NEET UG 2025 Choice Filling & Locking (Concluded): How to fill Course and College Choices

The NEET UG choice filling 2025 is a crucial part of the counselling process. The choice filling and locking processes must be done on time. Check the round-wise NEET UG 2025 choice filling and locking dates, direct link and processes here.

NEET UG Choice Filling Process

The NEET 2025 Counselling process has been concluded for the academic year 2025-26. The choice-filling process for the final round was concluded on December 22, 2025. The NEET 2025 counselling process was conducted from July to December, in multiple rounds. 

NEET UG counselling 2025 dates were announced by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) on July 13, 2025. A lot of students raise queries regarding the NEET choice filling process. Unless the NEET 2025 counselling choice filling is done correctly, the seat allotment won't be done accurately. This article by Shiksha.com brings you detailed information regarding the NEET UG choice filling and locking processes.

There will be four rounds of MCC NEET counselling, which are as follows:

• Round 1
• Round 2
• Round 3
• Stray Vacancy Round

The number of rounds of counselling will vary according to the vacant seats. In the context of the NEET Counselling Process, choice filling is the initial phase where candidates have to select the seats and order it according to their preference. Choice locking is the final confirmation stage where students have to submit the pre-selected choices, and MCC would allot a seat only based on the list of choices and preferences. 

Till 2022, in the four rounds of NEET UG counselling, the choice-filling process was applicable for the first three rounds only. However, from last year onwards, the choice-filling process is applicable till the last and final round. 

NEET UG Counselling 2025 Choice Filling and Locking Dates

MCC has announced the NEET UG counselling 2025 choice filling and locking dates. The following table brings the round-wise dates of the NEET UG 2025 choice filling and locking.

NEET 2025 Counselling Seat Matrix

The following table brings the seat vacancies and seat matrix for the MCC NEET UG Counselling Round 2.

The following table brings the type-wise seats along with the number available for NEET Counselling 2025 Round 3.

There are a total of 1,232 seats in the NEET 2025 Counselling Online Stray Vacancy round. The seats are available in MBBS, BDS and BSc Nursing courses. 

Click here to download the NEET UG Counselling 2025 Round 4 Seat Matrix

NEET 2025 Counselling Overview

The overview or the highlights of the NEET 2025 counselling are in the table below.

The central and state counselling processes of NEET are conducted by 15 per cent All India Quota (AIQ) seats for admission to MBBS, BDS and BSc Nursing courses at Central and Deemed Universities, AIIMS, JIPMER and AFMC institutes. On the other hand, the 85 per cent state quota seats for medical admission are conducted by the State Authorities for admission to state medical colleges.

How to Fill Choices For NEET UG Counselling 2025?

Candidates have to follow the steps below to complete the NEET 2025 choice filling and locking process. Prior to that, candidates must complete the registration process and pay the requisite fee for registration as per their category.

• Visit the official website of MCC – mcc.nic.in or directly enter https://mcc.admissions.nic.in/Counseling/Root/Home.aspx?enc=89xw0ctRCXfaXHy3CACizMGeESUPc92SoSpzB/gzd/wSY6DDua8cQKQ+HT29rjmuRXQG2NoF+WHOj6h2WBR++A==

• Click on the ‘New Registration’ tab and click on ‘Sign in’

• Enter the NEET UG 2025 Roll Number, Password and Security Pin

• Click on the link ‘Available Choices’.

• On clicking the “Choice Filling” icon, the choices as per individual criteria of eligibility would be displayed to the candidate on the left side basket and on clicking the button for the required choice, it will be selected. The seats chosen will be removed from the left basket and added to the right basket.

• Candidates will have to click on the ‘Save & Continue’ tab.

• Candidates may change the order of preference of choices by clicking on the Upper Arrow ./button to move up, the Down Arrow button to move down and the Delete button to delete the pre-selected choice of institutes.

• The choice Interchange (Swapping) can be carried out by selecting appropriate choices as source and destination to enable their swapping and reordering all the choices.

• If a candidate desires to delete a specific choice or a group of choices, the candidate can click the appropriate box for deletion of the choice. Further, if the candidate desires to delete multiple choices in one go, he/she can click the appropriate boxes for deletion and confirm the same, so that all unwanted choices can be deleted by this operation.

NEET Counselling 2025 Choice Locking Process

Only the choice filling is not sufficient for getting seats allotted. Candidates need to lock in choices to complete the process. The NEET 2025 choice locking process is given in the steps below:

• By clicking the Choice Lock Button and confirming the same, the choices could be locked.

• Choices once locked can’t be unlocked. Therefore, the candidates are advised to exercise choice carefully, as the choices above the allotted choice will be processed in the second round.

• In case candidates fail to lock choices, choices filled in by the candidate will be automatically locked at 5:00 PM of the last date of locking.

• On clicking the “Lock Choice” button (active only on notified dates), the submitted choices will be displayed on the screen along with all restrictions, on the choices selected, if applicable.

• During the locking process, candidates have to enter the password, and then only the system proceeds with the locking of choices.

• After locking of choices, the following message will be displayed indicating no more choice submissions are possible: “Your Filled Choices have been Locked Successfully. Now you are not allowed to make any modifications to Filled Choices. After taking the printout, press the LOGOUT Button and close all Open Windows related to your session for Security Reasons. Click Below Link to Print Locked Choices.”

• After locking, candidates can take a printout of locked choices, which includes the locking date and time, IP address of the computer and system-generated Unique Number.

• After locking the choices, if a candidate logs in again, then the locked choices given by the candidate will be displayed, and the choices cannot be modified or altered.

There is no specific number of choices to enter. Hence, candidates are suggested to make as many choices as they wish. The final seat allotment will be based on the locked choices.

Factors to Check for NEET UG 2025 Choice Filling

Candidates will have to keep in mind the following factors while choosing the colleges and locking them:

• Rank of the Colleges: Before choosing the colleges, candidates will have to check the rank of the medical colleges. It would not be worth selecting a low-rung college as not only do they not have adequate infrastructure, but also lack in terms of faculty and other intellectual resources.

Also Read: Top 20 Medical Colleges in India Based on NIRF Ranking

• Courses: MCC conducts the NEET UG counselling for three courses, namely, MBBS, BDS and BSc Nursing. Along with the institutes, candidates also need to select the course properly. They should also be careful while choosing the college and course. For example, a number of participating institutes offering BSc Nursing only admit female students. Hence, male candidates choosing such colleges will become invalid.

• NEET UG Cutoff: While selecting colleges in the NEET choice filling and locking rounds, candidates must check the previous years’ NEET UG cutoff for those colleges to know their chances of getting a seat allotted at those institutes.

• Order of Preference: The order of preference during choice filling should be based on factors such as old AIIMS colleges, Deemed Universities, State Universities, new AIIMS colleges, and other government colleges, followed by private colleges.

During the NEET 2025 choice filling and locking rounds, candidates must avoid selecting colleges with very high fees or bond amounts, or those that do not offer PG programmes. Moreover, candidates should prefer colleges with an attached hospital for better exposure.

Read More:

• NEET UG Seat Allotment List: Check Round-wise Dates Here
• Total Govt. MBBS Seats In India Through NEET