The deadline to apply for NEET-UG 2024 has been extended to March 16. Applicants now have until 10:50 pm to submit their applications, and fees can be paid until 11:50 pm on the same day.
A new information bulletin has also been released for NEET-UG (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test – Undergraduate), the national-level qualifying exam for admissions to MBBS and other undergraduate medical courses in India.
Qualifying percentile
The major change outlined in the new bulletin pertains to the minimum qualifying percentile. While the qualifying percentile remains at 50, it is reduced to 40 for scheduled and backward categories, 45 for differently-abled students in the general and economically weaker sections, and 40 for differently-abled students in the backward category. The bulletin mentions that the minimum percentile may be adjusted in any category if an insufficient number of students qualify.
Other updates
- The new bulletin also provides details about exam centres abroad.
- Regarding the syllabus, NEET-UG 2024 has introduced only minor changes compared to the previous year, despite earlier suggestions for a major revamp. The new syllabus is outlined in Appendix 3 (pages 68-82) of the information bulletin.
- The new method for assigning different ranks to candidates with equal scores is also explained.
How to contact
For more details, visit the website: https://exams.nta.ac.in/NEET
Phone: 011-40759000
Percentage vs. percentile
While everyone is familiar with the percentage of marks scored by a student, percentile is based on the performance of other students. For example, if a candidate has a score of 55 percentile, it means that 55% of the students have scored equal to or less than this candidate. In other words, 45% of the students would have scored higher marks than this particular candidate.
When the qualifying score is the 50th percentile, a candidate must be among the top half of the rank-holders to be eligible for admissions.
Request to postpone NEET-MDS
Meanwhile, some students have requested the postponement of NEET-MDS 2024, the qualifying exam for postgraduate dental courses in India, scheduled for March 18. These students argue that over 6,000 candidates from the 2018 BDS batch would be ineligible to take the test if the current deadline of June 30 to complete the internship is enforced.