Maharashtra NEET UG special stray round: 138 MBBS, BDS seats, choice filling till November 7

By TUF News Desk · Published 5 November 2026 · 3 min read

Fact-checked against 2+ independent sources · Editorial policy

Choice filling for Maharashtra’s first special stray vacancy round opened on Thursday, November 5, giving NEET UG 2026 candidates one more shot at an MBBS or BDS seat. The window closes at 12 noon on Friday, November 7, so candidates have just over two days to list their college preferences.

The Maharashtra State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell released the schedule on November 4. It covers 138 vacant MBBS and BDS seats for the 2026-27 academic year, spread across government, municipal corporation, government-aided, private unaided and minority medical and dental colleges in the state.

138 seats on offer

Of the 138 seats, 84 are for MBBS and 54 are for BDS. These are the seats still vacant after three centralised admission rounds and three online stray vacancy rounds. The special stray rounds follow the schedule announced by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) in New Delhi for a final round of admissions.

Candidates should fill choices on the official Maharashtra CET Cell portal and check the seat matrix there before locking preferences. The CET Cell has said the schedules for the second and third special stray vacancy rounds will be published on the same website.

First round dates

Choice filling runs from November 5 to November 7, closing at 12 noon on the last day. The first special stray vacancy round result will be declared on November 8. Candidates who are allotted a seat must report to the allotted college by 5:30 pm on November 10, 2026, to complete admission formalities.

The dates matter because this is a short round. A candidate who misses the noon deadline on November 7 gets no second chance in round 1 and has to wait for the next special stray round, whose dates are not out yet.

Who could register for this round

The CET Cell had already opened a fresh registration window from October 31 to November 2 for eligible candidates who had not registered earlier for the state quota process. Online document verification for those new registrations ran up to November 3.

Candidates who were allotted a seat in Round 2 but did not join, did not report or cancelled it could register again, provided they had not registered during the CAP-3 round. Candidates allotted a seat in CAP-3 or in any later stray vacancy round are not eligible for fresh registration in this process.

Before you lock your choices

Order matters in a stray round. List colleges in the order you would actually accept them, because an allotment here comes with a reporting deadline of November 10 and little room to change your mind. Candidates still comparing colleges can work through our guide to choosing a university in India before locking choices, and our admission documents checklist covers the papers usually asked for at reporting.

Check the fee and bond conditions of each college on its own website before filling choices, and keep an eye on the CET Cell portal for the round 2 and round 3 schedules.

Frequently asked questions

When does Maharashtra NEET UG special stray round choice filling close?

At 12 noon on November 7, 2026. Choice filling for the first special stray vacancy round runs from November 5 to November 7.

How many seats are vacant in the Maharashtra NEET UG special stray round?

138 seats in total: 84 MBBS seats and 54 BDS seats across government, municipal corporation, government-aided, private unaided and minority colleges.

When is the Maharashtra NEET UG special stray round 1 result?

November 8, 2026. Candidates who get a seat must report to the allotted college by 5:30 pm on November 10, 2026.

Will there be more special stray rounds in Maharashtra?

Yes, the State CET Cell has announced three online special stray vacancy rounds. Schedules for rounds 2 and 3 will be published on the CET Cell website.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: Careers360, The Times of India, Medical Dialogues