Side effects are okay when the benefits outweigh them. In this case, they seem unnecessary and unfortunate.

CLAT 2016 so far has gone quite smoothly, and the easy paper made almost everyone extremely happy.

But, one wise CLAT aspirant’s first reaction the day of the exam at 5.08 pm was: “Sir, what a shit! They gave us a dam easy paper!! This is bad, very bad!!”

That person is right of course.

Most are smart enough to understand that CLAT is first and foremost about competing with others, and not about getting a good percentage or marks.

Inputs

I keep my three days free after CLAT and devote the entire time talking to students. Every input is precious to me and interestingly most of the speculations they make immediately after the exam is full of errors.

But the reality is that more than 80 per cent of students do not really have an ability to assess how have they performed directly after the exam.

Nevertheless, their inputs are still very precious for me because I can easily understand what I intend to know by their expressions and just by talking to them at length.

And I also deeply understand some CLAT takers, with whom I have been working for the entire year.

Predicting your grades: Different strokes

My phone started ringing from 5.03 pm.

I had to shut it off at 10.30 pm when I got the last warning bell for dinner.

Students were very eager to share, and I was doubly eager and anxious to hear.

I know one of them who was saying that he has attempted 189 questions and will get at least 172, will come down to 152 as the expected score in 3 days, and will end up getting 136.25, and will also be very happy getting Patiala at all India rank 798.

There is another category of student who will keep saying: ‘I do not know how I did, but 140 marks are pakka, I will end up getting 162.75 and will get NLSIU with all India rank of 44’.

Then there is another category who just needs attention every time, and that’s all. She will keep analysing and bring the details of the paper to others’ knowledge.

Some are also happy that she will be scoring at least 125-130 and will get at least GNLU but does not know that this year between 125-130 there may be 2,000 candidates.

So, what gives?

Before I come to the side effects, let me refer by background to my earlier research on what a CLAT paper should be like.

This is based on what can make good lawyers and how CLAT paper should be framed so that it can effectively filter out the correct set of candidates.

To read the full article click here.

The side effects of an easy CLAT 2016

1. Unnecessary and heavy burden on students

The unpredictability of the CLAT will now force CLAT 2017/18 takers to be ready with every kind of paper.

The biggest burden is that of GK. There is no fixed syllabus, and GK is an ocean.

This year GK was the best section.

GK is a very good way to test hard working attitude but in the absence of undefined syllabus and questions being picked up directly from resources increases the luck factor.

In such changing difficulty level of the paper, students will have to be prepared for all kind of papers (Easy, medium and tough).

The prep and the test taking techniques vary with each kind of tests.

2. Hard work rewarded more than intelligence

The winners of CLAT 2016 paper will be those who have done consistent hard work, learnt GK well and have practiced average mathematics questions under a time constraint.

What will be missed out is parameter number 1, 2 and 3 (the top three parameters in the table above).

This is because there was no paucity of time hence reading comprehension was not tested well enough, Legal and logic also were very easy and repetitive.

Yes, those who practiced a lot and had an exposure to a variety of questions must have saved lots of time to solve maths in the peace of mind.

3. Role of coaching increases

The fluctuating pattern makes the coaching classes more important.

The biggest contribution that Test Prep/coaching institutes in India have to provide is that they have enhanced the analytical skills, logical skills and capacity of the brain to the next level.

At the same time, the faulty education system in school and non-standardisation of the entrance tests in India have provided an opportunity to mint money by coaching institutes in a faulty way. It is not the fault of the test prep institutes rather it is a failure of the government and the institutions involved.

The paper should be set in a way that it does not encourage a burden on students and should test scientifically on the genuine and really required parameters. In fact, students should be trained in school itself on analytical, logical and comprehending abilities.

4. Very small gap between good and very good

A good paper is that in which each section has a mix of all levels of questions.

This filters out the correct and deserving set of CLAT tares clearly apart. The density on each unique mark is very low. CLAT 2016 may have 400 candidates at 133.25 marks.

In this case, the tie may be broken from rank 475 to 875. This is about studying in GNLU or NUALS. A good exam tries to minimize the luck factor.

At the end let me tell you that the student who complained at 5:08pm will do well, because he has worked very hard, is very good at maths and has put up tremendous hard work for GK in the last month.

What’s next?

We all must thank CLAT this year for being bold enough to announce the dates for raising objections over the answer key and saying that they’d gracefully accept errors, if any.

You may do this between 13 to 15 May.

There are some errors in the answer key.

To have a quality discussion join this group where many have already begun talking about it.

How to object to possibly wrong answers

1. Log in to your CLAT account 2. open the response sheet 3. find the tab to raise your objections (will only get activated from 13th May and will be there till 15th) 4. fill in your answer 5. post the reasons in less than 1,500 words 6. may also attach documents, if required

Cut off predictions coming soon

My admission guidelines and predicted cut-offs are likely to get published by 14 May. It’s not a simple prediction to make but my predictions in previous years have nearly all been correct, so I hope it will help students.

Rajneesh Singh is the founder & CEO at CLAT Essentials, founder & chief mentor at clatgk.com (Complete GK solutions to CLAT), mentor at “The Do-Zen” (special batch of 12 selected students), and the author CLAT Essentials (available at testprepshop.ccavenue.com)