Beyond Marks and Ranks: The Untold Stress of NEET Exam on Students, Parents, and Families
Navigating the high stakes of exams, particularly competitive ones, involves a difficult balance between intense hope for success and the painful reality of disappointment. Exam seasons are often characterized by high-pressure situations, sleepless nights, and the pressure of extreme competition.
Dr. Fiaz Maqbool Fazili
On 3rd May, as NEET 2026 unfolded across the country, a familiar yet unsettling scene played out outside examination centres. Parents waited for hours—some seated-on pavements, some standing under the harsh sun, others whispering prayers. Many had travelled long distances, leaving vehicles far away due to traffic restrictions. All carried one silent fear: Will this day decide everything?Inside sat nearly 23–25 lakh aspirants carrying not only admit cards, but the weight of expectations, family dreams, and societal pressure. Outside, parents carried another burden—hope mixed with anxiety. This raises a difficult but necessary question: Is it worth it?
The Myth of the “Perfect Career”
For decades, medicine has been projected as the ultimate career—stable, respectable, financially attractive and noble. In many families, becoming a doctor is not merely a profession but a legacy and often an unspoken obligation.But reality has changed.Today, an MBBS degree alone no longer guarantees stability or financial security. Young doctors increasingly face prolonged cycles of examinations, training, uncertainty, and delayed settlement. Postgraduate seats remain limited, competition again is intense, and even super specialists often struggle for suitable job satisfying opportunities. The journey to becoming “settled” in medicine may now stretch over 15–20 years, often delaying personal milestones like marriage, financial independence, and family life.
So again, we must ask: Is the promise still aligned with reality?
The Silent Epidemic: Psychological Stress
The NEET ecosystem has evolved into not only an academic challenge but a psychological battlefield. The pressure begins early. Coaching centres become second homes, sometimes replacing normal schooling altogether. Students are conditioned to believe that a single examination defines their worth. Parents, often unintentionally, amplify this pressure. One deeply disturbing account from this year stays with me. A mother reportedly told her daughter before entering the hall: “If you don’t perform well, don’t come back home.” Whether spoken in frustration or fear, such words can leave lifelong scars.Valley’s noted mental care specialist, Prof Margoob sahib and his compassionate team of Clinical psychologists warn that this environment breeds anxiety, chronic stress, depression, emotional burnout, and in extreme cases, substance abuse or suicidal tendencies. Students begin to equate failure with rejection, self guilt ,incompetent—not only academic failure, but failure as human beings. We must pause and reflect: When did an entrance examination become a test of emotional survival?
The Numbers That Don’t Add Up
NEET 2026 once again exposed the mismatch between aspiration and opportunity. The data available from sources point towards a race with limited chances to crack the exam. India currently offers around 1.29 lakh MBBS seats, while more than 22–23 lakh students compete for them. This means that the overwhelming majority—despite hard work and dedication—will not secure a seat.Many are not lacking intelligence or merit; they are simply casualties of a system with limited capacity. The financial burden is equally alarming. Families spend lakhs annually on coaching, accommodation, study material, and travel. Some take loans or exhaust life savings for a probability that remains statistically slim.
This raises uncomfortable questions: 1. Are we preparing students for success—or monetizing their fear of failure?2. Has aspiration become an industry built upon anxiety?
Coaching institutes today are deeply integrated into NEET preparation with huge bill boards comprising of pictures of NEET toppers. Many centers provide discipline, structure, career counselling and guidance. Yet they also intensify relentless competition, as race. Students are continuously ranked, compared, and reminded where they stand. Learning gradually shifts from curiosity to scoring. Childhood becomes timetable-driven, socially isolated, subconsciously struggling and emotionally exhausting. More dangerously, coaching culture often standardizes ambition—as if every bright student must become a doctor regardless of aptitude, personality, or interest. This homogenization of dreams may be one of the system’s greatest failures.
Parents: Supportive or Overburdening?
Parents around 24-25 lacs each year enter this journey with noble intentions of job security, respectability, and a stable future for their children. But somewhere, concern often transforms into pressure.Many parents have become intensely future-focused, planning careers years in advance without fully understanding the rapidly changing professional landscape. Their anxiety gradually becomes the child’s emotional burden. The image of parents waiting outside examination centres is powerful—but symbolic too. Some came walking, others used three wheelers, scooties etc whatever was available to be in time .It reflects love and sacrifice, yet also emotional overinvestment that can overwhelm young minds. We must redefine parental roles—from enforcers of success to protectors of emotional well-being.
Is Medicine Still Worth It?a debatable question different people have different opinions in present scenario. Despite these challenges, I personally still believe medicine remains a deeply noble and meaningful profession. It offers the opportunity to serve humanity, relieve suffering, and make a real difference in people’s lives with huge huge rewards and sincere prayers. For students who are genuinely passionate, resilient, empathetic, good Samaritan, and prepared for a long and demanding/challenging journey, it can still be highly fulfilling. However,with IT/AI bloom and skill based placements, medicine is no longer the only respectable or successful career path to success, nor a guaranteed one. Fields such as engineering, research, public health, data science, management, marketing, and social sciences also offer meaningful career opportunities with financial, professional and personal fulfilment. The central issue is not whether medicine is worth pursuing, but whether the present system—with its intense competition, prolonged uncertainty, financial burden, and societal pressures—is worth the cost borne by young people and their families.
Policies, though designed genuinely on ground realities to address historical inequities in weaker sections(categories) , have also intensified competition within open merit categories. Simultaneously, the number of aspirants continues to rise faster than available opportunities. Although State has increased seats and opened new Government medical colleges almost in every District , but still seats remain limited, while private institutions are often prohibitively expensive. Beyond MBBS, postgraduate specialization demands another cycle of competition, uncertainty, and stress. Therefore, pursuing medicine today must be an informed decision—not a romanticized default aspiration imposed by society.
The idea that medicine is the “best” career must be replaced by the understanding that it is simply one among many meaningful careers. The real question is not whether medicine is worth it—but whether the current system of pursuing it is worth the emotional and financial cost. So again, one must ask: Is the promise still aligned with reality?
The Need for Reform
Addressing NEET-related stress requires systemic, familial, and individual reforms.
- Expand Opportunities: The mismatch between number of aspirants and seats must be addressed responsibly. More government medical colleges, better seat distribution, and stronger allied health sciences are essential.
- Reform Assessment Systems: There is always scope of doing things better way.A single high-stakes examination should not solely determine a student’s future. Multiple pathways, phased assessments, and flexible entry systems can reduce extreme pressure.
- Regulate Coaching Ecosystems: There is urgent need for oversight to make counselling centers as per aptitude of the student so coaching institutes prepare students adequately.
- Integrate Mental Health Support: Schools, coaching centres, and examination bodies must provide counselling services, stress management workshops, and emotional support systems. Mental health cannot remain an afterthought.
- Educate Parents: Parents must recognize that encouragement is more valuable than comparison. A child’s worth cannot be measured through ranks alone. Children should feel safe expressing fear, disappointment, and uncertainty without fear of judgment.The perception in Society must change to redefine Success. Society must broaden its definition of achievement. Success is not limited to securing an MBBS seat only. Emotional resilience, adaptability, discipline, empathy, aptitude and personal growth matter equally.
Restoring Trust in NEET
After interacting with NEET aspirants, educationists, coaching faculty, parents, and stakeholders, one concern repeatedly emerged: the need to restore trust in the examination system itself. The heartbreaking news of exam cancellations and irregularities further intensified anxiety among students and families. Though authorities repeatedly reassured candidates on the TV channels that their hard work would not go in vain, they and law enforcing agencies are working on it but still some are apprehensive on uncertainty and delays added to the emotional burden. To make NEET more transparent, credible, and tamper-proof, several practical reforms are essential. The government must constitute an advisory committee of professionals to recommend practical measures and reforms on how the NEET system can be improved and made more effective, transparent, and student-friendly.,. The credibility of NEET is not merely about conducting an examination; it is about protecting the dreams, mental well-being, and future of millions of young people.
A Final Reflection
As the examination ended and students emerged from the halls—some relieved, some anxious, many uncertain—the parents stood searching for familiar faces. There were smiles, tears, reassurances, and silence. But beneath all this lingered a deeper question:At what cost are we chasing success? Our youth are not merely aspirants; they are individuals with dreams, vulnerabilities, emotions, futuristic and immense potential. They deserve a system that nurtures them—not one that exhausts them emotionally before adulthood even begins. If the path to becoming a doctor leaves behind anxiety, broken confidence, emotional trauma, and lost years, then perhaps we need to rethink the journey (system overhaul reforms )—not the destination.
Takeaway
NEET today is more than an examination; it has become a societal phenomenon reflecting our aspirations, inequalities, fears, and definitions of success. The stress surrounding it is not inevitable—it is largely a product of how we approach it as families, institutions, and society. Choosing MBBS should be a conscious and informed decision, not a socially imposed obligation. Preparing for NEET should remain a phase of learning and growth—not a period of emotional suffering. Because in the end, no career—however prestigious—should come at the cost of a young mind’s peace. The real test is not NEET itself, but how society chooses to support the young minds who face it.
My best wishes to all those who have chosen medicine as a career — a noble profession and a great opportunity to serve humanity with compassion, kindness, and empathy. My heartfelt prayers and best wishes for all aspirants. May whatever be best for your future unfold with ease. May Allah guide you toward what is خير for you in this world and the Hereafter. Ameen.
(STRAIGHT TALK COMMUNICATIONS EXCLUSIVE. The author is a medical doctor who writes columns advocating empathetic medical practice and meaningful healthcare reforms.)
