The Exam 15.7 Lakh Students Cannot Skip
How CUET replaced board-marks cutoffs, and what the 2024-2026 registration curve says about your competition.
What CUET Actually Is — and Is Not
NTA runs the exam, universities run admissions, and the score is a currency spent at 275+ doors.
The 2027 Calendar, Anchored to 2026
Registration, correction window, exam window, result and counselling — every stage mapped to the 2026 rhythm it is expected to repeat.
Who Can Sit: Eligibility Rules
NTA's wide gate, the university-level gates that actually reject candidates, and the December documents folder.
The Exam, Question by Question
The full 2026 pattern table — mode, subjects, marking, duration, mediums, shifts, PwBD compensatory time — and four consequences of each number.
The 37 Subjects on the Menu
All 13 languages, all 23 domain subjects and the GAT, with official codes — plus the discontinued-subjects warning for stale advice.
Choosing Your Five Subjects
The five-step portfolio method, typical 2026 combinations, and the five mistakes that waste exam slots.
What Each Paper Actually Tests
The official syllabus statements for languages, domain papers and the GAT, translated into study directives.
Domain Spotlights
Thirteen of the most-chosen domain papers — from Physics to Mass Media — with what each rewards and how to study it.
The General Aptitude Playbook
Every GAT component matched to a weekly habit, the current-affairs window, and why it is the highest-leverage paper you take.
Your First Seven Days
A concrete week-one plan — portfolio, syllabus dashboard, habit and baseline — at one hour a day.
The Universities You Are Playing For
The central, state, deemed and private landscape, the anchor names, and the three-tier shortlist method.
Registration: The January Window
The four portal steps, the ten mistakes that cost real candidates their seasons, and the verify-the-next-day habit.
Fees and Category Rules
The 2026 fee table (Rs. 800-1,800 depending on category and subjects), the OBC-NCL central-list trap, and reservation in one clean paragraph.
The Money Math of Guessing
+5/-1 in expected-value terms: when a blind guess is +0.50, when elimination makes it +2.00, and the accuracy math that beats both.
Boards + CUET: One Syllabus, Two Exams
The boards-vs-CUET comparison table and the four-step sequence that makes both exams one project.
The September-to-May Runway
Build, Consolidate, Rehearse — the month-by-month plan with a sample week and a late-start compression option.
Stream Playbooks
Science, Commerce and Humanities — where each stream's score risks live and what each must add on top of boards.
Mock Tests and the Error Log
The mock cadence, the four error buckets, the free official platforms, and the 3:1 analysis rule.
After the Exam
Scorecards, multi-shift score compilation, and the answer-key challenge — your one window to change the result.
From Score to Seat: DU CSAS Decoded
The three phases, programme-specific merit, acceptance-upgrade-freeze, spot rounds with mandatory acceptance, and the documents folder.
Other Universities' Counselling
There is no national counselling — every university is its own campaign, and this chapter is the tracker method.
A Note for Parents
Real total costs, the fridge calendar, scam-proofing, and the most useful sentence a parent can say this season.
Twenty Questions, Answered Straight
The questions every aspirant and parent actually asks — from NCERT-sufficiency to retakes — answered from the official record.
The Master Checklist and Official Sources
The whole season as tick-boxes across four phases, plus every official source behind the book.
