NEET 2016 results are out but students remain confused about admission procedures

The merit list for the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (Phase 1) (NEET), which is a must for any student wishing to pursue a graduate medical course (MBBS), dental course (BDS) or a postgraduate course in medicine (MD/MS) in government or private medical colleges, is out. [caption id=“attachment_2759638” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP.[/caption] Girls outnumbered boys in qualifying the test for admission to undergraduate medical courses, as per the results declared by the CBSE, even though there were 11,058 males compared to 8,266 female applicants in the top 15 percent. A total of 4,09,477 candidates – 2,26,049 girls, 1,83,424 boys and four transgenders – cleared the examination. One transgender candidate was in the top 15 percent. According to data released by the CBSE, which conducted the examination, of the 8,02,594 registered candidates, 7,31,223 appeared for the examination. The CBSE also released a list of top performing candidates as per which Het Shah secured the first rank scoring 685 marks out of 720, while Ekansh Goyal (682) came second and Nikhil Bajiya (678) stood third. In an interview with Ahmedabad Mirror, 18-year-old Shah, an aspiring neurosurgeon was quoted as saying, “It is difficult to express my happiness in words at this point. I had expected that I would make it to the top 10 in NEET but AIR-1 is like a dream coming true,” said Het. Shah’s mother also spoke about how she wanted to become a doctor herself, but couldn’t and expressed happiness that her son would “fulfill his dream.” Prominent ministers and politicians congratulated successful students

Best wishes to all #NEET 16 qualifiers. May you achieve to the best of your capabilities! Congratulations Nikhil Bajiya! Rajasthan is proud.

— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) August 16, 2016

Congrats to Het Shah of Nadiad, Gujarat, who topped the NEET scoring 685 out of 720 and also Eknsh Goyal from Rurkela who got 2nd rank. — M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) August 17, 2016 Confusion prevails However, a Hindustan Times article described the many mixed reactions of students who appeared for the NEET examination. Students were worried over the fact that admissions got delayed because of NEET. Moreover, the examination results haven’t erased the prevailing confusion around the scores and admission procedures. According to a Mid Day report, “parents are receiving messages from admission touts ensuring guaranteed admissions in private colleges.” Keyur Cholera, faculty member at a coaching institute, quoted in the Mid Day report says that though the results have been declared, there is no clarity on the admission process, since the “mandate is new”. However, Pravin Shingare, Director of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) said that Maharashtra state will conduct its own centralised admission process and that “candidates willing to apply for admission in colleges in Maharsahtra will have to register in this process. A state merit list will then be declared.” The counselling for seats in medical and dental colleges is expected to be held between 22 and 25 August. In a release, CBSE said that in compliance with the Supreme Court directives, it had conducted NEET-I and NEET-II on 1 May and 24 July, respectively. It said that while declaring the result of both NEET-I and NEET-II as a combined result of National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test-UG, 2016, the orders of the apex court have been complied with. All critical issues were placed before the Oversight Committee comprising former Chief Justice RM Lodha, Dr SK Sarin and former CAG Vinod Rai. With the help of experts, difficulty level of both the question papers of NEET-I and NEET-II was ensured to be similar, CBSE said. NEET-I was conducted at 1,040 centres in 52 cities all over India and abroad and NEET-II was conducted at 739 centres in 56 cities in India. With inputs from PTI