CLAT 2024: What are some alternative options to pursue a career in law?

If the CLAT result doesn't go in your favour, then you can consider some other alternatives. It's never the end of the road for you. Here are some of the options that you can consider

Every year, around 60,000 people appear for the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) to secure spots in some of the best law colleges in India. High competition and limited seats make it a challenging task for students to get one. Understandably, many students fall short of achieving this goal. However, if you are one of them, no need to fear as there are many alternative options you can go after.

In this article, you will find some alternative paths to choose, if you remain short with CLAT.

Options after missing NLUs cut-offs

There are many good colleges in the country which you can consider if your CLAT rank falls between 3000-4000. Here are some of the alternative colleges that you can try applying at – Nirma University; School of Law, BITS Law School, UPES, and NMIMS; School of Law, among others. 

These institutes can offer you the choice of law as a career option based on your CLAT scores, and these institutes also offer promising opportunities beyond the National Law Universities.

Alternate Entrance Exams

You can also check some other alternative entrance exam options to get into a promising law college in India. 

In case your CLAT rank is not as expected, even then you have plenty of entrance exam options to get into some of the best law schools in India, such as SLAT for Symbiosis Law Schools; NLAT for NMIMS, LSAT-India for private colleges nationwide including Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat.

In case you are looking for a government college, even then you can have some really good entrance exam alternatives, such as CET for GGS IPU, Jamia Millia Islamia, and MH CET for colleges in Maharashtra including Government Law College and ILS Law College. These law colleges are also well known when it comes to offering good legal programmes and providing aspiring students with alternate routes.

How to deal with this pressure?

In case you missed out good CLAT result, then you need to manage things calmly as it can cause stress. There are some crucial steps which you need to take to effectively navigate this period. The first step is to recognise your mistake and develop a clear understanding of a Plan B. 

Embrace your emotions, like the natural feelings of anxiety, fear, grief, anger, and embarrassment, as these feelings can motivate you to prepare better for your other entrance exams. You can use healthy coping mechanisms like talking to a friend, engaging in your passions, relaxation techniques and other such techniques to bring your peace. Moving forward, create a strategic plan and focus on energy on new possibilities.