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Ahmedabad: Aniket Patel, who did not make it to the merit list of 2023 after appearing in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical admission with 290 marks, remained undeterred. He appeared again in 2024 and improved his tally to 365.“The marks gave me a chance to take admission in management quota in some of the medical colleges. However, it would have been a huge financial burden for my family with fees of over Rs 80 lakh for the course. I thus appeared again in 2025 and scored 543. I am now sure of getting a seat in a govt college, which would have one-fifth of the fees,” he says. As the first round of medical admissions concluded in the state, the trend indicates that nearly half (47%) of those in the merit list of 24,955 have passed their class 12 exam between 2021 and 2024, indicating that it was not their first attempt. The strategy has worked for the students, as about one-third or 35% of the seats are allocated in the first round to such candidates, indicating the early trend. According to data from the Admission Committee for Professional Medical Education Courses (ACPMEC), admissions are ongoing for 6,958 seats in 40 state-based medical colleges. Out of the total on the merit list, 207 candidates are from 2021, 460 from 2022, 1,832 from 2023, and 9,393 from 2024. In comparison, those who have cleared their class 12 in 2025 number 13,063. Experts said that with the rising cost of medical education, this has been a trend observed for the past few years in the state. Pankaj Baldi, coordinator for a NEET-UG coaching class in the city, said that when students do not make it to govt colleges, they decide to appear again next year. “For several candidates, it is a thought-out strategy as they can only focus on NEET preparations after completing class 12. While they do lose a year, for successful candidates it means saving lakhs of rupees with the right score,” Pankaj Baldi, coordinator for a NEET UG coaching class in Ahmedabad said. “Several of the coaching classes have special batches for such students.” Last year, against 11,800 aspirants who passed the class 12 exam the same year, about 9,980 aspirants had cleared the exam in previous years (2021 to 2023). Experts pointed out that the trend is on the rise in the state. To study MBBS at a private college, fees range from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 14 lakh per year. Govt colleges that require higher cut-off marks than most private colleges have annual fees of about Rs 25,000. At GMERS colleges, which are govt trust-run colleges, the annual fee is about Rs 3 lakh. For students from modest backgrounds, improving their score by even 100 places results in saving lakhs of rupees.
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