AILET Topper Interview 2018: AIR 9, Ritesh Patnaik advises that honest & sincere exam prep is must

With a score of 79.25 in All India Law Entrance Test (AILET), Ritesh Patnaik secured Rank 9 in the law entrance exam. A science stream student of CBSE Board, Ritesh is from DAV Public School Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar.

Ritesh shared that National Law University (NLU), Delhi was not his first preference as he wants to secure admission in NLSIU Bangalore if he cracks CLAT 2018. Talking about the difficulty level of both the law entrance exams, Ritesh said, “AILET is a very demanding exam and is much tougher to score than any other law entrance exam, in my opinion”.

Shiksha got talking to Ritesh to know about his prep strategy, hobbies and future plans. Go through the interview below for more details.

I felt pretty confident that I would make it to the Top 100 in AILET but it was a pretty overwhelming feeling to get a single digit rank. I definitely dreamt about it but I did not realistically expect a single digit rank. So it was a pleasant surprise for me.

I would attribute my success to my parents, my sister, my extended family and my friends. All of them played a huge role in this accomplishment. I always feel that a successful achievement is a culmination of hard work on the part of a large number of people and this is no different. I also owe a large part of it to God. They say failures make you spiritual and I learnt it this year.

I cannot really say NLU Delhi was my first preference. NLSIU Bangalore was the ideal dream but depending on the CLAT results, I will need to make a decision based on that. I do not have any particular order of preference in my mind.

I started preparing somewhere around September or October in 2016. I had one and a half years to prepare but a lot of time got devoted towards the annual exams and the boards preparation since I was struggling for boards. In the last two months, I tried to compensate for the lost time and put in extra hours. I worked on my weak areas and emphasised on analysis as much as I did for mocks.

I took up a 2 years programme at Career Launcher and a 1 year course in CLAT Possible. Both of them were extremely helpful in my preparation.

I won’t lie, I tried to cover up as many topics as possible for most parts. My study with a plan only happened in the last two months where I worked on my weak areas, gave mocks systematically and analysed them. I tried to put in about 10-12 hours each day and even though I failed on most days, it was a satisfying experience to work hard in those last two months.

Coming to the section wise strategy, English was my weak area and I worked on Reading Comprehensions and Grammar. Due to paucity of time, I made peace with the fact that I’d never be good at vocabulary. I worked on idioms & phrases and a bit of foreign words which helped me. I was strong in Maths and Analytical reasoning which helped me. For General knowledge, I had to work hard a lot towards the end with Current Affairs. For legal, I ensured from the beginning that my reasoning concepts were strong and tried to cover legal knowledge as much as possible towards the end.

I referred the Career Launcher (CL) and CLAT Possible (CP) material I had at my disposal. I feel that the understanding of a concept is more important than the variety of topics we cover. Apart from CL and CP material, I tried to search for online content and took whatever I felt was more suited to the exam.

I come from a middle class Odia family. I live with my parents and sister. My father is an Income Tax officer and my mother is a teacher in a private school. My sister is in sixth grade. They were always there to provide support and motivation as and when I required it. My extended family also played a very important role, especially my elder cousin who constantly backed my decisions and guided me.

Reading books, listening to music and watching sports. I am a huge admirer of Yuvraj Singh, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roger Federer, Nadal and Fernando Alonso. I like playing cricket. Been missing it a lot lately.

I took SLAT, CLAT and AILET. In the increasing order of difficulty it would be Symbiosis Law Exam followed by CLAT and finally AILET. AILET is a very demanding exam and is much tougher to score than any other law entrance exam, in my opinion.

Yes, I did appear for CLAT. CLAT is very different from AILET because firstly, the dimensions of the sectionals are different. CLAT makes you feel as if you have got a lot of time in hand. It is qualitatively easier than AILET. At the same time, the difference between a computer screen and a hardcopy also makes significant difference. In AILET, not just do you have to solve 150 questions in 90 minutes but also bubble them correctly which you cannot review or change later.

Honestly, no. I got into the rat race for engineering at the intial stages and realised that this is not somewhere I see myself in ten years time. Law was something that interested me. It was something I felt I could be genuinely good at.

I would suggest all AILET aspirants to start solving previous year papers within the time frame and be honest in your approach. It is important to be sincere and truthful in your preparation. Analysis is as important as a mock. Each section in the test matters and each mark makes a huge difference in rank. I would just urge all aspirants to remember that for every moment that you waste, remember that there is someone else working hard. At the same time remember that a multiple choice exam with a few ambiguous answers do not decide anybody’s future. A fine balance between both these things can do a world of good.

My future plan is to make the most of the five years ahead. I wish to explore my options in law school and I go there with a clean slate. I have no specialisation in mind honestly and I feel that’s the best part for the five years ahead. My only expectation is to continue being sincere with my efforts and make the most of whatever opportunities I get.

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