Get the most out of the INI-CET tool

Last updated 8 Oct 2026 · Reviewed by Dr. Rajiv Marechal
A start-to-finish plan for an INI-CET season. Every feature named here is on the INI-CET tool today. Round rules are from AIIMS New Delhi’s own documents (listed under Sources). FindMyBranch is not part of AIIMS.

INI-CET fills PG seats at 19 AIIMS, JIPMER, PGIMER, NIMHANS and SCTIMST. The seats are few and the rules are strict: there is no way to turn down a Round 1 seat, and not joining one costs ₹3 lakh. So it pays to know, before you fill a single choice, which seats your rank has really reached. That is what the INI-CET tool is for. This page shows how to use it well, and where it fits in the season.

Got your rank? See which seats closed near it.

Check my INI-CET options

The season in seven steps

When	What to do	Where
1. Before the result	Check your OBC or EWS certificate is in the central format and inside the date window. Read how the rounds work once.	Documents checklist, How INI-CET counselling works
2. Result day	Note your overall rank. That is the number the tool and the seat allocation use.	After your INI-CET result
3. Answer the tool	Rank, category, PwBD, any special seats, branches in order of liking, institutes.	Section 2 below
4. Read the cards	Very likely, possible and hard seats, with the session and round each number came from.	Sections 3 and 4
5. Fill choices on the AIIMS portal	One list, used for Round 1 and Round 2. Best seats at the top. Lock it before the Round 1 deadline.	INI-CET choice filling
6. After Round 1	Pick Option 1 or Option 2 in time, and report in person with your originals or the ₹3 lakh DD.	Seat exit and the ₹3 lakh
7. Round 2 and the Open Round	Accept and report by each deadline. Know what the Open Round does to a seat you already hold.	Round 2 and the Open Round

1. What the tool checks

The tool compares your INI-CET rank with the official seat allocation results AIIMS New Delhi published for every session from January 2021 to July 2026: Round 1, Round 2 and the Open Round. July 2022 has Rounds 1 and 2 only, because its Open Round result is not in our data. It covers MD, MS, the 6-year DM and the 6-year MCh. Sponsored and foreign national seats are left out.

It never guesses a closing rank. If no seat of a type you can take was ever allotted in a branch, that branch is simply not shown for you.

2. Answer the six questions carefully

Rank. Enter your overall rank from the INI-CET result, not a category rank. Seat allocation goes by the overall merit list. An INI-CET rank is not on the same scale as a NEET-PG rank, so never put a NEET-PG rank here.
Category. Pick the category on your INI-CET application. A reserved candidate can also get an open (UR) seat on merit, and the tool checks both. If your OBC or EWS certificate was not valid, AIIMS puts you on the UR merit list instead, so answer UR in that case.
PwBD. Say yes only if you have a benchmark disability (40% or more) with a valid certificate. A PwBD seat is kept inside your own category.
Special seats (optional). Some seats are only for some candidates: AIIMS preference seats for that AIIMS’s own MBBS graduates, JIPMER “Institute” seats for JIPMER graduates, Karnataka and North-East domicile seats, and PGIMER’s Rural Area seats. Tick only what is true for you. If none apply, skip the step.
Branches, in order of liking (optional). The order you tap is your order of preference, and you can move a branch up or down. Leave it on “Show me everything” on your first run, see what your rank reaches, then narrow.
Institutes (optional). Leave it on “Any institute” first. Narrow later.

3. Read a result card in thirty seconds

You see	What it means	What to do with it
Very likely / Possible / Hard, but has happened	Very likely: your rank is at least 5% better than the closing rank. Possible: from 5% better to 15% worse. Hard: more than 15% worse.	Put the seats you want most at the top of your list, whatever their group. Make sure there are very likely seats lower down.
Closing rank, session, round and seat type	The worst rank that got this seat in that session, in any of its rounds. The card names the round and the seat type, for example “UR seat” or “AIIMS preference seat”.	An Open Round figure is looser than a Round 1 figure. See how to read an INI-CET closing rank.
Your room	The closing rank minus your rank. A plus number means you would have got in that session.	A small plus number is not a safe seat. INI-CET branches often have one or two seats per category.
Trend	One bar per session. A dashed bar means that session’s best seat for you was a different seat type. The full results add each round of the session the card was judged on.	Look at several sessions, not one.
Fee, bond, leaving the seat, stipend	Shown only where we found it in the institute’s own prospectus, with the session it is from.	A missing line means we do not have it, not that there is none. SCTIMST, for one, asks for a ₹50 lakh bond.
Culture flag ⚑	What residents say about the institute, where we have reports or approved comments.	A signal to ask about, never a verdict. You can add your own comment from the card.

Which number does a card use? For each seat, the tool looks at every seat type you are allowed to take, finds the newest session in which one of them was allotted, and uses the one that went at the latest rank. So the card always tells you a number you could actually have used.

4. Sort and filter the list

Show all results, or only very likely, possible or hard ones.
Sort by best seats first, by closing rank, or by your own branch order.
Fee cap. A cap hides every seat whose yearly fee we do not have, and says how many it hid. Most AIIMS fees are not on record with us yet, and AIIMS New Delhi’s fee is not printed as a yearly figure, so leave the fee on “any” unless you mean to compare fees.
Bond. “No bond on record” means we found none, not that the institute has none.

5. Free preview, then the full results

The free view shows three seats in full (your best very likely seats and one stretch seat), and the true number of very likely, possible and hard seats at your rank. The full INI-CET results list every option, with each round’s closing rank. They cost ₹499, once. This is a separate purchase from the NEET-PG report: one never unlocks the other. If you paid before, use “Already paid? Restore access” with the same email.

Free to read for everyone: the INI-CET closing ranks by branch, which show the latest session’s open-category closing rank at every institute.

6. Turn the cards into a choice list

You fill choices on AIIMS’s own seat allocation portal, not on FindMyBranch. A few rules decide how to use the cards there:

A choice is one institute plus one subject. There is no limit on how many you add.
You get the best choice on your list that is still free at your rank. So put the seats you want most at the top, and seats you would still accept lower down.
Round 2 uses your Round 1 list. Once the Round 1 deadline passes, the list is locked for both rounds.
Only list seats you would join. There is no option to refuse a Round 1 seat.

More: INI-CET choice filling.

7. Act correctly in each round

Take part in Round 1. If you do not register and fill choices for Round 1, you cannot take part in Round 2. Only the Open Round is left.
Got a Round 1 seat? Log in and pick Option 1 (keep it and stop) or Option 2 (keep it and stay in Round 2) before the deadline. Pick nothing and you lose the seat and Round 2.
Report in person either way, with your original certificates, or with self-attested copies and a ₹3 lakh demand draft. The originals must follow within five days.
Option 2 means moving up. If Round 2 gives you a better seat from your list, you must take it, and your Round 1 seat is released.
Not joining costs ₹3 lakh. That is the penalty for not joining your Round 1 seat or the seat you were moved up to.
The Open Round can replace a seat you hold. Read Round 2 and the Open Round before you enter it.

8. Two more things people forget

Check your college: it covers the AIIMS, JIPMER, PGIMER, NIMHANS and SCTIMST too. Search an institute for what residents say, and add your own review if you trained there.
Dental seats. MDS seats at AIIMS, JIPMER and PGIMER are not in this tool. The MDS tool asks for your INI-CET rank separately for them.

9. The mistakes that cost seats

Skipping Round 1 and expecting to join in Round 2.
Not logging in to pick Option 1 or Option 2 after a Round 1 seat.
Listing a seat you would not join. There is no refusing it, and not joining costs ₹3 lakh.
Choosing Option 2 and hoping to keep the Round 1 seat if Round 2 offers a better one.
An OBC or EWS certificate in a state format, or issued outside the prospectus dates.
Paying the ₹3 lakh DD at reporting, then not bringing the originals within five days.
Reading an AIIMS preference seat’s closing rank as if anyone could take it.
Comparing an Open Round closing rank with a Round 1 one.
Comparing an INI-CET rank with a NEET-PG rank.
Relying on one session. Look at the trend.

Check your INI-CET options. Your rank and category, against every seat’s past closing rank, from AIIMS’s own results.

Check INI-CET options

Sources

The tool’s closing ranks come from AIIMS New Delhi’s official INI-CET seat allocation results, January 2021 to July 2026. Round rules are from the July 2026 result notifications and the January 2027 prospectus, and can change each session.