the higher judiciary. Many of the more prominent faculty are alumni of the college. Admissions Admission to the college is through the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test - the MH LAW CET, which was introduced in 2016. The entrance exam is compulsory for admissions for law colleges in Maharashtra, and tests legal aptitude, general knowledge, language, and reasoning skills. 85% of the seats are reserved for candidates from Maharashtra, and an overall reservation for various college seats is as high as 50%. In 2018, over 23,000 students appeared from Maharashtra, and 16,000 students appeared for the entrance test from the rest of the country for the 3-year course. The total number of seats are 240, and typical cut off ranks for students from the "Maharashtra General Category" is an all-India Rank of 200, while those of students from outside Maharashtra is about 120. The 5-year course is less competitive, for many students consider alternate law schools, such as the National Law Universities, which do not offer 3-year degrees, and admit students on the basis of another test - CLAT. In 2018, over 15,000 students appeared for the 5-year MH LAW CET admissions test. Typical cut offs for 240 BLS-LLB seats are at All India Rank 250 for Maharashtra students belonging to the "General Category". Academic programmes Five Year Law Course The B.L.S. LL.B. program is a 10-semester full-time course open to students right out of high school (Class XII in the Indian system). The first 2 years (4 semesters) constitute a 'pre-law' course where the student is taught social-science subjects like economics, political science, history, English and legal language, logic, etc. In the next three years core law subjects, like contracts, family law, labour laws, etc. are dealt with. In their 8th and 10th semester, the students have the option of choosing some particular subjects along with some compulsory subjects. A total of 4 practical training papers are compulsory for all the students. The BLS or the Bachelor of Legal Sciences degree is awarded to the students by the University of Mumbai after successful completion of the 3rd year and the LLB degree is awarded after completion of 5 years. Students are eligible to exit with a Bachelor's degree in Legal Studies (BLS) at the end of 6 semesters, but cannot practise law unless they complete the course in its entirety. Three Year Law Course A minimum of a Bachelor's degree