CLAT 2018 Topper: AIR 6, Shikhar Agarwal shares that being calm & focused is important

With a score of 148/ 199, Shikhar Agarwal secured All India Rank (AIR) 6 in Common Law Admission Test 2018. Talking about his score in CLAT 2018, Shikhar said, “English was the most scoring section, I got 35/40; GK went a bit bad – I scored 29/49. Maths and Logical Reasoning went very good, where I got 12.75/20 and 31.25/40 respectively. I managed to get 40/50 in Legal Aptitude”.

A student of Amity International School, Gurgaon. Shikhar shared that he studied Commerce with Maths in his Class XI and XII. He also revealed that he secured 98% in Central Board of Secondary Education Class 12 board exams.

Shikhar spoke to Shiksha and shared his prep strategy and future plans. Go through tips given by CLAT AIR 6, Shikhar Agarwal and find out how he cracked the national level law entrance exam.

Well, I knew that I had scored enough to get into a good college, but certainly did not expect to be amongst the CLAT top 10. I feel humbled with this result of mine.

Everyone in my family was ecstatic over my result. We thanked God for blessing me with such a good rank, and then informed close kith and kin about my result. My parents are very proud of what I have managed to achieve here.

It feels very good to get an excellent rank in two of the elite law entrance exams of this country. The effort put in over the last one-and-a-half years surely paid rich dividends. 

I attribute my success to my parents and my younger brother. They were a constant support to me throughout this arduous journey, from allowing me to freely take mocks at home, dropping me to coaching class, getting me books and other materials, to handling my pre-exam tantrums and everything. I owe this to them.

I tried to strike a good balance between preparing for both of the exams. It is important to realise that one cannot make himself entirely dependent on the performance in either boards or the entrances, because anything can go wrong on the day of the exam, rendering all prior planning useless. Keeping that in mind, the focus was majorly on completing everything except GK by December, and then I focused completely on board exams preparation for the next 3 months.

I found CLAT to be a good paper in terms of application of knowledge. While Legal Aptitude and English were very easy, GK was moderate while Logic Reasoning needed some time to judge between 2 – 3 options in some questions. I felt that Maths this year was something that should not be judged from a future lawyer’s perspective, as the questions required extensive calculations and what not; it made sense to leave those questions. 

Many people tend to ignore Legal Current Affairs and Static GK. I have even heard people saying that they will simply leave the Maths section. What they need to realise is that questions asked in Maths section are from what all of us have studied till Class X, and all you need to do is sit calm and understand the basics of topics like Permutations, Unitary Method, etc. 

I was lucky enough to face nothing beyond a 20 minute power cut, without any loss of time. The invigilation staff was quick to respond to the power cut, urging students to logout and re-login as per the standard procedure. I genuinely feel that in an online examination, with all data being stored and procedures being set over the internet, it isn’t really possible to face issues as exaggerated as certain candidates getting 4 hours for the exam, computers automatically shutting down, etc. 

Not at all. After applying the standardisation formula devised by the Court, it was clearly revealed that all those who demanded a retest were those whose performance in the exam was horrible, especially in light of the fact that in the revised result, no student had a gain beyond 3 – 4 marks.

Beyond hard work, perseverance and other clichés that we hear in our daily lives, what matters on the day of the exam is pure luck. I am not saying in any manner that one should leave things entirely to luck, but the fact remains that at times, luck plays a crucial role in you getting a question paper that suits your abilities, and that you are able to get even those questions correct where you feel you are ‘guessing’ or anything. What matters in exams like these is how well you are able to keep calm, and solve these many questions in limited time.

I am about to join NLU Delhi, in pursuance of my further objectives in relation to my career and of course, its proximity to my home.

I am a big cricket fan, and love watching and playing the sport with my younger brother. I also have an inclination towards watching movies and videos over YouTube.

I do not believe in studying nightlong for an exam. It is important to give importance to finishing material provided by the coaching institute, and maintaining notes for GK. It is imperative to identify one’s strong and weak areas, and work on minimising unnecessary loss of marks. For this, having proper mock analysis is a must. Giving regular mocks and developing a proper strategy of the order in which you will attempt the paper on its basis will help in not only smooth answering of questions, but also saving time.

English – Making notes of etymology, important and frequently occurring words through YouTube videos.

GK – Marking important questions and information provided in the weekly Manthan provided by CL, proper notemaking of important trivia. I started studying it only after boards ended.

Logical Reasoning – Solving and completing questions from the modules for Analytical Reasoning. Analysing questions from reference books for MBA type exams for Verbal Logic.

Maths – I had a natural inclination towards Maths. I was thorough with most of the formulae and concepts involved. My primary focus was on practicing unusual questions.

Legal Aptitude – Past years’ questions, understanding concepts and doubt clearing. Attempting a variety of questions from mocks and reference books.

Yes, it is a must to have some sort of formal/informal coaching. I attended coaching provided by Career Launcher CL LST. Self-study does matter, but a coaching center like CL helps you in getting the right direction in clearing exams as tough as CLAT and AILET. With the limited number of seats available, it does imply that you need to choose a good coaching institute.

My study plan was the same for both CLAT and AILET, because the fundamentals behind these 2 papers remain the same, the level of difficulty changes. Giving as many mocks as possible, having proper analysis of accuracy and time taken, and having a good night’s sleep in the ultimate 2 weeks are invaluable to any aspirant.

A weakness of mine is that I tend to waste time a lot. Hence, I refrained from using social media and unnecessarily using my phone in the final few months, due to which I was able to focus just on the exam. Whatever spare time I had, I tried to relax by watching TV and YouTube videos. 

The Annual CLAT books published by Arihant, Universal’s Guide to CLAT and LLB were the two books I referred to, once I was done exhausting the material provided by CL. 

Law is something which is appealing to the youth of today. A career in law is not just restricted to mere affidavit making, or getting documents notarized. A degree of law opens a larger avenue towards civil services, legal research, litigation, academics and what not. I felt law could be something that suits my personality, and what I aim to do in my life.

Be calm, be focused. Have faith in yourself; and be free from fear. Don't let a bad mock exam demoralise you. Don't get intimidated by what others at the coaching center are doing. What matters is your performance on the day of the exam, and the effort behind it. Yet, respect fear, for it will keep you grounded.

I am planning to write the UPSC exam right after college ends. I have not really thought of pursuing any law specialisation as yet.

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