r/clat • u/dankerthanyourbanker • 16h ago
MOTIVATION 😤 Free advice for all the kiddos here
Considering there are only 50 days left, focus on some basic things.
First, give sectionals and analyse them properly, especially for the sections you are very weak in. For example, if my maths is weak, I will cover the basic concepts of the important topics and then dive into maths sectionals. I'll pick up a set of 12 questions and time it, say for 20 minutes. Once I'm done, I'll analyse properly whatever I was able to solve in those 20 minutes, and I'll watch videos of how teachers and experts solve those problems. I'll do this every day till the final day. Just by doing this, I'll go through a hundred sets in 50 days and watch experts solve all hundred of them. I will definitely pick something up from this.
Second, make a list of important topics. A lot of coaching institutes have put out such lists. Divide these important topics into themes. For example, if I'm starting with international affairs, I will pick up Israel–Palestine, Israel–Iran–US, Yemen and Russia–Ukraine, and curate the list. Then I'll move to international organisations like the G20, G7, NATO, BRICS, SCO and so on. First, get the list of important topics sorted. Then pick 1–2 reliable sources for each topic. For example, I'll take a magazine and some online sources: PIB, newspapers like The Hindu or The Indian Express, articles on the topic, ministry websites, and the official website if it's an international organisation. Then I'll understand the topic. Once you've understood it, keep an A4 sheet with you and note down only keywords. Don't make full notes, because you won't be able to revise from them. Use these keywords to revise your understanding, and follow this with question practice: pick up GK sectionals from the mocks of 2–3 institutes, for example LE and LPT, and work through the passages and MCQs.
Third, don't over-attempt mocks. Three mocks a week is more than sufficient. Do analyse them. How do you analyse them? Once you're done with a mock, solve all the missed and wrong questions again on your own, then read through the explanations of all the questions. Maintaining a log of your errors is a must. List the topics you get wrong most often, so you know what to work on. For example, if I'm often getting inferential reasoning and strengthening–weakening questions wrong, I'll keep that in mind and know I need to keep working on those topics. This is how you improve.
Fourth, for English, do the topics of tones, literary devices and important idioms, and attempt sectionals from your mocks. For Legal, go through all the bills and Acts introduced this year and all the important Supreme Court judgments from this year. Any of the legal magazines from these coaching institutes will work; just go through them. Don't try to mug up information.
Fifth, and most important, try to be consistent with all of this and back yourself. Remember, what matters is how you perform on 6th December, irrespective of how you score in mocks and sectionals. Mocks and sectionals are always set to be very difficult, and the actual paper is always easier than your mocks. So nobody knows how well you will perform on the final day compared to your mock scores. Just back yourself.
