Why is NEET Mandatory for Overseas Students?

NEET has been mandatory for overseas MBBS students from starting of 2019. This has led to a significant rise in the number of applicants for the exam which is to be held on May 2nd. The examination will be conducted by the National Testing Agency NTA this year.

Previously students who were unable to clear NEET could also go abroad to study medicine. Anyone who scored above 50% in boards was eligible to apply overseas for medical studies. Overseas medical students after completing their course abroad have to write to the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam [FMGE] to practice in India as qualified doctors. But now, since NEET has been made mandatory for overseas students as well, there will be a two-way screening for all doctors. This is done to improve the quality of doctors.

NEET 2019 will be an offline examination that will offer to admission to nearly 90,000 seats in all medical and dental colleges of India except AIIMS and JIPMER. Aspirants who have a visual impairment are also encouraged to appear for NEET 2019 and can avail the 5% admission reservation for persons with disability through the Right of Persons with Disabilities ACT, 2016. The exam will be held on May 5, 2019. The aspiring candidates must have already filled the NEET 2019 Application Form. So, now let’s go through a few more details.

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NEET 2019 Eligibility Criteria

Candidates should be no less than 17 years.
Candidates with age 25 or above are eligible to apply and take NEET 2019.
UR - 50%, OBC/SC/ST - 40%, PWD - 45%
There is no limit on the permitted number of attempts for NEET.
Indian Nationals, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), Persons with Indian Origin (PIO) and Foreign Nationals are eligible to appear for NEET.
There are seven qualification codes in total as per the NEET eligibility criteria 2019. A student is required to choose one among the seven failing which, he/she will not be able to appear for NEET.

Admission Process After NEET Results

NEET 2019 counselling is most likely to begin on the second week of June and will be held in online mode. The counselling will be conducted for 15% of the total seats for all government medical colleges, all seats of central and deemed universities and many more.

Candidates belonging to the state of Jammu and Kashmir will not be eligible to participate in the counselling of 15% All India Quota Seats. The respective state authorities will conduct the counselling for the remaining 85% state quota seats.

Candidates are required to secure a minimum of 50th percentile (45th percentile for General-PWD candidates and 40th percentile for SC/ST/OBC candidates) to become eligible for NEET counselling 2019.

Candidates must register for the counselling process online, and at this stage, they are required to submit their personal and academic details. For successful registration, candidates must pay the registration fee online using Credit Card/Debit Card/ Net Banking. The candidates are required to submit choices in the counselling process which is to be considered at the time of seat allotment.

How to Prepare for NEET 2019?

NEET UG syllabus is similar to class 11 and 12 outlines of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Not much change has been made in the syllabus for the 2019 examination. The NCERT textbooks are the best books for NEET 2019.

Approximately 13 to 14 lakhs students will be appearing for the exam and competing for just close to 90,000 seats.

To secure a 50th percentile position, you must obtain a score which stands above the score of 6.5 to 7 lakh students. As per previous year records, if NEET has a total mark of 720, scoring anything above 150 will help you secure the 50th percentile position. SC/ST/OBCs require 40 percentile to qualify which means scoring anything above 130 marks will help them to secure a qualifying position in NEET.