May 8, 2006

LST Analysis OF NLSIU 7 MAY 2006 PAPER and cutoff

We have had some enthusiastic feedback from students on the NLSIU paper of 7 May 2006 saying it was a sitter and a walkover. Then soon after the euphoria had waned some thought that there must have been a catch and why should NLS make it so easy. We have tried to put the pieces together and I am giving you our view of the paper and how one could have gone about it and each one of you can assess for your self where you stand.

I would also suggest you jot down what ever you can remember of the paper in its structure, distribution of marks and the questions as well as your remarks as to whether it was done in class or in the mocks or in the VSAT/Interwise session or if the approach was taught in the class, was in the newspapers etc. This will also be useful to you all if you share this with me so that you can go better prepared for both NLIU on 20 May and NALSAR on 21 May.

General Pattern of the Paper

It was an Objective cum Descriptive paper with about 139 (?) marks and 61 marks respectively. In the Objective section there were 122 questions and heavy on Logic, Legal Reasoning and English. Barring some differences among our students, structure of the paper was as under:

Objective Section

English

This had a reading comprehension passage on Social Engineering with 10 words for which meanings in the context of the passage were to be given. The trick was in carefully analysing the context to get the meaning of even simple words like “any”. There were 10 words and ½ mark each. The five parajumbles of 4 sentences and one mark each were quite simple and had no twists. The five sentence corrections were very simple too and carried 5 marks. There was a second RC passage from where questions, both factual and inferential, had to be answered, carrying 10 marks and this was simple too. All in all one could have done well in this section and scored about 25 -30 out of 35.

Maths

This was straight from the book. 12 questions on the evergreens like number series, speed and distance, SI and CI, Venn diagrams, Permutation and Combination, finding the circumference of the equator when the diagonal of the earth’s centre is given and then finding the distance of 14 degrees on the equator was simple, mensuration (finding the length of a room when the area and the width is given (was the height that was given relevant?), Profit and Loss etc. If only one was not in a hurry to finish, this was really simple. One could get 20 marks out of 24 if one was cool and collected.

Logic

This seems to have been the clincher. It had challenging questions which needed application of mind. NLS did come out with original questions and this would separate the men from the boys. My respect for NLS has gone up with this section. I am yet to get full details of the questions but if any of you remember the questions do send them over and we can discuss them on either the Forum or on The Virtual Classroom. Anything about 22 -25 marks in this would be very good

Legal Reasoning

There seemed to have been no surprises and no great subtlety in this section. Torts were perhaps conspicuous by their absence (does anyone remember a Tort based question?) and it seemed to have been heavier on the criminal civil side besides some on contracts. Can some of you write back to me on the cases which you remember? But if you remembered what was drummed into you all by Sachin and Bhavin day in and day out about following the legal principle implicitly, you would not have gone wrong all. The approach to legal reasoning was important and not the knowledge of law. An average LSTian should have scored 20 to 22 out of 28/30 marks in this section. Once again it is this section where you all have a distinct advantage over the hoi polloi.

GK

This has universally been declared a sitter by all LSTians since it was done at LST sometime or the other. However well you may have prepared, you could get stumped by an odd question like valuation of the currency, adjournment motion, time to stop campaigning for elections (the answer was in the papers till the last day since elections were on in the country), rights of an arrested person etc. The rest of the questions figured in either your mocks or in the online material on GK or in GK module. One could have scored a minimum of 14/16 out of 20 in this section.

Descriptive Section

This should have been your strength and you should have scored 42/45 out of 61.

GK Short Notes

There were 12 instead of 15 last year with 3 marks each. There was perhaps not one topic which you could not have answered. It was practised by you all in either the mocks or the online matter or the answers to past papers etc.

The topics were

I should think you would have averaged 28 to 30 marks in this section out of 36.

Legal Briefs

There were 5 cases for which you all had to write briefs for both sides. The principles were clearly enunciated. The questions on maintaining aged parents, driving after drinks, hanging in public, on women’s right to family property and on disciplining an employee were well within the capability of you all. You could have easily scored 18 out of 25 in this section.

Final Word

I predict a cut off of 123 in this exam.

God bless you all. Will wait with bated breath till the first week of June.

With all good wishes,
Ram
Maj Gen Ram Naidu(Retd)
LST - National Academic Head
ram.naidu@lawentrance.com
09342201751