MHT CET CAP Round: What Each of the 4 Rounds Locks In

CAP is the State CET Cell's centralised process for allotting first-year engineering seats. The 2026-27 Information Brochure provides CAP Rounds I, II, III and IV (rule 11). You fill an online option form, the CET Cell allots seats by merit against that form, and you act on each allotment before the next round opens.

Merit is built from your CET score. Ties are broken by CET Mathematics marks, then Physics, then Chemistry, then your board percentage in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics (PCM), then HSC Mathematics, Physics and aggregate. Allotment follows rules 12(a) and 12(g) of the brochure.

CAP seats are the sanctioned intake minus the institutional quota and, for minority institutions, the minority quota (see the seat allocation table in the Information Brochure 2026-27). Seats filled at institute level after CAP fall under rule 13.

Your first preference in Round I, your first three in Round II and your first six in Round III freeze automatically if you are allotted one of them. Round IV has no further betterment, so its allotment is final.

An auto-frozen seat ends your CAP. You still have to accept it: pay the fee and either report to an Admission Reporting Centre (ARC) or complete self-scrutiny of your uploaded documents, then report to the institute. Failing to report counts as rejection (rule 12(k)).

If your seat is not auto-frozen, you have three choices. Freeze it and your CAP ends with that seat. Accept it without freezing and you stay in for betterment, which is the Information Brochure's word for trying for a better seat in later rounds. Decline it and you need a fresh option form to continue (rule 12(m)).

Freezing and then not reporting forfeits the seat and ends your participation. In later rounds you do not need to list the seat you already hold.

The fee is the cost of betterment. Rule 12(i) says the fee is paid at the time of seat acceptance, so we read it as ₹1,000 every time you accept a seat, including a seat you accept for betterment. Rule 12(j) makes the fee non-refundable. Budget for that before you choose betterment over a freeze.

Fill the form in decreasing order of preference. You can enter 1 to 300 choices, and the serial number of each block is its preference, so block 1 is your first preference (rule 11). You must confirm the form through your login, and you cannot change it after confirmation. For Rounds II, III and IV, candidates can fill in or edit the form from the previous round before confirming it again. Run every line through these five tests.

What is the join test for a CAP option form?

Ask whether you would actually take this seat, at this college and in this course, if it were the only one you got. If the answer is no, delete the line. An allotment you would not join still costs you a decision and, if you accept it, the fee.

What is the order test?

Rank by what you want most, not by what you think you can get. The system works down your list and allots the first seat you qualify for, so a seat you prefer must always sit above one you like less. Never put a safe seat above a dream seat unless you truly prefer the safe one.

What is the upgrade test in Rounds 2 and 3?

In Round II, positions 1 to 3 freeze automatically. In Round III, positions 1 to 6 do. Before you confirm, check that every seat in those positions is one you would be happy to freeze, because an allotment there ends your CAP. Round IV has no auto-freeze, so list only seats you prefer to the seat you already hold.

What is the cutoff band test?

Check each line against official cutoffs for the same course and seat code, for example GOPENS (General, State Level). Our MHT CET cutoff statistics page shows official A.Y. 2024-25 closing percentiles with merit numbers by college, course and CAP round. Use our percentile calculator to place your score first. Then use our college predictor, which takes your percentile minus the cutoff percentile, and the cutoff merit number minus your merit number, to give a planning band. A band is a guide for ordering your list, not a guarantee of any seat.

What is the cost and distance test?

Add up the fee you will pay at acceptance, the tuition at that institute and the travel or hostel cost to reach it. If a seat fails this test, it fails it in every round, so remove it now. Our MHT CET colleges list data page helps you compare institutes before you fill the form.

Yes. The CET Cell's provisional vacancy list for CAP Round III, published on 19 August 2026, shows 28,132 vacant CAP seats across 385 institutes. We worked that out by adding the "Vacant CAP Seats" figure for every course in the list. The list published on 8 September 2026 after Round IV shows 42,942 across 387 institutes. The two lists were published at different points in the process, so do not subtract one from the other.

A vacant seat is not automatically a good seat for you. Check each one against the cutoff band test above, and remember that seats open up in later rounds as candidates take upward allotments. The CET Cell publishes the seats available for Rounds II, III and IV on its website before each round (rule 11).

Yes. Your CET score builds your merit, and in a tie the CET Mathematics score is checked first, then Physics, then Chemistry. Physics is therefore the second tie-break, after Mathematics.

A strong CET score is what builds your merit before CAP begins. As of October 2026, our MHT CET 2027 store page lists these batches:

• MHTCET 2027 - LONG TERM BATCH, taught by Rahul Jewaani: ₹1,632
• MHTCET CHEMISTRY 2027 LONG TERM BATCH: ₹1,459
• MHTCET 2027 Droppers/Advance Batch: ₹2,121
• Chemistry - Comeback Series 2027: free