Six students from T.N. figure in top 100 ranks in NEET UG 2025

Top NEET UG 2025 performers from Tamil Nadu share their study routines, aspirations, and success stories.

Six students from Tamil Nadu figured in the top 100 ranks in NEET UG 2025, the results for which were declared on Saturday. As many as 76,181 candidates from the State qualified for the counselling process.

Soorya Narayanan S. of Pushpalata Vidya Mandir CBSE School in Tirunelveli topped the State list securing an all-India rank of 27, with a score of 665 out of 720. The others rank holders are Abhijeet Nagaraj (all-India Rank 50), Pugazhendhi G.S. (Rank 61), Hruthik Vijaya Raja K.S. (Rank 63), A.J. Rakesh (Rank 78) and Prajan Srivari G. (Rank 88).

“I feel extremely happy and blessed,” Soorya Narayanan said, adding that he was solely guided by his school teachers and followed the NCERT syllabus diligently. Giving details about his routine, he said: “I studied for five to six hours a day, focussing on conceptual clarity and mock test papers. However, on some days, depending upon my workload and other factors, my preparation was limited to two or three hours.”

He aspires to join the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, and may later specialise in cardiology or neurology, though he has not decided on it yet. Pushpaveni Ayappan, senior principal of the school, highlighted another impressive feat of Soorya Narayanan: he has also cleared the JEE (Advanced) 2025 with an all-India rank of 388, efficiently balancing both NEET and JEE preparations.

Pugazhendhi and Rakesh, two other successful candidates, were room mates at the Velammal School Bodhi Campus near Chennai. Both students concurred that the question paper for this year’s exam was tougher than last year. “When I gave the question paper to my institution, they said I’d secure 659 marks,” Pugazhendhi said over the phone. “But when the results came, I got 654,” he added. Remarkably, Pugazhendhi too appeared for the JEE but without much preparation. He secured an all-India ranking of 3,700 but in the OBC category, to which he belongs, his ranking was 690. He appeared for the first round of counselling on Saturday and has been offered a seat in IIT Kanpur. “I love mathematics and, hence, I prefer electrical engineering,” Pugazhendhi said. His parents are government school teachers in Tiruvallur.

Rakesh, too, rued silly marking mistakes during the exam. “I could have done better if not for those mistakes,” he said. He attributes his success to the rigorous schedule followed by the institution. During school days, study time would start at 6.30 p.m. and continue till 10.30 p.m. or, sometimes, till midnight. When there was no school, study time would start at 7.30 a.m. and go on till 10.30 p.m., with adequate breaks in between for meals and relaxation.

“My parents are veterinary doctors in Dharmapuri, and my mother stayed in Chennai during the final three weeks, which helped me mentally,” Rakesh added. The NEET was conducted in 13 languages and 26,580 candidates registered this year to take the exam in Tamil.