The cut-off for MBBS admissions in the state of Tamil Nadu is most likely to drop by a minimum of 10 marks in several categories in 2021 to make the process easy for students, despite their marginal improvement in the NEET conducted this year. The reason is that the number of MBBS seats in government and private sectors has gone up.
For the first time since 2017, the cut-off has come down. This year, 235 students from the state scored over 650 marks in NEET, compared to just 205 the year before. Students' counsellor Manickavel Arumugam said, "The difference is not stark enough to impact the cut-off but the additional MBBS seats this year will make all the difference. The open category cut-off for government medical colleges may come down to 585 from 598 in 2020. Likewise, the cut-off for other categories, including BC and MBC, will also come down by up to 15 marks."
The 11 new government medical colleges opened in Tamil Nadu this year will bring up the tally of medical seats by 1,450. The Coimbatore government medical college will enrol 200 students in 2021, 50 more than the last year. Additionally, three self-financing medical colleges, a private university and several deemed universities have been allowed to begin MBBS programmes.
Top rankers from the state are targetting prestigious institutions like AIIMS and JIPMER. S Senthil Kumar says, "I thought it was best to study in a college closest to home. But my nephew has scored more than 600 marks. So he is exploring the option of studying in AIIMS in other states."
Experts are of the opinion that if more top rankers choose seats from the all-India quota, the cut-off could drop even more. Nandhini V, who coaches students for NEET, says, "Students may not get the college of their choice unless they score high. The cut-off for top institutions like Madras Medical College will be high because there is no change in the number of seats there."
Dr Prasad Mane, Secretary of Kilpauk Medical College Alumni Association, says that the cut-off for government school students under the special 7.5 per cent quota is unlikely to come down. But more government school students could join private colleges under special reservation as the government has promised to pay their fees. Last year, 400 government students joined MBBS under special reservation.