Reading Between CLAT Cut-Offs: Evidence of Massive NLU Preference Order Failures

When Merit Fails to Convert into Opportunity

While creating an NLU preference order might not appear to be a big deal during the time of counselling, the differences in academic environments, infrastructure facilities, internship and placement opportunities reveal the missed opportunity.

What the Previous CLAT Cut-Offs Reveal

NLU Jodhpur, the third most preferred NLU among CLAT colleges, closed it all India general category admissions at AIR 367. However, a student with a better rank (AIR 350) was provisionally admitted to NUALS Kochi, a mid-tier NLU. Similarly, students at AIR 772, 849, 855, 891, 901, 925, 995 opted for GNLU Silvassa, a newly established off-campus of GNLU Gandhinagar, when these students could easily get admissions in mid-tier NLUs such as RMLNLU Lucknow, HNLU Raipur, NLIU Bhopal (only BSc LLB), NLU Odisha, RGNUL Patiala, NUALS Kochi and CNLU Patna (BA LLB).

CLAT General Category Cut-Offs Last Year

The Off-Campus Illusion: Choosing an Unproven Campus Over Established NLUs

Ignoring RMLNLU Lucknow and HNLU Raipur in place of GNLU Silvassa can be a big career-defining blunder. While RMNLU Lucknow and CNLU Patana are established national law universities with median salaries ranging from Rs. 7-10 LPA, GNLU Silvassa, riding on the legacy of its main campus, is yet to establish itself, and it manages to admit meritorious students who could otherwise take admission in tier 2 NLUs. There is not even one graduating batch at GNLU Silvassa yet.

Some students who could get admission to RMNLU Lucknow and HNLU Raipur ended up taking admission in MNLU Nagpur (a relatively new NLU and lower-ranked university), and DBRANLU Sonepat, a tier-3 NLU which was set up in 2012, but started functioning only in 2019.

Career Impact & Long-Term Consequences

All these incidents make it clear — if NLU preferences are mismanaged this time, we might see meritorious students finding themselves in lower-ranked NLUs; a move that can cost them massively later, either in the form of infrastructure deficit in universities, lack of academic support, peer learning and eventually, placements. Therefore, a well-rounded understanding of counselling, especially the NLU preference order, is of utmost importance.

The consortium provides a window of around six to seven days. Irrespective of who registers first for CLAT counselling, the allotments are purely based on merit cum preference. So students must do a background check of universities before filling out the NLU preference order. Careers360 has also prepared an NLU preference order, which is based on placement data and the universities' standing among the legal community.

Looking beyond NLUs

While all tier-3 NLUs carry the prestigious NLU tags. They may not be at par with the top NLUs, at least at this time. Most of the tier-3 NLUs are newly established and still at a development stage. General category students who are getting a CLAT rank of 1600 or below are likely to get admission in these universities during the counselling. The spot rounds may help them move up to the higher-ranked NLUs. However, admission options at this stage must also be floated in the top non-NLUs. For example, Nirma University can be preferred over NLU Sonipat, MNLU Aurangabad, NLU Tripura, or even GNLU Silvassa. Similarly, other non-NLU options include Symbiosis Law School Pune, Jindal Global Law School Sonipat, GLC Mumbai, ILS Pune and Army Institute of Law, Mohali. Some of these will accept CLAT, while others conduct separate entrance exams.