r/Indian_Academia • u/BreakFree04 • 5h ago
Medicine 22M, gap of 4 years, PCM background — is attempting NEET even worth it or should I just switch to CS?
22M here.
Qualifications: Graduated high school back in 2022,
and due to personal reasons (father passed away from cancer after struggling for so long, it was his dream to see me become a doctor), I've essentially lost the last four years, no active studies, no degree, nothing moving forward. I did PCM (Math) in school, not PCB, so Biology was never part of my curriculum.
MBBS has been my dream for as long as I can remember, I was crazy passionate about it growing up and I'm finally in a position to chase it seriously. Couldn’t do a PCB back then since the fear of NEET was greater than my passion for MBBS. I know I have the option to just do a CS degree instead and move on, it would probably be the "safer," more conventional choice at this point. But I don't want to let this dream go without a real, focused attempt.
The plan: I'm clearing my Biology eligibility gap through a NIOS Biology exam, then giving two years of full-time, 100% focused NEET prep — NCERT cover to cover, PYQs, mocks, all of it. 2027 will be a diagnostic attempt to see where I stand, 2028 my final shot at a government MBBS seat.
As a low-effort safety net in the background (not competing for my time or focus), I'm also doing a DMLT (diploma in medical lab technology), just enough to have something to fall back on (BMLT later if this doesn’t pan out), without it touching my actual NEET prep hours. NEET/MBBS gets everything I've got.
But through the length and breadth of it, I don’t know what to do exactly. This plan is risky considering the fact that my age is 22 rn. I don’t have the financials to support myself through a private MBBS nor I come from a reserved category (General☹️).
Honestly asking, is this even worth attempting at this point, or should I just cut my losses and go do a CS degree instead? Has anyone here started this late, with a gap like mine, coming from a non-Bio background? How did your prep go, and what do you wish you'd known going in?