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MCC Stray Vacancy Round: rules and eligibility

Every point below links to its official source.

Key facts

  1. The Stray Vacancy Round needs a fresh registration and fresh choice filling. It is held online for AIQ seats left vacant after Round 3 and for deemed university seats. [1]
  2. MCC runs the online stray round for 100% of deemed university seats under the Supreme Court's 12.12.2022 order in Dar-us-Slam Educational Trust v. MCI. [1]
  3. Three groups cannot take part in the stray round: candidates who did not register for it, candidates holding or joined on any seat at that time, and Round 3 allottees who did not report. [1]
  4. After Round 3, the Centre and states share data, and anyone on either the central or a state allotted list is removed from the All India Stray Vacancy Round. [1]
  5. A stray round seat must be joined. A candidate who does not join loses the security deposit and cannot take part in any further round. [1]
  6. Stray round allotment data is shared with the states so those candidates are weeded out of the states' own stray rounds. [1]
  7. Under Supreme Court directions, states must filter out candidates who joined AIQ seats before their own stray rounds. MCC told states on 10.10.2026 to remove joined AIQ candidates up to Round 3 before processing state Round 3. [2]
  8. In 2026 the MCC stray round result was declared on 19 Oct 2026, with reporting from 19 to 26 Oct 2026. [3]

Next steps

Can I resign a stray round seat?

No. MCC says a stray round allottee must join the allotted seat; not joining means losing the security deposit and being barred from any further round.

I already have a state seat. Can I join the MCC stray round?

No. Candidates holding or joined on a seat are not eligible, and data sharing removes anyone on a central or state allotted list.

Sources

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