Part 1 — Where you actually stand
2,63,544 candidates, the 262 / 244 / 226 cut-offs out of 720, the four doors and what sits behind each, the domicile-free list, the reservation policy and the Round 3 category conversion that can rescue a list.
Part 2 — The only dates that matter
MCC's AIQ and state schedule side by side, all four rounds, every joining date, Round 1 broken into its seven steps, and why a Sunday deadline is really a Sunday deadline.
Part 3 — What you pay, and what comes back
The fee and deposit table, the two situations that forfeit a deposit, the refund rules including the chargeback warning, and where each payment goes and when.
Part 4 — Freeze and Float
The biggest procedural change of the cycle: what each option commits you to, when each is right, three worked situations, and the document-upload discipline that Float demands.
Part 5 — Free exit, then forfeiture
Round 1 is free, Round 2 costs the deposit, Round 3 has no exit. Plus the AIQ-or-state trap and the relieving letter you need to move.
Part 6 — Choice filling, done properly
How merit and preference interact, the three bands, three filters, reading a seat matrix in ninety seconds, and twelve ways a list fails.
Part 7 — Round 3 and Stray Vacancy
Who is eligible, who is locked out, why holding a seat is not the disqualifier, and how fresh registration in the stray round works.
Part 8 — The four doors compared
Who counsels, who collects the fee, where the bond attaches, and what each qualification actually is.
Part 9 — The bond, before you report
The four numbers, why this book refuses to print a state table, a worked example of branch-priced bonds, and ten questions to ask the college.
Part 10 — Documents that cancel seats
Fourteen documents, five certificate traps, the forty-eight hours after an allotment, and what to do when a discrepancy query arrives.
Part 11 — State counselling
Why half the seats are on the other portal, a worked state timeline, a portal table, and what state quota eligibility usually turns on.
Part 12 — If this cycle gives you nothing
INI-CET January 2027 dates and format, the ten days after the last round, the 2027 timeline for interns, and an honest word about a repeat year.
Part 13 — Worksheets
The choice-order planner, the two-seat comparison sheet and the 30-day action plan.
Part 14 — Quick answers
Twenty questions answered from the bulletin, including the ones that arrive the night before a deadline.
Part 15 — Sources
Every primary document used, and the order in which to check them.
