The competition for medical seats will remain high and there may be a negligible change in the cut-off marks, though fewer students have scored perfect centums in the three core subjects — physics, chemistry and biology.
However, what will be the clincher is the aspirant's motivation to serve, and her determination to wait for success.
For a total of around 3,500 seats (inclusive of single window seat allotment), around 38,000 applications have been sold so far.
Applications will continue to be sold until the end of this month, but it is anybody's guess just how many aspirants will make it to the medical colleges. There are also a few hundred seats in deemed medical universities under the merit quota.
This year, there has been a significant fall in the number of students who have scored centums in biology, physics and chemistry. There are only 16 students in this group, as against 65 last year. But, overall, in the 195 to 200 marks range, a total of 3,349 students are grouped. Last year, 3,287 students were in the eligible category, according to Technocrats India College Finder.
A perfect score in two of the three core subjects and centums in zoology or botany could also make for a hot contest.
R.G. Sukumar, additional director of medical education, said the changes or reduction in cut-off marks for entry into the course are only rumours and no predictions can be made based on the numbers of centums scored.
In the open quota, the cut-off mark would continue to remain 198.75 marks for government colleges. For SC/ST it could go up to 188.25 marks.
Educational consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi also said there would be a negligible change in the cut-off .
Given that medical education is demanding and requires a student to put in more years than an engineering degree, only a few students would opt for the course, according to Madras Medical College dean V. Kanagasabai. “Medical students must work long hours, work in rural areas and with the sick every day with no weekend holidays,” he pointed out.
