Karnataka NEET UG 2026 Round 2 Option Entry Starts Today

Karnataka Examinations Authority has issued a fresh notice for the Second Round of UGNEET-2026 Medical and Dental seat allotment.

🚨 ROUND 2 ACTION ALERT

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🩺 MBBS

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🦷 BDS

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📋 Option Entry Opens: 7 September 2026 — 2:00 PM

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🔴 Option Entry Closes: 9 September 2026 — 2:00 PM

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🎯 Current Stage: Choice Filling / Option Entry

What Has KEA Announced?

KEA's new notice dated 6 September 2026 starts the Second Round seat-allotment process for Medical and Dental courses.

Eligible candidates will be able to work with their option list from:

7 September 2026 — 2:00 PM

until:

9 September 2026 — 2:00 PM

Candidates should not assume the deadline is midnight.

The official deadline is 2 PM on 9 September.

Who Can Participate in Karnataka Round 2?

KEA's new notice identifies important eligible groups.

Round 1 Choice-2 Candidates

Candidates who selected:

Choice-2

after the first UGNEET allotment can participate in the Second Round according to KEA rules.

Their earlier seat may operate as a virtual vacancy/upgradation-linked seat in the allotment process.

Round 1 Choice-3 Candidates

Candidates who selected:

Choice-3

can participate in the Second Round according to the notified eligibility conditions.

They should carefully review their available Medical/Dental options before saving the final list.

Candidates Who Did Not Get Any Seat in Round 1

Candidates who participated in the first UGNEET round but received:

No allotment

can participate in the Second Round.

This is an important opportunity because Round 2 can include:

• unfilled seats;
• surrendered/cancelled seats;
• virtual vacancies;
• newly available seats;
• seats released due to upgradation movement;
• other officially included seats.

Special UGCET Choice-4 Group

KEA's notice also addresses candidates who moved through the UGCET counselling process and selected Choice-4 after the relevant UGCET round.

Where such candidates still have eligible Medical/Dental options in their option list, they can participate in the UGNEET Second Round subject to KEA's notified rules.

This group should check the portal carefully instead of assuming that UGCET Choice-4 automatically blocks Medical/Dental participation.

What Can Candidates Do During Option Entry?

During the notified window, eligible candidates can work with the options available to them.

Candidates should check whether the portal permits them to:

• add available options;
• delete unwanted options;
• modify preferences;
• reorder colleges;
• save the updated option list.

Always save the final preference order after changes.

Very Important — Do Not Fill Options by Expected Cutoff

The correct method is:

True Preference Order

If College A is genuinely preferred over College B, place College A above College B even if you believe its cutoff will be difficult.

KEA's allotment engine checks options according to merit, eligibility, reservation and availability.

Placing a difficult college higher does not destroy the chance of getting a lower preference if the higher one is unavailable.

Karnataka Needs More Detailed Quota Separation Than Most States

HGE should not store every Karnataka private seat under one generic Private quota.

The Round 2 dataset must preserve officially notified routes such as:

• Government seats
• Private seats
• Minority seats
• NRI seats
• NRI Ward / applicable NRI-linked routes
• Other/Management categories
• St. John's institutional/special eligibility
• special-claim seats where notified

These routes can have very different eligibility, fees and closing ranks.

Karnataka Special Claims

Candidates with special claims should verify that their KEA verification/claim status is correctly reflected.

Depending on applicability, HGE continues to separately monitor:

• PwD
• Religious Minority
• Linguistic Minority
• NRI
• NRI Ward
• St. John's eligibility
• special-category verification
• other claim certificates notified by KEA

Do not assume that merely having a certificate automatically activates the claim in KEA.

The claim must be accepted in the counselling record as applicable.

Choice-2 Candidates — Upgradation Strategy

If you already hold a Round 1 seat and are participating for a better seat:

Keep only genuine upgrades above your current seat.

Ask:

• Would I leave my existing college for this college?
• Is the fee affordable?
• Is the quota acceptable?
• Is the location acceptable?
• Does the college provide better value for me?

If the answer is no, do not place that option above your current seat merely because its closing rank looks attractive.

Private / Minority / NRI Candidates — Check Fees First

Before adding a high-fee Karnataka Medical/Dental seat, check:

• annual tuition fee;
• university fee;
• hostel fee;
• miscellaneous charges;
• applicable bond;
• security deposit;
• NRI eligibility;
• minority eligibility.

A rank-compatible seat is not automatically a financially suitable seat.

Important HGE Round 2 Data Watch

KEA's Round 2 process now requires close monitoring for:

Seat Matrix

Any fresh/additional/withdrawn seat changes.

Option Entry

7 Sep 2 PM → 9 Sep 2 PM

Provisional Allotment

To be published after the option-entry process as notified by KEA.

Final Allotment

To follow according to KEA's next official publication.

Cutoff

To be calculated only after the actual allotment data becomes available.

When Round 2 Result Releases

Hire Guide Education should provide a full data-driven result analysis including:

Government MBBS

• GM
• reservation categories
• key Government colleges
• opening/closing rank movement

Private MBBS

Separate:

• Government seat
• Private seat
• Minority
• NRI
• Other/Management routes

BDS

Separate:

• Government
• Private
• Minority
• NRI where applicable

College-Wise Analysis

Compare Round 1 → Round 2 movement for major colleges.

Student Action Checklist

1. Log in after 2 PM today.
2. Check whether you are eligible for Round 2.
3. Review your existing option list.
4. Check newly available colleges/seats.
5. Remove colleges you would definitely refuse.
6. Check Private/Minority/NRI fees before ranking them.
7. Arrange every acceptable college in true preference order.
8. Save changes.
9. Recheck the complete option list.
10. Finish well before 9 September at 2 PM.
11. Save proof of your final option list.
12. Monitor KEA for the provisional allotment result.

Official Links

Karnataka Examinations Authority

https://cetonline.karnataka.gov.in/kea/indexnew

Official UGNEET Round 2 Notice

https://cetonline.karnataka.gov.in/keawebentry456/ugneet2026/20260906195318kannada.pdf

Hire Guide Education Advice

The most important change is:

Round 2 Awaited

→

Option Entry / Choice Filling

The window is only:

7 Sep 2 PM → 9 Sep 2 PM

Do not wait for the evening of 9 September because the portal closes at 2 PM, not midnight.

For candidates holding a Round 1 seat, the best strategy is to put only genuine upgrades above the existing seat.

Hire Guide Education — Navigating Your Future