NEET 2018 results out: Delhi girl ranks no. 1, 3 students from Maharashtra in top 50

The Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) released results for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2018 on Monday, a day before the official date of announcement.

Of the over 12.69 lakh students who appeared for the exams across the country, 7.14 lakh have qualified for medical and dental admissions, as per CBSE data. These students will compete for the approximately 66,000 college seats in India.

Kalpana Kumari from Delhi bagged the no. 1 All-India Rank (AIR), with 99.99 percentile, or a score of 691 out of 720.

Three students from Maharashtra made it to the top 50 in the country. Nanded’s Krishna Agrawal is AIR 7, and has his eyes set on radiology. “I’m very keen on doing my masters in radiology and hope to get a seat in New Delhi’s Maulana Azad Medical College for my MBBS,” said the 18-year-old. An avid reader, Krishna has also represented his school in state-level badminton and cricket tournaments. “I also take out time from my studies to swim every day. I like to balance my mental and physical workouts,” added Krishna, whose father is a paediatrician and mother a dentist.

While Maharashtra saw the largest number of registrations this year — 1.82 lakh students registered for the all-India entrance exam — less than 40% have qualified for admissions. The highest number of students who have qualified are from Uttar Pradesh at 76,778, followed by Kerala with 72,682 students and Maharashtra with 70,184.

This year’s overall NEET scores have dipped compared to last year, experts said. As per information shared by CBSE, the qualifying criteria for NEET aspirants was 50 percentile in the open category — a score of 119 and above. However, 50 percentile began at a lower score this year compared to 2017. Last year, the cut-off score for MBBS and BDS aspirants was in 131-697 out of 720, but this year, the range is lower, between 119 and 691. “The drop in overall scores means more students have qualified for admissions compared to last year,” said an expert, who did not wish to be named.