TIPS TO SCORE MAXIMUM MARKS IN CLAT 2022
CLAT 2022 is approaching. While the exact timeline isn’t clear, one can speculate that it’ll happen sometime in May. That means that there are 6–7 weeks remaining for preparation. At this stage, wholesale preparation of the entire syllabus is not advisable unless you are, for some reason, just starting your preparation. What are some ways in which you can optimize your preparation in these few weeks to gain the maximum advantage as far as your scores are concerned? This article sets out two tips that would rocket-launch your learning and results to the next level!
- Learning through “Active Recall”
Students often wonder how to best retain the information that they’re feeding into their heads on a day-to-day basis. While there’s no one-size-fits-all method, research suggests that learning through “active recall” is, on average, the best.
What is “active recall”, then? Remember what you used to do when you were kids, and you used to learn the timetable or capital cities of states/countries? More likely than not, you used to try to memorize everything once, and then you used to hide the answers with your hand/ or any other opaque object, and go through the list while answering the questions yourself. What does this hiding do? This hiding makes your brain actively think for the answer, and if it isn’t able to give the answer in one go, it is primed to then receive the answer, and then retain it for longer! Recalling is possible if you simply read the material again and again, but that’s not active recalling.
What do you need to do, then? Actively engage your brain while reading material; simply reading, again and again, achieves nothing. In fact, make this your mantra: “SIMPLY READING, AGAIN AND AGAIN, ACHIEVES NOTHING.”
2. Take Stock of Where You Are
Mindlessly drudging through all study material is not going to be helpful right now. At this stage, it’s important to understand your strengths and weaknesses. How to do that? Give 4–5 mocks over a period of 2 days. Then spend the third day analyzing your performance. Don’t worry about wasting time; this is NOT a waste of time. You have to be on the lookout for three things:
First, section-wise performance: which section are you doing comfortably? Which section is troubling you the most? Which section is resulting in the most inaccurate answers? Which section is taking the most time?
Second, accuracy v. speed. All of us know that CLAT and other law entrance exams test accuracy as well as speed. One cannot sacrifice accuracy at the altar of speed, nor vice versa. Are you attempting too many questions without caring for accuracy? Are you focussing too much on getting some questions right, and not able to complete the question paper?
Thirdly, Give more and more online mock tests and previous year’s question papers every week.
Often, students simply go by their gut feeling on answers to these important questions. That gut feeling can be wrong. Write down your findings regarding these questions. This would help you know where you stand, and what you need to work more on. Mantra number 2: “SIMPLY GIVING MOCKS ACHIEVES NOTHING; ANALYSIS IS NECESSARY.”
3. Concluding Remarks
It’s important to ensure that the use of this time results in the maximum possible jump in your results. Switch your learning to the “active recall” mode; take help from your mentors, if any, on optimizing your strategy for the next few weeks. These research-backed techniques are used to help students optimize their performances. If you’re not appearing for CLAT in 2022, and are looking towards CLAT 2023 (or 2024), then using these mantras from the get-go would be even more helpful. All the best for your preparation, and keep a lookout on this space to see more such tips in the near future!
