Gandhi College Leads: Gandhi Medical College Tops Telangana NEET UG Choices

Gandhi College Leads: Gandhi Medical College has emerged as the most preferred destination for top rankers in the first phase of Telangana’s NEET UG MBBS counselling for the 2026 to 27 academic year.

The college in Hyderabad was chosen by the state’s top NEET candidate, who secured an All India Rank of 83. The second state topper, ranked 158 nationally, also opted for Gandhi Medical College.

The counselling data released by Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences shows the strong preference for the long established government institution. Four candidates ranked within the top 2000 secured seats at Gandhi Medical College in the first round.

The college also recorded a much stronger cutoff compared with several other government medical colleges. The open category cutoff at Gandhi reportedly ended at around rank 7535, while Osmania Medical College remained available until around rank 18251.

After Gandhi and Osmania, other established institutions also attracted considerable interest. ESIC Medical College in Hyderabad, Kakatiya Medical College in Warangal and government medical colleges in Nizamabad, Mahabubnagar and Siddipet were among the preferred options.

The picture was quite different at some of the newer government medical colleges. Institutions in Narayanpet, Asifabad, Bhupalapally, Mulugu and Narsampet offered seats to candidates with ranks above 135000.

Officials say the gap is not surprising. Older colleges generally have stronger infrastructure, experienced teaching staff, established hostels and affiliated hospitals that see a large number of patients every day. For MBBS students, that patient flow can make a significant difference to practical learning and clinical exposure.

That appears to be one of the main reasons students with better ranks continue to favour colleges with a longer track record. The preference is not limited to government institutions either.

A similar pattern has emerged among private medical colleges. Established names such as Apollo Institute of Medical Sciences, Kamineni Academy of Medical Sciences and Mamata Medical College attracted candidates with comparatively better ranks.

Meanwhile, several newer private medical colleges located in the outskirts of Hyderabad and in different districts saw their cutoffs move beyond 140000 ranks.

The distribution of seats under the All India quota has also become a point of discussion. Fifteen percent of seats in government medical colleges are allocated under the All India quota, leaving fewer seats for local candidates under the state quota.

Experts believe this can make competition tougher, particularly at newer district medical colleges where the number of seats available to Telangana students is already limited.

Improving the facilities at these newer institutions could gradually change student preferences. Better hostels, laboratories, hospital beds, teaching staff and clinical facilities are expected to give students more confidence when choosing district based medical colleges.

Officials believe that continued development could help these institutions attract better ranked students in the coming counselling rounds. For now, however, the first phase has clearly shown that Telangana’s top NEET rankers continue to favour colleges with an established reputation and stronger clinical exposure.