Admission to this institute is on a complete merit basis and by national-level competitive examinations. Previously admission to the undergraduate course was through WBJEE and AIPMT. From 2017 onwards NEET has become the sole entrance test for admission to the undergraduate as well as post graduate courses. 15% undergraduate seats are filled up through all India quota and 85% undergraduate seats are filled up through state quota. For post graduate seats half are filled up through all India quota and the rest are filled up through state quota. Every year 250 students are admitted to the MBBS course based on their National Eligibility and Entrance Test rankings. Admission to the post graduate courses is through NEET-PG conducted by the National Board of Examinations.
Calcutta National Medical College is popularly known as Chittaranjan Hospital. The second campus of CNMC previously Calcutta Pavlov Hospital houses the psychiatry department. CNMC&H is one of the biggest government hospitals in West Bengal having extensive OPD, day care and indoor patient care services with more than 8,000 patients attending OPD everyday. Total available bed strength is 1600.
AGON - The annual cultural festival
AGON is the annual cultural festival of Calcutta National Medical College, organised by the CNMC Students' Union. AGON is reportedly the biggest medical college festival of Eastern India. Since its inception in 1980 Agon has been one of the most sought after college festivals among the medical student fraternity in West Bengal.
Prefest - Agon Prefest is held for 4–7 days prior to the main fest. Prefest events include: Intercollege Sports Tournament, Cinefest, Short-Film Festival, Solo and group creative events, CME, Seminars, Dance workshop, Medical workshops, Blood donation camps, awareness campaigns etc.
Fest - Following the traditions of the past four decades the main fest Agon is held for 4 days. It begins just after the prefest. Events include: Dance & Music contests, Battle of Band, Crime Scene Investigation, Treasure Hunt, Medi Quiz, General Quiz, Fandom Quizzes, Stand-Up comedy, Drama competition, Street Play, X-Factor, Paradox - The Fashion Show etc.
Among the major attractions of Agon are the 4 concert nights, which has regional artists, Bollywood celebrities, EDM concerts and DJ night. Agon has witnessed stellar performances from Amit Trivedi, Arijit Singh, Neha Kakkar, Sunidhi Chauhan, KK, Mohit Chauhan, Mohammed Irfan , Shalmali Kholgade, Shraddha Pandit, Fossils, Euphoria, Javed Ali, Neeraj Shridhar, Rupankar, Anupam Roy, Sidhhu, Pota etc. The cultural festival embraces the likes of many famous celebrities of the country, drawing about 5000 footfalls a day. With more than 40 inter college events and competitions spanning for more than a week, the fest is graced by more than 3000 college students, post graduate trainees, resident doctors, alumni of the college and faculty members. Students from more than 60 schools and colleges from Kolkata as well as from other parts of Eastern India take part in the competitions and attend the concerts. A number of social initiatives are undertaken by the Students' Union as part of the annual cultural festival AGON, which includes Blood donation camps, Thalassaemia screening camps, awareness campaigns etc.
