Tamil Nadu NEET UG 2026 Round 2 Choice Filling Started

Tamil Nadu Selection Committee has moved MBBS/BDS Round 2 counselling into the Choice Filling stage.

🚨 ROUND 2 STAGE CHANGE

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📋 Choice Filling Starts: 9 September 2026 — 2:00 PM

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🔒 Choice Locking Starts: 12 September 2026 — 10:00 AM

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⏰ Choice Filling / Locking Ends: 13 September 2026 — 2:00 PM

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⚙️ Seat Allotment Processing: 14 September 2026

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🎯 Round 2 Result: 15 September 2026

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🏥 Last Date of Joining: 18 September 2026 — 5:00 PM

Choice Filling Is Now Active

The official Tamil Nadu Selection Committee Round 2 schedule confirms that online Choice Filling begins:

9 September 2026 — 2:00 PM

This applies separately to:

• the regular 92.5% counselling route, covering Government and Management Quota including NRI and applicable minority/institutional seats; and
• the 7.5% Government School Reservation route.

Candidates should use the official Round 2 counselling portal.

Registration Has Already Closed

The Round 2 Registration and Payment window ran from:

7 September 2026 — 10:00 AM

to:

8 September 2026 — 5:00 PM

Therefore the HGE dashboard should no longer show:

Registration — ACTIVE

The live stage is now:

Choice Filling — ACTIVE

Choice Locking Does NOT Start Today

This is an important Tamil Nadu-specific timing rule.

Although Choice Filling starts today at 2 PM, the official schedule states:

Choice Locking will be enabled only after 12 September 2026 at 10:00 AM.

Tamil Nadu explains that this timing is linked to the expected MCC All India Quota Round 2 result.

Therefore candidates can currently:

• enter choices;
• reorder choices;
• edit choices;

but final locking is scheduled to start only from 12 Sep at 10 AM.

Final Choice Deadline

Both the regular 92.5% route and 7.5% Government School route have the same final deadline:

13 September 2026 — 2:00 PM

If a candidate does not manually lock choices by the deadline, the official schedule states that their submitted choices will be:

automatically locked

at the end of the window.

Still, candidates should not depend on automatic locking without carefully reviewing the full choice order first.

Who Needs to Fill Choices?

Under the regular Round 2 schedule, Choice Filling applies particularly to:

• candidates seeking upgradation;
• candidates who were not allotted a seat in Round 1;
• candidates who were allotted but did not join;
• eligible fresh Round 2 participants;
• eligible Round 1 joined candidates whose Round 2 participation/upgradation status permits it.

Round 1 Joined Candidates — Important Upgradation Rule

If a candidate joined a Round 1 seat and had already opted for:

UPGRADATION

during admission, they do not need to register again.

Their Round 1 seat is shown as a:

Virtual Vacancy

for Round 2.

If that candidate gets upgraded in Round 2:

the Round 1 seat must be relinquished and the candidate has no claim over the old Round 1 seat.

This is one of the most important consequences of Round 2 upgradation.

Candidates Who Previously Selected “NO” for Upgradation

If a joined Round 1 candidate had earlier chosen:

NO for upgradation

but later wanted to participate in Round 2, the official schedule required them to confirm participation during the registration window.

That registration window has now closed.

Candidates should therefore verify their current Round 2 eligibility/status in the portal before relying on an upgradation opportunity.

Candidate Wants to Retain Round 1 Seat?

A candidate who wants to keep the existing Round 1 seat and does not want any change:

need not participate in Round 2 Choice Filling.

The official instructions also state that a joined candidate who had earlier opted for upgradation but now wants to retain the existing seat may avoid participating in Choice Filling, and the existing seat will be retained according to the stated process.

Virtual Vacancy — Important for Choice Strategy

Tamil Nadu Round 2 includes Virtual Vacancies.

A virtual vacancy is a Round 1 seat held by a candidate seeking upgradation.

The seat can be displayed to other candidates during Choice Filling.

However:

it becomes a real vacancy only if the existing Round 1 candidate actually upgrades/vacates it.

Therefore virtual vacancy numbers should not be interpreted as guaranteed vacant seats.

Government Quota + Management Quota — Keep Separate

For HGE data and student strategy, Tamil Nadu Round 2 must remain split across:

Government Quota

Including applicable seats in:

• Government Medical Colleges
• Government Dental Colleges
• ESIC Medical College
• Government Quota seats in Self-Financing institutions
• State Private Universities where applicable

Management Quota

Including applicable:

• Management seats
• Minority seats
• NRI seats
• Christian Medical College-specific routes
• institutional categories where officially permitted

Do not combine their cutoffs.

7.5% Government School Reservation — Separate Counselling Route

Tamil Nadu also publishes a separate Round 2 schedule for:

7.5% Reservation for Tamil Nadu Government School Students

The Round 2 choice window is:

9 Sep 2 PM → 13 Sep 2 PM

Choice Locking:

from 12 Sep 10 AM

Result:

15 Sep

Joining:

by 18 Sep 5 PM

This route should remain a separate HGE quota/reservation analysis from the regular 92.5% seat pool.

Eligible Rank Range — Regular Round 2

The official Round 2 schedule states the participation range as:

Government Quota

General Rank 1 → 35,926

with NEET marks shown from:

705 → 177

Management Quota

General Rank 1 → 26,956

with NEET marks shown from:

693 → 177

These are eligibility/participation ranges for counselling, not college admission cutoffs.

Do not present 177 as a Tamil Nadu MBBS admission cutoff.

7.5% Government School Round 2 Range

For the separate 7.5% Government School reservation Round 2, the official schedule shows:

General Rank 1 → 3,625

with NEET marks:

599 → 177

Again:

This is the counselling participation range, not the college-wise closing cutoff.

Choice Filling Strategy

Candidates should now prepare choices according to:

1. genuine college preference;
2. Government vs Management quota;
3. course preference — MBBS/BDS;
4. fee affordability;
5. minority/NRI eligibility;
6. Round 1 cutoffs;
7. clear and virtual vacancies;
8. realistic upgrade options.

Do not arrange choices only according to previous closing rank.

Fee Rule After Round 2 Allotment

The official schedule states that freshly allotted MBBS candidates and candidates allotted Government Dental College BDS seats generally need to pay applicable tuition fee before downloading the provisional allotment order.

Eligible SC/SCA/ST/SCC candidates allotted under specified quota conditions may receive upfront fee exemption subject to the published income-rule requirements.

For Self-Financing BDS colleges, tuition fee payment follows the separate rule stated in the official schedule.

Round 2 Result Timeline

After the Choice Filling window:

14 September

Seat Allotment Processing

15 September

Round 2 Result

15–18 September

Download provisional allotment order / reporting

18 September — 5 PM

Last Date of Joining

HGE Round 2 Result Analysis Requirement

When Tamil Nadu publishes the Round 2 allotment result, Hire Guide Education should perform detailed data extraction separately for:

Government Quota MBBS

• college-wise opening rank
• closing rank
• community/category-wise cutoff
• Round 1 → Round 2 movement

Management Quota MBBS

• college-wise opening/closing rank
• Management
• Minority
• NRI separately

Government BDS

• Government Dental colleges
• category-wise movement

Private BDS

• Government Quota
• Management Quota
• Minority/NRI where applicable

7.5% Government School Reservation

• college-wise opening/closing rank
• MBBS vs BDS
• Round 1 → Round 2 movement

Do not combine the 7.5%, Government Quota, Management, NRI and Minority routes into one cutoff.

Student Action Checklist

1. Open the Tamil Nadu official online counselling portal.
2. Confirm your Round 2 eligibility.
3. Choice Filling is now active from 2 PM today.
4. Review Government and Management quota choices separately.
5. Check NRI/minority eligibility before using those options.
6. Check college fee structure before final preference submission.
7. Review virtual vacancies carefully.
8. Place colleges in true preference order.
9. Continue editing choices as needed.
10. Choice Locking starts only 12 Sep at 10 AM.
11. Complete final review before 13 Sep at 2 PM.
12. Check Round 2 result on 15 September.

Official Links

Tamil Nadu Selection Committee

https://tnmedicalselection.net/

Round 2 Online Counselling

https://counug.tnmedicalonline.co.in/

Regular 92.5% Round 2 Schedule

https://tnmedicalselection.net/news/06092026073135.pdf

7.5% Government School Round 2 Schedule

https://tnmedicalselection.net/news/06092026073339.pdf

Hire Guide Education Advice

Tamil Nadu has now moved from:

Round 2 Registration

to:

Round 2 Choice Filling — ACTIVE

The most important timeline is:

Choice Filling starts: 9 Sep — 2 PM Locking starts: 12 Sep — 10 AM Choices close: 13 Sep — 2 PM Result: 15 Sep Joining: 18 Sep — 5 PM

Candidates have several days to optimise their preferences, so use the window to compare vacancies, fees, Round 1 cutoffs and genuine college preference rather than rushing to lock immediately.

Hire Guide Education — Navigating Your Future