CLAT 2023 Topper Interview: Arnav Maheshwari (AIR 4) says read newspapers regularly to keep up with current affairs
He has not only bagged the top position in CLAT 2023 but also emerged amongst the top 50 in AILET Exam 2023 with AIR 35. He says, "The key to cracking CLAT 2023 exam is to give mock tests regularly and analyze them too." Read further to know how he prepared for the law entrance exam along with his board exams.
CLAT 2023 Topper Interview: Arnav Maheshwari (AIR 4) says read newspapers regularly to keep up with current affairs
CLAT 2023 Topper Arnav Maheshwari AIR 4 in an exclusive interview with Shiksha.com shares his tips, journey and preparation strategy he followed to ace the CLAT 2023 Exam. He has not only bagged the top position in CLAT 2023 but also emerged amongst the top 50 in AILET Exam 2023 with AIR 35. He says, "The key to cracking CLAT 2023 exam is to give mock tests regularly and analyse it too." Read further to know how he prepared for the law entrance exam along with his board exams.
Explore colleges based on CLAT
Want better recommendations?
There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.
- Chat with our counselor
- Get your personalised list of colleges & exams matching your preferences
Q. Congratulations! Did you expect to be the topper of CLAT 2023?
A. Not really, I certainly wasn't the top scorer in the coaching mock tests, moreover, the paper was too tricky to make any guesses about a possible rank.
AILET exam centre 2025 will be allotted along with the admit card. Candidates are advised to check the admit card to know about the exam centre and other crucial details. Apart from name and address of allotted AILET exam centre, the admit card comprises details such as exam date, timing, exam day guidelines etc. Date for admit card release is published along with the information brochure on the official website. Candidates have to download the admit card for AILET 2025 after logging and providing details such as application ID, password and others.
Q. What was the preparation strategy that helped you crack CLAT 2023?
A. The key part of my prep was mock tests, giving and analysing mock tests regularly. It meticulously resulted in a good understanding of the exam and the resultant increase in marks, apart from this I kept up with current affairs and maintained a habit of reading through diverse content be it newspapers or novels.
Explore more Law exams with upcoming dates
14 Nov '24 - 15 Oct '25
18 Oct '25
18 Oct '25
7 Aug '25 - 10 Nov '25
1 Aug '25 - 30 Nov '25
16 Oct '25 - 17 Dec '25
28 Dec '25
1 Jan '26
28 Feb '26
1 May '26 - 8 May '26
Q. How did you manage time between board exams and entrance exam prep?
A. Initially, I was very casual about CLAT and paid more attention to school, however, seeing my peers overtake and do better than me persuaded me to put a temporary stay on school academics to solely focus on CLAT, the preponing of the exam further put this decision to an advantage as the dates of boards and CLAT did not clash.
Q. Did you take any coaching for this exam?
A. I enrolled in the classroom programme at career launcher, in addition to this I also registered with the mock test series in clatpossible.
Q. What study plan did you follow for this exam?
A. My preparation was mostly limited to giving mock tests as mentioned earlier, I would also try to keep up with gk and current affairs, giving sectional tests for the different sections helped me to manage time allocation and develop a perspective to approach the question pattern.
Q. Which books did you read to prepare for the exam?
A. As there is no specific syllabus for CLAT and hence no books that I read specifically for CLAT, I would maintain a reading habit by trying my hand at whatever content I would discover in newspapers, blogs, books, etc. since it is a reading-intensive paper.
Q. How did you deal with your strengths and weaknesses while preparing for the exam?
A. My weaknesses were GK and logical reasoning like most aspirants, I would try to absorb data and information from a variety of sources for GK (drishti and other compendiums) with regular revision. For logical reasoning, I would try to solve parts from mocks to get a clearer understanding of the question types.
Q. What other law entrance exams did you take or are planning to take?
A. I gave CLAT 2023 and AILET 2023 which are for admissions in the NLUs of the country, I will not be giving any other exams as I have secured admission to NLSIU.
Q. Was law always your first preference?
A. No, Law wasn't my first preference, I had planned to give UPSC after doing a BA degree in economics or Political science while choosing the humanities stream in class 11. However, these plans seemed too abstract and far-fetched, so I explored other options and developed a great interest in law making it my priority.
Q. Any tips for students who are planning to take the exam next year?
A. To all aspirants, some basic principles that would go a long way in your prep would be:
1) give mocks regularly and try a variety of them. Be ready for all kinds of surprises in both the CLAT, and AILET exam
2) Never commit yourself to any section or question. Despite it being my strength, I skipped 2 sets of math which saved me enough time to do well in the other "weak" sections and might as well be the one factor that got me my score and rank
3) Confidence is key, there is no point in topping every mock test if you mess up the main paper just because of a lack of confidence. Have faith in yourself, this might just be more important than studying any GK compendium or giving sectional tests. Have faith, aim high and expect less. In no circumstance must one limit themselves
Q. What are your future plans?
A. Well, my future plans include exploring law school and the opportunities it has to offer. Even if it seems impossible, when I finally enter the legal profession, I want to stand out and leave my mark.
Read More:
AILET 2023 Topper Arshiya Gupta (AIR 3) says no "book" one can read to prepare for this exam
AILET is important because it is the only entrance exam that law aspirants can qualify and be eligible for most prominent National Law University in India; i.e. NLU Delhi. It is also one of the most competitive law entrance exams for admission to NLU Delhi, as it doesn't accept CLAT score. Apart from this, many Public Sector Undertaking (PSUs) in India accept AILET LL. M. scores for the recruitment of candidates.