CLAT Essentials is proud to present Devyansh Atharv, the LSAT India AIR 1 achiever whose journey reflects sharp analytical thinking, perseverance, and a deep interest in the field of law.
Currently pursuing B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) at O.P. Jindal Global Law School (JGLS), Devyansh’s journey into legal education has been shaped by his curiosity, attention to detail, and passion for structured argument and discussion. After completing his schooling with PCM in Classes XI-XII, he transitioned into the world of law and has built a strong foundation as a legal thinker. His exceptional performance in LSAT India, where he secured All India Rank 1, marked a significant milestone in his law school journey. He also received an admission opportunity at the prestigious National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS).
Beyond academics, Devyansh is someone who finds inspiration in a variety of interests. From following and playing football to exploring the world of video games, he enjoys experiences that challenge his thinking and creativity. His involvement in debates and writing further reflects his ability to analyse perspectives, build arguments, and communicate ideas effectively.
With his eye for detail and an argumentative approach that drives his curiosity, Devyansh’s journey highlights the qualities that define a successful legal mind. In this interview, he shares his LSAT India preparation strategy, law school experience at JGLS, and the lessons that shaped his journey as a future legal professional.
Since the LSAT India pattern shares similarities with the LNAT examination, his preparation insights and strategies can be particularly valuable for aspirants aiming for law schools like O.P. Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) and law schools abroad.
Q. Congratulations on your outstanding achievement. Could you share your immediate reaction upon receiving the news that you secured AIR rank 1 in LSAT, and what this success signifies for you personally?
Thank you so much! I was expecting to get a decent result as I was confident in my preparation, but a top rank was certainly beyond what I had imagined. I was with my sister when the results were released, and I excitedly let her know of what happened, after which the rest of my family got to know the news as well. Besides the immediate happiness, this entire event is especially memorable for me since leading up to it, I was running fairly low on confidence after I wasn’t able to perform to my expectations in CLAT. Seeing my family’s reaction was a strong motivator to ensure that I keep working my hardest in law school, and I hope to carry the same dedication forward in my career.
Q. What motivated your decision to pursue a career in law?
In my last two years of school, with the brief understanding I had of each line of profession, law seemed to be the only field where I was confident that I would remain genuinely passionate about the subject and its practice, long after the initial excitement of starting higher education would have died down. It is this consideration that led me to discard computer science as a viable career alternative, because I could not assure myself that I would remain dedicated to it throughout, even though it may have been just as fulfilling. Besides this, my family was also extremely supportive of my decision, and I am grateful for the encouragement and support that I was given, which bolstered my confidence to prepare for law entrance exams diligently.
Q. Could you outline the daily routine you adhered to during your preparation? Specifically, how did you structure your day to ensure effective study hours versus necessary breaks?
A huge part of my readiness for LSAT stemmed from the fact that I had already spent multiple months preparing for CLAT and AILET as well. Questions on logical reasoning and English grammar are common strands throughout all these exams, and I would strongly encourage future aspirants to prepare for all these exams together. Specifically for LSAT, I had gone through around a dozen full-length mock tests before the exam. However, each attempt took roughly a day, since I would spend long hours looking at the questions I had answered incorrectly, as I wanted to ensure that with each mock test, I amend all the incorrect habits and patterns of thought that I was prone to. I believe this was the most helpful aspect of my preparation, and I could see improvements in every mock test.
Q. You were simultaneously managing school board exam pressure, LSAT preparation, and extracurricular commitments. How did you practically divide your time across all three — did you follow a fixed weekly schedule?
While this is a struggle that all aspirants will inevitably face, it can certainly be a more enjoyable experience if one was to set periodic and realistic milestones. It greatly helps if you can mark upcoming activities/exams well before the final date and then prepare day-wise schedules accordingly. I followed the same approach, and my ultimate goal was to ensure that I have a few days to revise all that I had studied right before any exam I gave. I would only plan what I wanted to study for a period of 7-10 days at once, so I could keep myself accountable and also be able to feel a sense of achievement when I could stick to realistic schedules.
Q. Section wise, could you tell us how you prepared for the exam, the struggles you faced and how you overcame it. What was your strategy for each section?
Since the LSAT pattern that is operative now is substantially different from what I had attempted, I will answer with respect to the present question pattern, for the benefit of all current and future aspirants. After taking only a few mock tests, it was clear that almost three/fourths of the questions are of a repetitive pattern, with there being only a change in the passage that was provided. For instance, questions that ask you to identify the function of a sentence within the passage, or questions that ask you to sum up the passage, or to identify the author’s central argument – these are recurring patterns that one can notice across all passages, in each test. I tried to spend enough time on each such pattern to ensure that I was able to completely grasp what such questions were looking for, and this helped my progress hugely as I was able to answer a large majority of questions that were based on the same repetitive patterns. There were certain mistakes that I would make regularly – I recall being very confused with questions that required me to make inferences from parts of the passage – but, as mentioned earlier, I would give extra time to such repeating mistakes and ensure that I do not overlook any flaws in my answers.
Q. Did your study routine evolve as the exam date approached, particularly in the final month? How did your strategy in the last 30 days differ from the initial phase of your preparation?
My initial preparation was from CLAT and AILET, which was greatly helpful in building my acumen for critical thought. Beyond that, and in the final few weeks approaching LSAT, I devoted myself entirely to doing past questions from the exam, so I could accustom myself to the sorts of passages and questions that these tests would have. This helped me apply what I had learnt earlier directly and specifically to what LSAT demanded, and was very beneficial.
Q.The preparation journey is often long and arduous. How did you navigate periods of burnout or suboptimal performance in your mock tests to maintain your momentum?
I was very grateful to have my CLAT Essentials mentor’s guidance, especially in this regard. Mock tests are the most prominent part of preparing for any exam, and for this same reason they often become the factor which upon aspirants judge their own progress. However, it is extremely important to understand – and I cannot stress this enough – that scoring exceptionally in mock tests is not the primary goal during preparation. I was made to understand that instead of giving multiple tests every week and hoping to see an increment of few marks, it is far better if I attempt one mock test and then spend the next few days going through my answers, breaking down what I did right, and most importantly, what I did wrong. This also helped with burnout, as I could spend as long as I required on analyzing my mistakes, and at the end I was always convinced that I had made some progress, which was a huge source of encouragement.
Q. Mock tests are often said to be the backbone of LSAT prep. What was your strategy with them?
LSAT has very long passages that are often written in language that may be challenging to read. My focus was to ensure that I do not read through these passages absent-mindedly, as that would almost definitely lead to me making a mistake. What helped me was forcing myself to stop for a second after each paragraph, and quickly summarizing what the previous paragraph covered, what its purpose in the passage was, and what the author’s intent behind the paragraph was. I found this to very useful, because mentally running through the paragraph helped me remember a lot of its contents too, and this helped with my speed of answering questions. I strived to build this habit of reading passages critically, rather than absent-mindedly, through mock tests, and I was able to approach the final test in the same way.
Q. Beyond merely attempting mock tests, how did you approach the post-test analysis? Did you maintain a systematic record of errors to track your improvement?
My CLAT Essentials Mentor had continually emphasized on the fact that post-test analysis was the most important part of our preparation. Without this, it is very easy to get carried away chasing high marks in mock tests, and this hurried-form of attempting as many mock tests as possible often prevented students from correcting their mistakes. I would devote at least 2-4 hours for each post-test analysis so I could through my answers and attempt to identify patterns in how I approached questions and answers. Doing this made me realize my strengths and weaknesses, and I was then able to spend more time focusing on mistakes that I made recurrently. While I did not personally maintain a structured record, I believe doing so would be greatly helpful, and also a good way to adjudge your own progress.
Q. Time management is critical in a 140-minute examination. Could you walk us through your section-attempt strategy?
As with any other competitive exam, it is extremely important that one does not get carried away in answering one particular question, at the cost of possibly missing out on others. For LSAT, there were times when I found a certain passage to be entirely incomprehensible even despite reading it multiple times, and I tried to make sure that I can seamlessly skip to the next question in such instances. A habit that I built which helped me in reading and grasping complex passages quickly, was to summarize each paragraph concisely in my head, after I was done reading it. This exercise forced me to internally cycle through the passage in my own head multiple times by the time I was done reading it. With respect to the questions, I tried to think of an answer before I read the options, and I found that doing so helped me choose the correct answer as fast as possible, since I already had an idea of what the correct option would look like.
Q. LSAT India is heavily reading comprehension-driven. Was reading always a natural habit for you, or was it something you had to consciously build during your preparation?
I was never an extremely avid reader, but I was always pushed my by family to pick up a habit of reading quality books and newspapers, and this gave me exposure to a respectable quality of literature and scholarship. Throughout school, I would frequently write short essays and articles out of my interest for particular topics, and I believe that exercises like this helped me to gain a confident grasp over English. During my preparation, however, my teachers made sure to accustom everyone to not just reading challenging passages, but to spend enough time making sure that we sufficiently grasped every portion of it. This played a huge role in building familiarity with the level of passages that I faced in LSAT India, and was instrumental to my result.
Q. Did you take any coaching for LSAT. For aspirants sitting on the fence, how instrumental is structured coaching in LSAT India preparation — can one really crack it without guidance?
Yes, I was fortunate to have immense guidance as part of CLAT Essentials, throughout the entirety of my entrance exam preparations. I made the decision to pursue law very late – only a few months before CLAT, AILET and LSAT – but he was constantly supportive and encouraging throughout the very process. For repeated question patterns and passage structures in the LSAT, I also had classes in CLAT Essentials that were very interactive and encouraged everyone to build a correct approach to answering questions. While there is no substitute for individual effort, it is extremely vital to ensure that your efforts are made in the right direction, and I was given this guidance by the mentors at CLAT Essentials.
Q. Did you take dedicated one – on -one mentoring. How different is that experience from regular classroom coaching, and what does personalised mentoring actually change in practice?
Yes, I had multiple one-on-one mentoring sessions with my CLAT Essentials mentor throughout my preparation. I would visit him after taking a few mock tests, as he always encouraged us to update him with our progress. These sessions were very crucial, as I was able to get a very valuable and constructive perspective on how I approached questions, and subconscious patterns that I had in my critical reasoning. It is easy for an aspirant to overlook their own mistakes, but my personal sessions made sure that I remained critical of my own approach to questions. Furthermore, I was also given customized schedules and plans for preparation leading up the final exam, and I found that these were very timely and helpful in making sure I was fully preparaed.
Q. In hindsight, is there any aspect of your preparation strategy that you would alter or improve upon if given the chance?
My biggest regret is that I did not start my preparation journey earlier. There is a certain amount of effort that everyone must put in to excel in an entrance exam, but it is far easier to manage if started well ahead in time. This is especially important given that I had to manage my board and school exams simultaneously, and it often became very tiring and burdensome to devote the required amount of time to all these different facets. Periods of uncertainty and burnout are inevitable no matter when you start, but I would strongly encourage future aspirants to give themselves the best chance of excelling, by being serious with your preparation well ahead of time.
Q. Comparison with peers is one of the most silent yet damaging traps during prep. Did you ever fall into it, and how did you learn to block out that noise?
Yes, and I would say that it is not an inherently damaging task, if utilised constructively. At DoZen, I had multiple peers who were excelling in mock tests and exercises, many of whom are doing brilliantly in law school as well. It is human, and also inevitable, to compare yourself with peers who are doing better than you. However, you will often find that it is very constructive to have conversations with these peers, and to discuss your preparation experiences with them. This gives you a perspective that you will not get from anywhere else, as they are in the same shoes as you. Ultimately, it was crucial for me to realize that trivial comparisons with my peers that were not constructive in any way, were only damaging to my own preparation.
Q. What is the one piece of advice you would give to someone starting their LSAT India preparation today?
In addition to what I’ve mentioned so far, I would advise everyone to remain honest to themselves about their own progress. It is natural to want to see yourself excel in every single mock test and every single exercise, but this is certainly not possible. What is possible, is to build up to excellence over a period of a time – and this can only be achieved if you consciously address your own mistakes and spend as long on them as you may need. Mentors and teachers are always available to guide you in your preparation, but it is crucial that you remain truthful to them, as well as yourself, so you can prepare smartly, instead of chasing short-term gratification that may, ultimately, not help with your exam preparations.
A CLAT Essentials Interview by Oyishee Bose