Admissions Process

2009 saw some new law colleges and a few new law entrance examinations. Majority of the exams were on the old pattern except for the Indian avatar of LSAT, i.e. LSAT - I, which was a new breed altogether. Year 2009 provided many more opportunities to law aspirants to realize their dream of a legal career.

CLAT 2009 saw an increase in the number of applicants. Also there was a last minute change in the pattern of the paper relating to legal aptitude. It was a complete Legal Knowledge section with no reasoning questions. And LSTians were prepared for all eventualities. Also popular were the NLU, Delhi and the NLU, Cuttack papers.

CLAT is conducted once every year in the month of May. Most of the entrance exams are conducted by the end of June. The two most important things in your path to entering law schools would be your school ending examination percentage ( 12 th Board examination) and the CLAT score. In situations where the CLAT score clashes, then your school ending examination score would be considered.

The following universities consider CLAT scores for admissions to their under graduate programme:

• NLSIU Bangalore
• NALSAR Hyderabad
• NUJS Kolkata
• NLU Jodhpur
• NLIU Bhopal
• GNLU Gandhinagar
• HNLU Raipur
• RGNLU Patiala
• CNLU Patna
• RMNLU Lucknow
• NUALS Kochi

The areas that were tested in CLAT 2009 were :

• English
• Logical Aptitude
• Maths
• Legal Aptitude (including legal reasoning and legal knowledge)
• GK

Other examinations also followed the same pattern with minor differences in the marks distribution or test hours.

The private law schools including Symbiosis and Christ College of Law conducted their own tests and will do so next year also. On occasion, a law school may request a personal interview (Symbiosis and Christ college does), although there are many schools that don't conduct them. MATS Law School was a new entrant and it conducted its own MATS National Entrance Test, 2009.

Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, conducted, for the first time in India, the Law Schoool Admission Test – Indian version (LSAT – I) for its 5 year and 3 year law courses. A departure from the traditional knowledge based exams, LSAT -I tested the verbal and logical reasoning skills of the student.

Checklist

The following checklist shows illustrates the sequence of events in the admission process if national law schools:

• Prepare for the CLAT
• Research and get acquainted with all the law schools before filling up your preferences
• Apply and register yourself via post or online
• Receive your Admit card number
• Take the CLAT at the selected city center
• Check your score on the CLAT website
• Apply to the colleges allotted to you as per your preference
• Enter the corridors of knowledge!

If and when there is any change in the pattern of any relevant examination, LST will keep a track of it and inform you well in advance.

All the Best.

Learn about our courses.