AILET 2017 Topper Interview: AIR 1, Dhanishta Mukesh Mittal shares her prep strategy

AILET 2017 Topper: AIR 1, Dhanishta Mukesh Mittal

AILET 2017 AIR 1 holder, Dhanishta Mukesh Mittal completed her schooling from Vissanji Academy and junior college from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics. Till 10^th standard she pursued ICSE Board and in Class 11 she switched to Maharashtra State Board (HSC). She revealed that her Class 12 “results are out and I managed to score a 91% which again came as a pleasant surprise”.

Talking about her family she shared that, “My father is a Chartered Accountant and my mother works with him in our firm. My brother is a student preparing for the Chartered Accountancy exam”.

In a candid interview with Shiksha, Dhanishta revealed how she managed to score 100/150 marks in AILET 2017.

Thank you. No, AILET Rank 1 wasn’t expected given the difficulty level of the 2017 paper after which I was doomed to be very honest.

No, my preference list goes like this:

1. NLSIU, Bangalore
2. NALSAR, Hyderabad
3. NLU, Delhi

There have been a lot of people who have been of immense help and support during this journey and I firmly believe that if you owe something to someone, it for certitude has to be to your parents for their relentless efforts and indomitable confidence in you even when you lose faith in your own self. My elder sibling also deserves kudos for his contribution to my studies especially for the much needed motivation that I would constantly receive from him. My teachers have always had belief in my abilities and would never let me be led astray from my goal that was to be achieved. Also, my friends without whom, reaching the pinnacle of success would have merely remained an unattained goal.

Per se, I didn’t have a preparation strategy for AILET. I had a daily schedule attributed to at least three subjects which included General Knowledge and English. The other three I would combine with the aforementioned ones depending upon my strengths and weakness. I didn’t have to face complications while solving Math so that subject never gave me nightmares as it generically does to other students. However, I was very weak in Verbal Logic, which would aghast me more often than not. So I practiced this part a lot and was able to manage a decent score towards the last few months.

I would watch videos of past years’ toppers to give me the much needed push during times when I wanted to give up! I would read the ‘Motivation and Gyan’ articles on ClatGyan written by various rankers which would also help me change my schedule wherever necessary apart from the motivation it provided.

I had enrolled myself for Career Launcher’s 2 year classroom programme. I had taken mock test series for practice purposes from CLAT Possible, IMS, Wiz Clat and ClatGyan.

My study schedule was not a weekly plan, rather a daily one which would broadly cover GK and English along with one of the other three (Math, Logical Reasoning and Legal Aptitude). I had multiple books to refer to and the materials available on various online forums was equally vital during my preparation. I wouldn’t hesitate sitting for long hours to complete my planned portion for the day because procrastinating never did anyone good!

I think, the best way to sail through these exams would be to analyse your weak and strong areas and accordingly plan your study schedule to tackle the menacing ones and score maximum in the strong ones.

By the time I came to Class 12, I had realised what my strengths and weakness were. I worked on my weak areas every alternate day whereas I would aim for 100% accuracy in my strong sections for which I would solve CAT level questions or SSC CHSL questions because of which I was extremely confident about my strengths. My weak areas were always a cause of worry however, practice and assistance from the correct mentor should help you well.

To name a few: reading, playing volleyball or going for a swim. I also find solace in writing essays.

I appeared for SET, AILET, CLAT, MH-CET and LSAT. Ranking them in the ascending order of difficulty:

1. MH-CET
2. SET
3. LSAT India
4. CLAT
5. AILET

AILET is in all probability the toughest law exam I’ve ever come across.

I appeared for CLAT as well. There is a gargantuan difference between the two because of three reasons:

• Online Exam v/s Paper Based
• Negative marking v/s No negative marking
• Difficulty level of AILET (historically speaking)

An online paper comparatively takes lesser amount of time than the paper based one because the time spent on circling the option is saved to a great extent.

Besides, the fear of negative compels you to leave the unsure questions whereas in AILET there is no such horror and you can try your fortune.

Read more: How is CLAT different from AILET?

My first preference wasn’t always law. It was journalism to be precise, however the courses available for journalism did not allure me as much as Law did. Besides, I knew that I can opt for journalism post my law degree too. So, I found Law entrance exam to be my ideal choice.

General Knowledge is a very vast subject that needs to be dealt with daily and it would become a forte only if one begins to develop interest in it. Neglecting any subject would be a major impediment in your success journey. Devoting time on a daily/weekly basis as per one’s convenience should be a must. Besides, one must refer to only bonafide resource material prescribed by the mentor/coaching institute. Lastly, stay in touch with a senior who is in a law school to rekindle your desire to be a part of an elite Law School (that worked very well for me).

Haven’t decided yet, but I do have plans to do my LLM from an Ivy League institute. So, once in law school, I’ll decide what area I would want to excel in for the LLM course.

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AILET 2017 Topper Interview: Vishu Surana, AIR 5; To Kill a Mockingbird inspired her to pursue law

AILET 2017 Topper Interview: AIR 4 Vedangini Bisht is an avid debater

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