AILET 2024 Topper Interview: "Analysing Sample Papers is More Important Than Solving Them" - Aanya (AIR 4)

Aanya Dhandhariya secured AIR 4 in the recently concluded AILET 2024 exam. She also managed to secure AIR 86 in CLAT 2024. Initially a medical aspirant, she moved towards law upon her mother’s suggestion, and is happy with the results. Aanya wants to be a diplomat in the future which is her long standing dream. Read on to find out more as she shares her AILET exam experience with Careers360.

Hi Aanya, Congratulations on securing AIR 4 in AILET 2024!

Thank you so much.

Were you expecting this rank in AILET 2024 ? What was the feeling when you first saw your rank?

No, honestly I wasn't. After the paper I didn't even check the AILET answer key as I had a feeling that I messed up the logical reasoning section a bit. So AIR 4 came as a pleasant surprise and took some time to accept that it’s real. After that I felt really exhilarated as all these months of hard work came to fruition.

Tell us more about yourself, your educational background, the place you belong to, and your family background.

Well I am from Muzaffarpur, Bihar. I completed my schooling with science stream (PCB) from Rajasthan and Delhi. My father is involved in the textile business while my mother is a homemaker. I have a brother who is also involved in business and my grandmother.

When did your interest for law develop? What motivated you to take up legal studies?

Initially I never had a plan or intention to take up law. I have always wanted to be a diplomat but was not very sure about what in between. Though I knew that I wanted to do something that lets my opinions contribute to the betterment of the society. I prepared for NEET for two years but did not really enjoy it. My mother suggested that I take up law and I am so grateful for that.

I read about it, researched and found it to be something that really excited me and synced completely with my vision, aspirations and my debate loving personality. I found it to be such a beautiful reflection of society and a necessity. Overtime, while I was preparing that interest became kind of a passion.

Coming to your preparation, how and when did you start AILET preparation?

I started preparing in around mid April of this year. My father’s friend introduced me to Rajneesh sir and the Do-Zen group. I did the entire preparation online.

What was your daily preparation schedule like? How many hours did you allocate to each section and AILET preparation overall in a day?

On an average, I spent 6-8 hours studying initially. Though it increased to 8-10 in the last 2-3 months. I never had a fixed schedule but worked more on my comparatively weaker areas like mathematics where I needed to innovate in order to save time. I tried to devote at least an hour to practising it daily. I spent the most time on GK and current affairs, reading and researching topics from different websites and making notes which really helped with retention.

When I would get frustrated, I casually solved some analytical reasoning puzzles which I found very interesting. Along with it I focused on some verbal reasoning materials.

Which section of the AILET exam did you find the most challenging?

Though the paper wasn't that difficult I felt the logic section was a bit tricky as it had a lot of questions with very close options.

Tell us about the subject wise books or study materials you followed for AILET preparation?

I solved Analytical Reasoning by MK Pandey, magical book on puzzles by K Kundan for familiarity with different kinds of puzzles, materials for legal reasoning by Rajneesh sir’s Clat Essentials, past year papers and used a lot of different compendiums and websites for current affairs.

How did you prepare for current affairs including legal current affairs? Is it necessary to read newspapers daily?

Our coaching’s important topic list really helped where we all contributed to assemble all the important topics. I mostly referred to that and researched on those topics using various websites and compendiums like GK Today, Pratiyogita Darpan, PTI, PRS legislative research etc.

Personally, I would say reading newspapers daily is advisable and really helpful but not absolutely necessary. You have to see if you have enough time and choose accordingly. There are a lot of news podcasts and videos which are time saving and efficient.

Did you solve sample papers and mock tests? If yes, how important do you think the mock tests are for AILET preparation?

Yes, I did solve some AILET sample papers and mock tests. While they are very helpful, I think analysing them afterwards is what is truly beneficial. When you properly analyse it you understand where and how and why you went wrong. Sometimes in maths you discover some new more efficient method which you didn’t think of earlier. Mock analysis helped me a lot.

With the revised paper pattern, is AILET still a lengthy paper?

Yes, a bit. Though this year’s paper was comfortably doable with good time management and strategy.

What was your time-management strategy on the day of the exam?

I quickly went through the paper at the start and realised that the english section was fairly easy. So I was confident that I could easily solve it even under time pressure and anxiety which is why I started with the logic section. I solved questions which I felt comfortable with at first to get some confidence. I left maybe 6-7 questions which I was confused about for later and moved to GK. I had around 50 minutes left, around 35 of which I spent in English and then came back to do the leftover logic questions. I did that since I didn’t want to lose some easy marks just because I was stuck on a difficult question which I might have anyway gotten wrong.

You have also secured AIR 86 in CLAT. Would you be joining NLU Delhi or do you wish to enrol at some other NLU?

My first preference is NLSIU, Bangalore which I believe I will get, but if not that then NLU-D for sure.

Can you also briefly shed light on your CLAT preparation?

I did not prepare separately for CLAT and AILET as they are both very similar in their basic structure, i.e. how well you understand a text. But yes I did prepare for QT for CLAT and there’s also a little difference in the type of GK questions asked.

What are your future aspirations?

Like I already said, it's been a long dream of mine to be a diplomat and represent India abroad.

Any tips or suggestions for AILET aspirants appearing next year?

AILET is a bit unpredictable, so please be prepared to accept whatever comes. Also start reading some good editorials, books, articles etc. Reading comprehension takes time to develop and believe in yourself, it’s not that hard.