The Karnataka Examinations Authority published the first round final seat allotment for UG medical and dental courses on 28 August 2026. 11,875 candidates were allotted an MBBS seat and 2,689 a BDS seat. The CHOICES portal opened at 4 pm the same day and closes on 2 September.
Check the final list even if you already saw the provisional one
This is a re-run, not a reprint of the 23 August result. KEA had said it would allot again after candidates holding an all-India MCC seat left Karnataka counselling through Choice-4, and the seats they gave up went back into the pool. Candidates already in the list were then moved up against options they had already entered.
The movement is large enough that the 23 August result is no guide to what you hold now. In medical, 330 candidates who had a seat in the provisional list are not in the final one, 331 appear who were not in it before, and of the 11,544 candidates in both lists, 1,421 have been allotted a different college. In dental, 105 dropped out, 105 came in, and 183 of the 2,584 common candidates changed college.
We wrote about how this re-run works when KEA announced it, in Karnataka will re-run its round 1 medical allotment.
Dates for this round
| Step | Window |
|---|---|
| Choice selection (CHOICE-1 to CHOICE-4) | 4.00 pm on 28 August to 11.59 pm on 2 September |
| Fee payment by Choice-1 candidates, then download the Seat Confirmation Slip | 11.00 am on 29 August to 3 September, during banking hours |
| Reporting at the allotted college with the Seat Confirmation Slip | Up to 6.00 pm on 4 September |
KEA has told the participating colleges to treat Saturdays, Sundays and gazetted holidays as working days for this period, so the college cannot turn you away on a weekend.
What the four choices mean
These are KEA’s own definitions, from the NEET-UG 2026 information bulletin.
- CHOICE-1: you are fully satisfied with the allotted college and course and do not want to be considered in any later round. You pay the fee, download the Seat Confirmation Slip and report to the college. You will not be considered for round 2.
- CHOICE-2: you are satisfied with the seat but want to try for a better one in round 2. You hold the round 1 seat while you do. No fee is paid now.
- CHOICE-3: you do not want the allotted seat. You surrender it and stay in the process for the next round with your remaining options. No fee is paid now.
- CHOICE-4: you have taken admission elsewhere and are leaving KEA counselling. You are then out of the later rounds.
If you exercise no choice at all, you are not eligible for round 2. The same applies if you pick CHOICE-1 and then fail to pay or download the confirmation slip.
Between rounds you cannot add a college you left out of your list. You can delete, change and re-order the options you already entered, and you may add a college only if it enters the seat matrix after this round.
Where general merit closed on government-quota seats
Karnataka fills government-quota seats in private and deemed colleges as well as in government ones, and all of them compete in the same rank ladder. That is why a deemed college sits fourth in this list, ahead of most government colleges. Closing NEET All India Ranks on general merit (GM) government-quota MBBS seats in this round, deepest twenty:
| College | Type | Closing AIR (GM) |
|---|---|---|
| Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bengaluru | Government | 2,655 |
| Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, Mysuru | Government | 6,539 |
| Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institute, Bengaluru | Government | 8,022 |
| Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru | Deemed | 9,426 |
| ESIC Medical College, Bengaluru | Government | 11,745 |
| M S Ramaiah Medical College, Bengaluru | Private | 12,100 |
| JSS Medical College, Mysuru | Deemed | 12,456 |
| Karnataka Medical College and Research Institute, Hubballi | Government | 12,840 |
| Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bengaluru | Private | 18,046 |
| Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya | Government | 18,335 |
| Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Ballari | Government | 20,998 |
| Father Mullers Medical College, Mangaluru | Private | 22,048 |
| Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belagavi | Deemed | 22,969 |
| Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences, Belagavi | Government | 23,126 |
| Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, Hassan | Government | 24,799 |
| Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences, Shivamogga | Government | 25,037 |
| Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Bengaluru | Private | 26,229 |
| Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalaburagi | Government | 27,047 |
| ESIC Medical College, Kalaburagi | Government | 30,892 |
| SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Dharwad | Private | 31,595 |
Across every GM government-quota MBBS seat allotted this round, the median closing rank is 34,917.
Of the 11,875 MBBS seats allotted, 6,465 were government-quota, 3,736 private, 1,458 management and 216 NRI, going by KEA’s own course labels.
What to do now
Open your KEA login and read the allotment as it stands today, not the screenshot you took on 23 August. Then pick a choice before 11.59 pm on 2 September, because doing nothing takes you out of round 2 as surely as CHOICE-4 does.
If you are holding out for a better college, CHOICE-2 keeps this seat while you try. If you are certain, CHOICE-1 needs the fee paid within banking hours by 3 September and you at the college by 6 pm on 4 September. Work out which colleges are realistically ahead of your rank before you decide, rather than after the window shuts.
You can see Karnataka’s closing ranks by college and category on our Karnataka NEET cutoffs page.
Source: Karnataka Examinations Authority, Note No. ED/KEA/UGCET-UGNEET/2026 dated 28 August 2026, “Medical, Dental Courses – 1st Round – Final Results”; UGNEET-2026 medical and dental 1st round final seat allotment lists, both published 28 August 2026; and the KEA NEET-UG 2026 information bulletin for the choice definitions.