The NEET Squueze

Description Every May, more people sit for one Indian exam than live in entire countries — and fewer than one in ten of them will ever wear a white coat. In 2026, over twenty-two lakh students registered for NEET UG, India’s single gateway into every MBBS, BDS, and AYUSH seat in the country. A little over a decade ago, that funnel didn’t exist — students sat dozens of separate state and institutional exams instead. Today they all sit one. This short book asks a simple question with a complicated answer: why has NEET UG become this competitive, and is it really just about more students wanting to be doctors? Drawing on registration data, seat-matrix records, and the economics of India’s coaching industry, The NEET Squeeze traces the exam’s rise from a contested reform to the most consequential test day in the country — and lays out, without slogans, what closing the gap between aspirants and seats would actually require. Written for students, parents, educators, and anyone trying to understand why a single exam now carries the weight it does.