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Time of India
20 hours ago
- Health
- Time of India
Lower cut-offs fuel hope as MBBS applications surge
Chennai: The state selection committee received nearly 60,000 applications for undergraduate medical and dental admissions on Friday, marking a 39.5% increase compared to the 43,000 applications received in 2024. Officials expect at least 5,000 to 10,000 more applications before the June 25 deadline. Of the 1,35,715 candidates who appeared for the medical entrance test this year, 76,181 (56%) qualified. While the number of students who qualified was fewer than in 2024, more students applied for admissions this year as lower NEET scores are likely to pull down cut-offs by at least 100 marks in almost all categories. As many students with similar scores are clustered between 451 and 550 marks, more candidates with fewer scores have applied for counselling this year. "Students with a score of 450 – 500/720 marks in NEET 2024 did not stand a chance if they applied in the general category last year. This year, students are hopeful," said R Naveen, a student counsellor. "The govt's decision to open admission portal early has had its impact. Many people have applied because there was time," he added. The admission, however, is likely to be tougher because of the clustering. Also, there have been no additional seats in existing colleges or new medical colleges in the state. The TN health policy note in 2025 stated that Tamil Nadu has an annual admission capacity of 11,700 MBBS seats, with 5,050 seats in govt medical colleges. There are 22 self-financing private medical colleges, four private universities, and 13 deemed-to-be universities. "This means the number of students getting admissions is unlikely to change. Also, if the performance is not similar to that of candidates from other seats, students from Tamil Nadu will find it difficult to get seats under all India quota seats," said student counsellor Manickavel Arumugam.
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
MBBS/BDS admission prospectus keeps students, parents guessing
Chennai: The prospectus for MBBS/BDS admissions for 2025, available on the selection committee's official webpage, is riddled with errors, leading to confusion on several issues such as the application fee, admission process, and penalties for violations. For instance, on page 8 of the management quota application form, it states the application fee is 500, but on page 16, the fee mentioned is 1,000. For registrations, pages 28 and 31 say fresh registration is permitted in round 2 and round 3, while page 43 says registration is not allowed before round 2 but allowed in round 1, round 3, and the stray round. Page 9 says the security deposit will be forfeited if the candidate discontinues the allotted course in any round, but the tabular column on page 50 says there will be no forfeiture if the student discontinues in round 1. "There are so many contradictions that it is difficult to understand the process," said student counsellor Manickavel Arumugam, who compiled a six-page document of errors in the prospectus. "It is good the state started the admission process ahead of NEET results to give students time, but they had a whole year to review and edit the prospectus. It's sad to see so many glaring errors," he said. Parents and students have also complained about inconsistencies in the admission process. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like This Device Made My Power Bill Drop Overnight elecTrick - Save upto 80% on Power Bill Pre-Order Undo While page 24 states that the signature file should be between 4KB and 20KB, the online application asks for a file size of 10KB to 40KB. "We've called the help desk at least 12 times to get these clarified. The person at the desk also gives different versions every time we call," said Kumeresan K, whose son is aspiring for a medical seat this year. "The entire admission process is going to be online. At least in face-to-face counselling, we can seek clarification. If the prospectus is so unclear, how do we make smart choices?" he said. Students also said that it's not clear if they are allowed to reject the offer in round 2 without penalties. "While some pages (9 and 45) say candidates exiting round 2 must forfeit the security deposit, the instructions on other pages (30 and 50) say round two has a free exit," said a candidate aspiring for a medical seat this year. "The entire admission process is going to be online. At least in face-to-face counselling, we can seek clarification. If the prospectus is so unclear, how do we make smart choices?" he said. The state has also given two different timelines on when they would refund the security deposit. While page 15 says the security deposit will be refunded within two months after the completion of counselling, pages 7 and 47 say it will take three months. But what have students and parents worried are redundant rules. The prospectus states that in case candidates get equal marks, the rank of such candidates may be determined on the basis of seniority in age. When NTA gives an all-India ranking – a unique rank for all candidates – this becomes redundant, experts said.
Time of India
03-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Medical candidates rue lack of transparency in total fees
Chennai: One question the state medical selection committee consistently fails to answer accurately concerns the total fees charged by self-financing medical colleges and private universities for govt and management quota MBBS seats. While the fee committee prescribes tuition, most colleges add development charges, transportation, insurance, library, hostel, books, and stationery fees, inflating the total by up to 12 lakh. Officials in directorate of medical education clarify that the 'tuition fee' set by fee fixation committee excludes charges for hostel, library, or mess. A senior official stated, "We collect tuition fee and transfer it to the college. Colleges are allowed to collect a nominal fee for hostel or transport. We don't want to display the entire fee, or it will look like it's approved by the govt," he said. This practice has sparked outrage among parents and student counsellors, who demand complete fee transparency during the choice-blocking phase. "The committee asks me to make smart choices during the admission process. How will I lock choices when I don't know the fee college will ask?" said S R Ramani, whose nephew awaits admission in 2025. "My friends paid almost double the prescribed fees in the prospectus. Why can't the govt make it mandatory for all colleges to declare the fee?" he said. In 2024, after allotting a govt quota seat in a self-financing medical college affiliated with the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University, the state selection committee collected 4.35 lakh for the first-year MBBS tuition fee. However, when parents visited the college for other formalities, they were asked to pay an additional 3.61 lakh towards various other fees. Another college, with a prescribed tuition fee of 4.45 lakh, demanded additional 4.15 lakh. Copies of these receipts are available with TOI. The fees charged by private medical universities can increase by up to 8 lakh. Student counsellor Manickavel Arumugam stated, "The govt must say the fee for a govt seat is anywhere between 6 lakh to 12 lakh a year instead of saying the tuition fee is between 4.35 lakh to 5.4 lakh." For the management quota, an additional fee can push the total annual fee from the prescribed 13.5 lakh in self-financing colleges to up to 20 lakh, and from 16.4 lakh in private universities to up to 23 lakh. Officials from self-financing medical colleges said they display fees transparently at the first opportunity. A dean of a self-financing medical college in Chennai said, "We give breakup to parents when they bring allotment orders. Parents have used them to get education loans from banks." He added, "Non-minority colleges share up to 65% of their seats, but the fee is the same for minority and non-minority institutions. How can we run the institution with such low revenue?" At least three self-financing colleges have applied for deemed university status to gain autonomy in deciding their fee structure. Deemed universities charged up to 30 lakh a year for MBBS in 2024. TN health secretary P Senthilkumar said state would consider displaying full fee breakdown on the govt portal during counselling this year.
