NEET UG Counselling 2026: MCC Announces Round 3 and Stray Vacancy Round Schedule
Published 19 Sept 20263 min read
The Medical Counselling Committee has released the Round 3 counselling schedule for NEET UG 2026, along with dates for the online stray vacancy round, covering MBBS, BDS and BSc Nursing admissions. Round 3 registration opens on September 22, 2026 at neet.nta.nic.in, with the seat allotment result due on September 30.
NEET UG Round 3 Counselling: Full Schedule
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Verification of tentative seat matrix | September 21, 2026 |
| Registration and fee payment | September 22–27, 2026 |
| Choice filling | September 23–28, 2026 |
| Choice locking | September 27, 7 PM – September 28, 12 noon |
| Processing of seat allotment | September 28–29, 2026 |
| Round 3 allotment result | September 30, 2026 |
| Reporting at allotted institute | October 1–9, 2026 |
| Verification of joined candidates | October 10, 2026 |
Registration closes at 3 PM on September 27, with the fee payment window staying open until 6 PM the same day, and choice filling closing at 12 noon on September 28.
Online Stray Vacancy Round: Full Schedule
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Registration and fee payment | October 12–14, 2026 |
| Choice filling | October 12–15, 2026 |
| Choice locking | October 14, 4 PM – October 15, 10 AM |
| Seat allotment processing | October 15–16, 2026 |
| Online stray vacancy result | October 17, 2026 |
| Reporting at allotted institute | October 19–26, 2026 |
This round fills seats left vacant after Round 3 — typically the last realistic shot at an MCC-administered seat for the cycle.
Where Round 2 Stands Right Now
Round 2 of MCC counselling is still being closed out. Candidates allotted seats in Round 2 must report to their allotted institutes between September 12 and 18, 2026, and MCC will verify joined-candidate data on September 19. MCC has also directed participating institutes to treat Saturdays, Sundays and gazetted holidays as working days, to keep the overall schedule on track.
What MCC Counselling Covers
MCC's counselling covers 15% All India Quota (AIQ) seats plus 100% of seats in deemed universities, central universities, AFMC, AIIMS and JIPMER, for MBBS, BDS and BSc Nursing programmes. The remaining 85% state-quota seats are handled separately by individual state counselling authorities — a distinction the source article itself flags as a common candidate mistake (assuming MCC and state counselling are the same process).
Seats, Reservation and Registration Fees
For the 2026-27 session, 1,36,939 MBBS seats are available across 823 medical colleges nationally — 63,296 in 441 government colleges and 73,643 in 382 private colleges, an increase of 9,911 seats over the previous cycle.
Reservation categories (national):
- GEN-EWS: 10%
- SC: 15%
- ST: 7.5%
- OBC-NCL: 27%
- PwBD: 5% (horizontal, across categories)
Registration fees:
| Category | Registration Fee | Refundable Security Deposit |
|---|---|---|
| UR/EWS | ₹1,000 | ₹10,000 |
| SC/ST/OBC/PwD | ₹500 | ₹5,000 |
| Deemed universities (all categories) | ₹5,000 | ₹2,00,000 |
Documents Required for Round 3
- NEET UG 2026 admit card and scorecard/rank letter
- Provisional seat allotment letter
- Class 10 and Class 12 certificates and mark sheets
- Valid photo ID proof (Aadhaar/PAN/driving licence/passport)
- Eight passport-size photographs
- Caste certificate and PwD certificate, where applicable
NEET UG Cutoff: What's Confirmed, What Needs Checking
The source material carries two different cutoff comparison tables that don't agree with each other for the same categories — one lists the 2025 Unreserved-category range as 720–155, while another lists the 2025 UR/EWS range as 686–144 for what should be the equivalent group. Rather than pick one, this is flagged for direct verification against NTA's official NEET UG 2026 result notification before being treated as fact. [VERIFY]