Medical applications are likely to touch all time high this year since the introduction of the common test in the late 70s indicating that medical aspirants have to face stiff competition.
Medical applications have crossed 93,183 so far while highest recorded figure is 94,466 registered in 2007 EAMCET. With the last date for applications with penal fee still pending, official expect it to cross one lakh mark easily going by previous experiences. Last year, around 68,000 students had applied while the number was just about 54,000 in 2010. Domination of girls is as expected with 57,000 registering so far as against 36,000 boys.

One of the reasons attributed to the rising numbers is the growth in the Bi.P.C stream in Intermediate. This year 1.78 lakh students took the Intermediate exams as against 1,31,102 last year in the science stream registering an increase of about 46,000 candidates. “We expect the number to cross one lakh,” says the EAMCET-2012 Convenor, N.V. Ramana Rao.

The surge in medical stream is baffling since the medical seats are a rarity in the State. Just over 4,000 seats are available of which 1,900 are in government sector and 2,300 odd in the private colleges. The number could increase by another 1,000 if the Medical Council of India accepts the State government's request. Among these, 600 seats have been sought in government medical colleges.

Prof. Ramana Rao feels medical aspirants are also actively looking at other options like Dental and traditional medical courses like Ayurveda and Homeopathy apart from new areas like Pharmacy and Biotechnology. Veterinary and Agriculture courses have always been a favourite among boys given their employability. Of late, girls are increasingly opting for them as they are assured of guaranteed employment in both Government and private sectors.