UP NEET MDS 2026: Round 2 Counselling Schedule Released for Government and Private Dental Colleges

The Office of the Director General, Medical Education and Training, Uttar Pradesh has released the complete time schedule for the Second Round of Online Counselling for NEET MDS 2026 admissions under the State Quota. This round covers seats across Government and Private Dental Colleges and Universities in the state, and candidates need to track each stage closely, since the entire process, from fresh registration to final admission, is scheduled to be completed within roughly two weeks.

The Complete Round 2 Schedule

This round follows the time-table framework issued by the Medical Counselling Committee, New Delhi, and lays out six distinct stages, each with its own specific date and time window. Candidates should note that several of these stages run on tight, same-day, or overlapping windows rather than spread comfortably across separate days.

• Online Registration: opens 18th September 2026 from 11:00 AM and closes 22nd September 2026 at 11:00 AM, giving candidates roughly four days to complete this step

• Depositing Registration Fee and Security Fee: runs over the same broad window, from 18th September 2026 at 11:00 AM through 22nd September 2026 at 2:00 PM, closing a few hours after registration itself ends

• Declaration of Merit List: scheduled for 22nd September 2026, the same day registration and fee deposit both conclude

• Online Choice Filling: opens 22nd September 2026 at 5:00 PM, just hours after the merit list is declared, and closes 24th September 2026 at 5:00 PM

• Declaration of Result of Seat Allotment: scheduled for 25th September 2026, immediately following the close of choice filling

• Downloading Allotment Letters and Admission Process: runs from 26th September 2026 through 1st October 2026, the final stage in this round

Why the Same-Day Transitions Matter

Several stages in this schedule transition into the next within hours rather than days, and this compressed sequencing leaves very little room for candidates who are not prepared in advance. The merit list, for instance, is declared on the same day registration closes, and choice filling opens the very same evening.

• Candidates should have all eligibility documents, category certificates, and NEET MDS scorecards ready well before 18th September, since the registration and fee deposit window together span less than four full days

• Since choice filling opens just hours after the merit list is declared on 22nd September, candidates should have their preferred college and course order already thought through in advance, rather than waiting to see the merit list before beginning to plan choices

• The gap between choice filling closing on 24th September and seat allotment results on 25th September is a single day, so candidates should avoid assuming there will be meaningful time to revisit or second-guess locked choices before results are declared

• The admission window from 26th September to 1st October, while comparatively longer, still requires candidates to have documents ready immediately upon downloading their allotment letter, given how quickly the preceding stages move

Preparing Choices Before the Merit List Is Even Out

Since Online Choice Filling begins on the same day the Merit List is declared, candidates are effectively expected to have a working preference order ready in advance, adjusting it only lightly once the merit list and their own rank position are confirmed.

• Build a provisional choice list based on known seat matrices and previous rounds' closing trends before 22nd September, rather than starting this exercise only after the merit list appears

• Use the hours between the merit list declaration and choice filling opening at 5:00 PM to make any final adjustments based on confirmed rank position, rather than building the entire list from scratch in that short window

• Candidates who are also weighing their MDS specialisation priorities should finalise that decision well ahead of this round, since a two-day choice filling window leaves little time for genuine reconsideration once it opens

• Keep track of both registration fee and security fee deposit deadlines separately, since the fee deposit window extends three hours beyond the registration closing time on 22nd September, and confusing the two closing times risks missing one of them

What Can Be Done About It

Candidates participating in this round should treat the four-day window from 18th to 22nd September as the most critical stretch to prepare for, since registration, fee deposit, and the release of the merit list are all compressed into this single stretch. Having documents, fee payment methods, and a provisional choice list ready before 18th September will matter considerably more in this round than in a counselling process with more generously spaced stages. Once results are declared on 25th September, candidates should move immediately to download their allotment letter and begin the admission process, given that the final reporting window runs only through 1st October. Candidates also weighing their options across other states' dental counselling processes this season may find it useful to review how similar multi-round MBBS and BDS counselling schedules have been structured elsewhere, since several states are running comparably tight windows this admission cycle.