NEET UG 2026 special stray round: 946 MBBS seats, 2 at AIIMS, 207 BDS and 66 nursing seats, dates and how to choose

What this round is

MCC runs counselling for the 15% all-India quota in state government colleges, all seats in deemed universities, and central institutions such as AIIMS. After round 3 and the stray vacancy round, seats were still empty: some were never filled and others came back when students resigned or did not report. MCC has gathered them into one more round.

For scale, the clear vacancy list for the regular stray round of 15 October 2026 had 4,068 seats across MBBS, BDS and B.Sc nursing. The special round's 1,219 seats are what remained after that round's allotments and joining.

The 946 MBBS seats, quota by quota

The deemed university seats are spread as follows: Tamil Nadu 686, Puducherry 186, Karnataka 25, Maharashtra 10, Telangana 4, and the rest in a few other states. One Chennai deemed university alone lists 65 open category seats. Almost all MBBS seats, 927 of 946, are open category seats with no reservation tag.

The two AIIMS seats are narrow. AIIMS Madurai has one seat for an EWS candidate with a disability, and AIIMS Rishikesh has one SC seat. Both are in the open seat quota. Unless you match that exact category, these seats are not for you, however much attention the AIIMS name gets.

Two seats were added after the matrix. MCC's Notice 19 of 2 November added one NRI seat at Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, New Delhi, and one OBC disability seat at Stanley Medical College, Chennai. Both are open for choice filling.

BDS and B.Sc nursing: round 5

The same round is round 5 for dental and nursing seats.

• BDS, 207 seats. 112 are all-India quota seats in government dental colleges, led by Kerala (17), Tamil Nadu (11), West Bengal (10) and Maharashtra (9). The rest are 71 NRI seats, 11 deemed university seats, and a handful under ESI, open seat, IP University, Delhi University and Muslim minority quotas.
• B.Sc nursing, 66 seats. 36 are all-India seats, 17 are NEET UG nursing seats, and 13 are Delhi NCR and IP University seats, some of them reserved for children of employees.

For BDS students, a government dental college seat through the all-India quota costs far less than a deemed university MBBS seat. If your rank is short of MBBS, compare these before you lock choices.

Gujarat seats in the list

The matrix has six seats in Gujarat:

• GMERS Medical College, Godhra (Panchmahal): 1 MBBS seat, all-India quota, SC.
• SBKS Medical Institute and Research Centre, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth, Piparia, Vadodara: 3 MBBS seats, deemed university, open category.
• Government Dental College and Hospital, Ahmedabad and Government Dental College and Hospital, Jamnagar: 1 BDS seat each, all-India quota, SC with disability.

Gujarat's state quota seats are not in this list. The state admission committee runs its own special stray round for those on medadmgujarat.org, on dates MCC set in its state schedule: 3 to 7 November, with joining by 16 November. MCC will share its list of allotted candidates with states on 7 November so they can be removed from state lists. If you take an MCC seat in this round, expect to drop out of the Gujarat list. Our MBBS admission 2026 guide for Gujarat explains how the two counselling systems fit together.

Dates

All times follow MCC's server clock, as stated in its schedule of 30 October. MCC has also fixed round 6 for BDS and B.Sc nursing: registration from 17 to 19 November (up to 3 pm on 18 November), result on 20 November, and reporting from 21 to 28 November 2026.

Fees and deposit

MCC charges a registration fee and a refundable security deposit, and its candidate user guide says both vary with the quota you select. The exact amount is shown on the payment screen after you pick quotas. The deposit is refunded to the account it was paid from, so pay from an account you can access later.

The seat matrix does not show tuition fees. For a deemed university, the annual fee, hostel charges and any bond are on that university's own website and admission notice. Read them before you add the college to your list. A seat you are allotted and do not join can cost you the deposit, so never fill a college you cannot pay for.

How to choose, step by step

1. Open the matrix and filter for your category, disability status and quota. Most rows will not apply to you.
2. Write down the fees for every deemed university you are considering, from its own website.
3. Decide your ceiling. If the family can manage one fee level and not another, stop the list there.
4. Put the cheapest real options first. An all-India quota government seat or a government dental seat may be worth more to you than a costly MBBS seat far from home.
5. Lock before 11 am on 5 November. Lock them yourself and download the locked choice list.
6. If allotted, report by 5 pm on 16 November with your original documents and the fee.