Elevated NEET UG 2024 Cut-Offs: A New Era of Competition in Medical School Admissions

NEET cutoff rises creating a roadblock for aspirants.

The NEET examination is among the toughest exams and has been a doorway for aspiring doctors in India. In recent times NEET UG exams have shown unequalled records by raising their cut-off scores, presenting new challenges for students to get admission to Medical College. NEET UG cut-off score is the minimum mark required for candidates to qualify for admission but in the last few years, the cutoff has steadily increased due to the rising number of applicants and limited number of seats.

In 2024, the General category cutoff showed a significant upswing jumping from 720-137 last year to 720-164, an obstacle for future applicants, along with a quite startling result as 67 students from Rajasthan shared NEET all India Rank 1 with 99.99 percentile score. The main point of concern is only 542 Medical colleges in India offer Undergraduate and Postgraduate medical courses and every year approximately 15-16 lakh students appear for NEET exams.

Online material availability, coaching experts, and abundant study material provide students with resources to achieve a much higher rank, and students are spaced by repetition, regular practice tests, mock tests, and active learning techniques giving the best performance in exams. NEET competition is constantly becoming intense, pressuring students to perform well, and leading to anxiety and stress among students.

The government needs to pay attention to this alarming situation and needs a diverse approach to handle the situation. Primarily they need to establish more medical colleges and increase the number of seats for existing colleges to accommodate more students, as well as need to improve infrastructure and facilities. Without compromising on the quality of education, coaching institutes in rural areas should be set up having expert faculty, providing scholarships for coaching classes that can help along with providing them free authentic online resources. Although the NEET rising cutoff creates challenges for India’s future doctors, there is hope for a supportive education system to help students reach their potential. 

Editor's Note:

Dreaming of being a doctor is becoming challenging due to the rising cutoff of NEET every year. The latest cutoff showed that students have to go through cutthroat competition to secure a seat in Medical colleges. In this article, we intend to shed light on the pressures and competitive nature of the current admission process which needs a calculated preparation and sturdy support system. Skoobuzz appreciates your feedback and insights about the topic as these are invaluable and we will continue to explore the dynamics of medical education and the challenges faced by our future healthcare leaders. It is also important to note that medicine is not the only degree that can fulfill one’s calling in life and students should be nudged to look into other courses as well.