The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Unsure if I will get college of my choice: Hyderabad NEET topper
OVER A fortnight after the results of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-under Graduate was declared, Sneha Swarnima has been studying hard to take the test for admission in undergraduate medical courses again.
Despite the 17-year-old NEET topper from Hyderabad having secured 715 marks out of 720 in NEET-2024, uncertainty looms large over her future amid the allegations of irregularities surrounding the examination.
Swarnima’s story coincides with several students who are concerned that they may have to write the test yet again to get admission in a medical college of their choice.
The Indian Express spoke to Swarnima and her parents to know what a NEET topper, who neither got the controversial grace marks nor took the ex amata centre where exam paper leak is being alleged, was going through, even as the supreme court has refused to stay the NEET-UG counselling over protests.
“I wanted to get admission in the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (Delhi). As there were many toppers, my rank is now 164 and I am unsure if I will get the medical college of my choice,” Swarnima said. Her father Ra jes warve mu las aid thats he has been taking mock-exams online and revising her textbooks to refresh her memory, months after she took the examination.
Innee t-ug 2024,67 students had bagged all Indian first rank scoring 720 out of 720. Forty four of these toppers were awarded grace marks due tow ha tn ta had called an erroneous question. The grace marks were later rolled back, owing to protests.
“Awarding grace marks was wrong. In such a competitive examinationgrace marks should not be awarded,” said Vemula.
Swarnima said that the aftermath of NEET-2024 has been a gruel ling experience for her, a student who has been a topper all through her academic life. she had secured 975 out of 1,000 marks in Telangana’s Intermediate Public Examination.
Swarnima had enrolled in a coaching institute where she took tests every other week to crack NEET. “I had aced every test, securing around 700 marks each time,” she said. Swarnima’s only hope now is reservation, she said. She had secured allindia rank of 41 in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category. “I will have to see if this rank lands me in AIIMS,” she said.