Interview: Ms. Sarah Imran, AIR 136 CLAT PG (2021), On Clearing PG CLAT & UGC-NET (Law) JRF Strategies

1. Hi Sarah! Could you please give a brief introduction about yourself and your educational background?

Hello team LLB Mania. I come from Patna, Bihar, and have completed my school education from there. I did my bachelor’s in Economics from Miranda House, University of Delhi, and subsequently joined the three-year LL.B. course in the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. After completing an LL.M. from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, and qualifying for the UGC NET-JRF exam, I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. as a junior research fellow from Jamia Millia Islamia.

2. What inspired you to take up law as a career option?

Until the last year of my graduation, I had no intention of taking up law as a career. However, once I got exposure to the diverse opportunities that the legal field offers, I decided to take up law as a career option.

3. How did you prepare for the CLAT PG examination? What strategies do you use for acing the exam and securing AIR 136?

I appeared for the CLAT PG exam in my final year of LL.B. with the end semester exams almost overlapping with the CLAT PG entrance dates. Since I started my preparation only a month before the entrance, I could not devote more than 15-20 days to study exclusively for CLAT PG. Therefore, my strategy included firstly, to quickly read and revise the important topics of each subject, and also look at the multiple-choice questions related to those topics. I used a guidebook by Universal Publications for the LLM entrance exam which was quite helpful. Also, to know the trends of the exam, an analysis of the previous year’s questions should be done.

4. What sources did you rely upon for your CLAT PG preparation?

For Law Preparation- Universal Publications LL.M. entrance guide book, dukkis of several law subjects, Bare acts.

For Legal Current affairs- Internet sources like Live Law, Bar & Bench

5. What are the most important subjects to focus on for CLAT PG and how to prepare for a new comprehensive CLAT pattern?

The important subjects for this preparation are Jurisprudence, Constitutional law, Law of Torts and Contracts, Criminal law, Public International Law, Family law, etc. These subjects must be prepared well, however, for a comprehensive preparation, the current legal affairs must also be given weightage. For that, YouTube videos and various legal news platforms are sufficient.

6. How can one tackle time management considering the fact the paper is judgment-oriented and lengthy now?

I did not face any issues with managing time while appearing for the CLAT PG entrance. A candidate must consider that there is a negative marking and they cannot answer questions that they are absolutely not sure about. So, the right way would be to not get stuck on questions they don’t know about.

7. Did you take any coaching or was it your self-study? What was your daily routine like for exam preparation?

I did not take any coaching or test series for the preparation. My routine was very simple and did not consist of more than 6-8 hours of study as I believe in quality study rather than long hours.

8. How did you manage your semesters along with the CLAT PG preparations?

The subjects of my last semester weren’t really in the syllabus for CLAT PG, but since I had already studied them well in the past semesters, I could manage it. However, since the entrance and semester exams were happening almost simultaneously, I couldn’t revise immediately before the CLAT PG.

9. Were you pursuing anything else while preparing for the CLAT PG examination?

No, just my college semester!

10. What would you like to suggest to all the CLAT PG aspirants who are willing to secure Top 100 ranks and get into TOP NLUs or go for PSU jobs?

Firstly, do not stress over the exam too much. Just be thorough with the basics of the various core subjects as well as contemporary legal events. You have studied law for 3 or 5 years; therefore you have developed an understanding of the various subjects. Even if you cannot revise or study a subject or topic, just use that understanding to make educated guesses. Attempt the paper keeping in mind that there is negative marking involved.

11. What preparation strategy do you follow for clearing the UGC NET (Law) examination? What was your approach toward this examination?

I cleared my UGC NET exam in the first attempt while I was in the first semester of LL. M. without much preparation. In my second attempt, I prepared for JRF and qualified for that too. So, for the preparation of UGC NET JRF, there are two subjects that need to be tackled- General Studies and Law. For general studies( Paper 1), I studied topics and practiced questions from a book by K. V. S. Madaan. Since the subjects in Paper 1 are diverse ranging from DI, Mathematical aptitude, logical reasoning, and English comprehension to information technology, environment, and higher education, I could not study all of them comprehensively. I left topics selectively with which I was not very comfortable and were time-consuming for me like IT. Secondly, for law, I did not use any specific book or guide. I read Bare Acts and case laws as well as current affairs from various sources. Again, I tried to solve previous years’ questions to understand the exam pattern and tailor my preparation according to it.