CLAT 2025 Topper Interview: Rohan Yadav, AIR 137 says “Hard work finally bore me a very sweet fruit”

It was an exhilarating moment for Rohan Yadav, when he first saw his CLAT 2025 results. Rohan, who hails from Navi Mumbai, secured an All India 137th rank in CLAT 2025. He completed his schooling in CBSE Commerce stream from Apeejay School Nerul securing a percentage of 98.8 in the class 12 CBSE Board Examination 2024. In an exclusive interview with Careers360, Rohan shares his journey and preparation strategies that helped him crack the most challenging exam in the country. Read the full interview as the CLAT topper shares his success story with Careers360.

Hello Rohan, Congratulations on securing AIR 137 in CLAT 2025!

Q. What is your overall CLAT 2025 score and sectional score?

Ans: I secured an overall score of 94 marks out of 116 in CLAT. I got 29.5 in Legal, 24.25 in GK, 9.75 in QT, 16.5 in English and 14 in Logical. My CLAT 2025 AIR was 137.

Q. How did you feel when you checked your CLAT 2025 result? Were you expecting this rank?

Ans: I was quite exhilarated and happy when I checked my result, realising that my one and a half year preparation and hard work finally bore me a very sweet fruit and my entry to my dream National Law University. I was quite optimistic after my paper and was expecting a rank of around 300, but this rank of 137 was a very pleasant surprise to me.

Q. Can you tell us a bit about your background - your education, your family?

Ans: I was born in Mohali, Punjab and brought up in Navi Mumbai. I completed my schooling in CBSE Commerce stream from Apeejay School Nerul and secured a percentage of 98.8 in the class 12 CBSE Board Examination 2024. I was the Mumbai Cosmopolitan region topper in the Class XII CBSE Commerce stream. My parents are both from Science background and I am going to become a first-generation lawyer. My mother is a Doctor (Microbiologist) and my father is an engineer turned MBA, currently working in Reliance General Insurance.

Q. What made you choose law?

Ans: I was quite intrigued by the idea of serving justice and am a proponent of making a positive difference in society. Moreover, I have a very keen interest in the field of current affairs and international relations. Thus, these notions naturally led my interest towards the field of law.

Q. When did you start your preparation? How did you prepare for the CLAT exam? How many hours did you put in per day as per the stage of preparation?

Ans: I started my CLAT preparation in April 2023 when I began my class 12th. I prepared by referring to a combination of online and physical copy resources. Initially, I studied for around 2-3 hours and towards the end, I put 7-8 hours of daily preparation for CLAT.

Q. Can you share any preparation strategies with our readers? When should one start their preparation for CLAT? How to schedule study time and make timetables?

Ans: Start analysing each and every question you solve in every mock. Even look and analyse all the four options of even the correct answers marked. This will help you to know the author’s thoughts and reasoning as well as the pattern of specific mistakes that you make repeatedly over a period of time. This is the most effective manner of increasing the mock score. It is advisable to start preparing for CLAT when in 11th grade. Time tables are highly subjective in nature but a few basic things should be there for every day i.e. reading The Hindu (especially the editorial section), attending classes and making notes as well as practicing questions from your weak areas.

Q. Did you follow any specific daily timetable to prepare for the exam?

Ans: Yes, towards the end of the CLAT preparation journey, I sincerely followed a regular study time table consisting of reading The Hindu, either solving a mock or analysing the mock and practicing my weak sections along with GK revision.

Q. Have you taken any coaching? If yes- from where? How did it help?

Ans: Yes, I had taken Legal Edge online coaching and then, offline coaching at Navi Mumbai center. It helped certainly with the GK rapid fire quizzes, the analysis of mocks and the specialised mentorship and strategy sessions in my journey and played a pivotal role in increasing my mock scores.

Q. What was the toughest aspect of your CLAT preparation?

Ans: The toughest part was managing school academics with CLAT preparation and increasing my mock scores in the Logical Reasoning section.

Q. Which books did you follow for CLAT preparation? Please name some very important must-read books for CLAT.

Ans: I followed the Legal Edge RSMs for my preparation and for GK, I referred to the CLAT Post as my monthly compendium. I referred to Oswal’s Quantitative Aptitude Book which helped me immensely in laying the foundation of various QT topics.

Q. Can you tell us the NLU choices and courses you will be submitting in the order of your preference?

Ans: My CLAT NLU preference list is:-

a) NLSIU

b) NALSAR

c) NLUJ (BA LLB)

d) WBNUJS (BA LLB)

e) GNLU (BA LLB)

f) NLIU (BA LLB)

g) MNLU Mumbai

Q. What did you do for leisure? Are there any specific activities that helped you unwind?

Ans: I personally went for a walk every day at night with my peer group. They helped me immensely to destress and to refresh. I used to go watch movies and eat at restaurants on weekends to help me unwind myself. I even used to listen to music which helped me to calm down.

Q. What would be your message for future law aspirants who will be appearing for CLAT in the future?

Ans: My message would be to put special emphasis on the GK and the QT sections as these 2 are the potential game changer sections in your NLU journey. Also, the CLAT exam is not the end of everything, countless opportunities are waiting for you in life. Be dedicated, self-motivated and disciplined in your preparation.