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MCC NEET UG Counselling Countdown Has Started Following Late Results
About now, aspirants checking the results for NEET, stop checking that page and start checking a different page: the Medical Counselling Committee. However, this time the wait is longer, and it's actually understandable. After the events of NEET UG 2026 included cancellation of the exam, a re-conduct, and delayed results, the last piece before admissions can begin is the counselling schedule. Currently, the MCC has not published the official NEET UG 2026 counselling schedule. Based on the events of this year, Round 1 is expected to open in the last week of July or the first half of August 2026.
Reasons for the Delay this Year
An understanding of the delay can start in May. The original date to conduct the NEET UG 2026 was May 3, but the exam was cancelled by the National Testing Agency, following a case of the leak of the exam paper. The exam was conducted again, referred to as the Re-NEET 2026, on June 21. The exam was conducted across thousands of centres in India and abroad. Results were declared on July 16, and approximately 11.21 lakh of nearly 20 lakh were declared successful.
These events pushed the MCC counselling process to be later than the events of the previous year. In most years, opening of the counselling registration is done within a few days of results being released. This year, candidates will see a gap from the release of results to the opening of the MCC portal of at least 1 to 2 weeks.
What The Counselling Process Will Cover
MCC’s counselling service manages the All India Quota’s 15 percent seats, and 100 percent of the seats in AIIMS, JIPMER, BHU, AMU and other central and deemed universities. The counselling service runs in four rounds, usually completed by October. These rounds are Round 1, Round 2, Mop-Up and Stray Vacancy. The four rounds are similar in structure. Candidates must register, fill and lock choices, await seat allotment, and report to the allotted institute. Reporting is the only step that must be completed offline by candidates. NEET qualification does not guarantee automatic enrolment to counselling. Candidates must register to the MCC, pay the prescribed fees, and upload the required documents, regardless of the merit rank.
How Many Seats Are Actually Up For Grabs
From the seat matrix of this year, we get a clearer picture of the kind of competition we are facing. 2026 NEET UG counselling by the National Medical Commission will provide approximately 823 medical colleges with 1,36,939 potential MBBS seats. This is an increase of 9,911 seats from the previous year. Of these, approximately 63,300 seats are in government colleges and approximately 73,600 in private colleges.
Regarding dental education, NEET offers 28,016 BDS seats in government and private dental colleges. The largest MBBS seat capacity in the country continues to be in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
Institutions Where Higher Ranked Aspirants Prefer to Go
Although the final allotment is determined by the rank and category of the candidate and the round-wise vacancies, a set of institutions attracts the most preference every counseling round. For MBBS aspirants, AIIMS, New Delhi is the most preferred option, followed by Madras Medical College, Chennai, Christian Medical College, Vellore and Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. JIPMER, Puducherry, along with several state government medical colleges of Delhi, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, also attract high preference of medical aspirants.
Candidates, while evaluating options, should also consider the category-wise closing ranks of the previous year, as these are not consistent and vary every year with respect to the number of seats added and the number of applicants.
Things Candidates Should be Doing While Waiting
- Keep the NEET UG 2026 hall ticket and result printout available for registration
- Start shortlisting colleges and courses now, instead of doing this after portal opening
- Review last year’s closing ranks for target colleges to use this as a rough estimate
- Avoid using third-party sites to access “leaked” counselling dates and rely only on mcc.nic.in
Final Thoughts
This year, the anticipation for MCC's official schedule has really put our patience to the test. The process itself will remain the same. This includes registration, option filling, allotment, and reporting. This process will extend through four rounds and is set to conclude sometime in October. Each round will have a limited number of available seats, with 1.36 lakh MBBS seats and 28,016 BDS seats available. Regardless of the opening of the portal, competition will remain high. Therefore, the best use of this time is to prepare and not panic.
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