MCC opens NEET MDS Round 3 registration from 3 October 2026

The Medical Counselling Committee under the Directorate General of Health Services has opened Round 3 of online counselling for NEET MDS 2026. Registration and payment run from 3 October to 7 October 2026, with registration closing at 3:00 PM on 7 October and payment remaining open till 6:00 PM the same day, as per server time on the Round 3 and Stray Vacancy schedule PDF.

Choice filling stays available from 3 October to 8 October 2026, with locking from 4:00 PM on 7 October up to 10:00 AM on 8 October. Seat allotment is processed on 8 and 9 October, the result window is 10 and 11 October, and reporting runs from 12 to 19 October 2026. Institutes were asked to verify the tentative seat matrix on 2 October.

The schedule covers 50 percent All India Quota seats and 100 percent seats in Deemed Universities, Central Universities and AFMS for the MDS academic year 2026.

Who should register this week

Dentists who still need an AIQ or Deemed or Central University MDS seat after Round 2 must treat Round 3 as a fresh registration and payment cycle. MCC does not carry unpaid Round 2 logins into Round 3. Candidates should keep NEET MDS credentials, category certificates and the fee receipt ready before the 3:00 PM cut-off on 7 October, because late payment alone does not reopen a missed registration.

Choice lists should be built from the live seat matrix on the MDS current-events page at mcc.nic.in, not from screenshots of Round 2 vacancies. Newly added seats and clear or virtual vacancy sheets from earlier rounds do not automatically describe what is left for Round 3 after resignations and joins.

AFMS and Central University aspirants must read the separate eligibility notes in the MDS information bulletin before locking choices. A choice that looks open on the matrix can still fail verification if the candidate does not meet that institute's service or domicile condition.

Varanasi and other Central University lines

The final IP, DU, BHU and AMU seat matrix published for MDS counselling 2026 lists multiple specialties at the Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Candidates targeting those BHU lines should confirm the current Round 3 matrix on the portal before locking, because matrix updates after Round 2 can change subject-wise availability.

The same discipline applies to other Central and Deemed codes. Search by institute code rather than by informal college nicknames, and match the quota abbreviation on the allotment letter once results appear on 10 or 11 October.

After the Round 3 reporting window closes on 19 October, institutes share joined-candidate data with MCC on 20 October. The Stray Vacancy Round that follows opens registration from 22 to 26 October, with choice filling through 27 October and reporting from 30 October to 5 November 2026.

For the operative calendar, rely on the MCC MDS Round 3 and Stray Vacancy schedule and the notices under Current Events MDS on the MCC website. Informal forwards that skip the candidate login leave applicants without proof of payment or locked choices.