Four students from Karnataka secure top ranks in NEET

Bengaluru: Four students of the state have secured ranks within the top 50 in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2025.

NEET results (for admission to medical courses) were announced on Saturday. 

Nikhil Sonnad from Expert PU College, Mangaluru, emerged as the state topper with All India Rank (AIR) 17. He scored 670 out of 720 (99.99%). 

A native of Vijayapura, Nikhil had previously secured 98.3% in II PU and also bagged the 8th rank in BSc (Agriculture). He now aims to join the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi.

Nikhil said, “It was a surprise. I expected a good rank, but not AIR 17.”

“I never followed a rigid schedule. My approach was flexible. Physics was particularly tough this year, but I focused on understanding and carefully reading the questions,” he said. 

Born into a family of medicos, Nikhil aspires to pursue cancer research and dreams of becoming a medical entrepreneur.

Ruchir Gupta from Alpine Public School and Allen Career Institute, Bengaluru, secured AIR 22.

Ruchir Gupta

He also aims for AIIMS Delhi and credits his parents and teachers for his success. His parents work in the IT sector, and his maternal grandparents have a medical background.

Tejas Shailesh Ghotgalkar secured AIR 38. He said he studied from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm in college and continued studying at home in the evenings. Chess and badminton helped him relax during stressful times. 

Of the 1,42,369 candidates who appeared for NEET 2025 from Karnataka, 83,582 have qualified. This is a slight decline from last year, when 88,887 candidates qualified.

Pranshu Jahagirdar of Allen Career Institute, Bengaluru, has secured AIR 42.

Under the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PWBD-Male) category, Gautam Kumar from Karnataka emerged as the national topper with AIR 1,684.

NEET was conducted on May 4 across 5,468 centres in 552 cities, including 14 international locations. A total of 22,09,318 candidates appeared nationwide, of whom 12,36,531 qualified. Among 11 transgender candidates, 6 qualified.

This year, 460 candidates from Karnataka opted to write the exam in Kannada, compared to 1,065 last year.