiar with each type of question posed on this topic. 
 
Your weak areas would be those in which you have faced difficulty in the past or analysed through mock or sectional tests. For these weak areas, try to devote a considerable amount of time while ensuring you do not lose touch with your strengths. Also, an important thing to keep in mind is that you need to identify topics from which a considerable amount of questions have come in the past. For instance, Puzzle test is one topic from which at least one question has come in every paper. It will help if you also devote considerable time to that, even though it might be your strength. Similarly, identify other topics on which you have a better hold.
 

D. Preparation for Quantitative Techniques: 

The mathematics section is one of the most scoring but also one of the most feared sections of the CLAT examination. The Mathematics section is not a tough section. Still, the student's general phobia and the time limit in the CLAT examination make it look difficult. 
 
There is no comprehension-based component to the CLAT's Quantitative Techniques/Maths part. According to the CLAT math syllabus, this portion will consist of brief facts about propositions, graphs, and other questions based on text, pictures, and diagrams.
 

E. Preparation for Current Affairs, including G.K.: 

This section is tricky one. It consists of both the static as well as the dynamic part. The easiest and most effective way to study current affairs is through youtube classes. There are many free YouTube channels that provide you with daily current affairs lectures, for example, Smartkeeda.  After viewing the lectures, you can find what you have retained through this amazing gaming app -  QUDOO!
 
Another important thing you need to do is - Read 'The Hindu' daily. It will help you stay up-to-date with current events and, at the same time, also help you to improve your reading and comprehension skills.