Every year, lakhs of students take competitive tests like NEET, JEE, CUET, CLAT, and CAT, yet only a few are admitted to prominent colleges. One of the most common misconceptions among students is the distinction between the qualifying percentage and the admission cutoffs of the exams they took.
Both expressions, Qualifying Percentile and Admission Cutoff, sound similar, yet they serve quite different objectives in the admissions process. The qualifying percentage is the minimum number of marks or ranks required to pass the exam and be eligible for counseling. The admission cutoff is the minimum rank or score necessary by a college to enroll in a specific course.
This means that while many students may have qualified for the exam, only those who can meet the higher admission cutoff get into the best universities and their desired or most popular courses. This article will discuss the meaning of both phrases and will provide you college college-specific cutoff trends to help students organise their preparation and expectations more effectively.
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What are the Qualifying Percentile and Admission Cutoffs?
If any of the students appear for any prestigious exams like the CAT, CUET, CLAT, NEET, etc., you must have come across the terms qualifying percentile and admission cutoffs. These two phrases can be confusing for many students. Below is the definition of these two phrases, so as to make it easier for the students to understand the difference between these two phrases.
Admission Cutoffs of an Exam
When the results of an exam taken by the students are announced, colleges release their admission cutoffs. These cutoffs are the scores or ranks that students must achieve to be able to seek admission into the specific college and course that the students desire.
The admission cutoff can often be greater than the qualifying percentage because it is determined by various factors such as seat availability, college popularity, number of applications and reservation policies.
| For example, while thousands of students may qualify for the NEET exam that they appeared for, only those with top rankings over the admission limit are admitted to AIIMS Delhi or other top government medical colleges in India. |
Qualifying Percentile of an Exam
Before applying for counselling or admission to any college, the candidates must first meet the qualifying percentage of the college they are seeking admission to. The Qualifying Percentile is the minimum score set by exam officials to determine who passed the exam.
| For example, when the student appears for the NEET, the qualifying percentile for the exam is often as follows:-
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The qualifying percentile for the exam does not guarantee a spot, but it does qualify the student to participate in the admission process of the college the student wishes to seek admission to. Simply put, the qualifying percentile is like passing marks that distinguish between the qualified and the unqualified individuals.
One of the most common reasons students are confused during counselling is that the terms "qualifying percentile" and "admission cutoff"seem similar but signify completely different things. Clearing the qualifying percentile merely qualifies the student to participate in the admissions process. However, whether or not the student gets admission into the dream college is determined by the admission cutoff, which is significantly higher.
To make this simple, here's a quick side-by-side comparison:-
| Terms | Meaning | Who Decides It |
| Qualifying Percentile | The minimum standard or score required to qualify for counselling. It doesn't ensure admission. | Set by the exam conducting body (For Example: NTA for NEET UG, JEE Authority, etc.) |
| Admission Cutoffs | The actual marks or the percentile at which the last seat of a particular course and college is allotted. | It is decided by the colleges or the centralised counselling authorities, which is based on the number of seats available, the number of candidates and the difficulty of the exam. |
What are the College-Wise and Exam-Wise Cutoff Trends?
Students should know that the admission cutoffs are not fixed and they change annually. This happens because every year, the number of candidates appearing for the exam, the difficulty level of the exam, and the category-wise allocation of the seats in colleges vary from year to year. For example, if the exam is extremely difficult, the cutoffs may decrease, but if more students achieve high scores in the exam, the cutoffs increase.
What are the college-wise cutoffs, or what are the course-wise cutoffs of certain exams, are one of the most commonly asked questions by students, since every student wants to know the cutoff for their dream college. Each college or university, or institution, announces its cutoffs independently for the courses it offers following the counselling rounds.
For example:-
- AIIMS Delhi have the highest NEET cutoff
- IIT Bombay’s Computer Science branch has the highest JEE cutoff
- National Law University of Bangalore outperforms the CLAT cutoffs every year
Below are the exam-wise and college-wise cutoff trends for the students to have a clearer perspective of what the cutoff trends are:-
NEET (Medical): Top Government Colleges and their Previous Year Cutoff Trends
Here is the list of the top government colleges and their previous year's cutoff trends of the NEET exam:-
| College Name | Courses | Approximate Closing Ranks |
| AIR 50–100 | ||
| BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad | MBBS | AIR 1100–1300 |
| MBBS | AIR 500–1000 | |
| MBBS | AIR 150–300 | |
| MBBS | AIR 70–150 |
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CUET UG (Central Universities): Top Government Colleges and their Previous Year Cutoff Trends
Here is the list of the top government colleges and their previous year's cutoff trends of the CUET UG exam:-
| Universities | Popular Courses | Approximate Closing Percentage |
| B.Sc. (Honours) Mathematics | 93-95% | |
| 95-99% | ||
| B.A. (Honours) Political Science | 94-97% | |
| B.Com (Honours) | 92–94% | |
| B.A. (Honours) English | 90-92% |
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CLAT (Law):- National Law Universities and their Previous Year Cutoff Trends
Here is the list of the top government colleges and their previous year's cutoff trends of the CLAT exam:-
| Universities | Course | Approximate Closing Ranks |
| NLU Bangalore (NLSIU) | AIR 150 | |
| NLU Delhi (through AILET) | BA LLB | AIR 100 |
| BA LLB | AIR 350-400 | |
| BA LLB | AIR 500-700 | |
| BA LLB | AIR 600-800 |
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In simple terms, the qualifying percentile qualifies the students to take part in the admission process, whereas the admission cutoff determines whether the student will be able to secure a seat in their preferred college and course. Understanding the difference between the qualifying percentile and the admission cutoffs helps the students set more effective preparation goals.
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