From Tears Over NEET To A Seat In US Biotech: Pragya Gupta’s Plot Twist No One Saw Coming

Nikunj Parikh - Mumbai Bureau May 24, 2026 8,250 Views

At 17, Pragya Gupta failed NEET and thought her future was over. A decade later, she holds a Columbia University master’s degree and works in US corporate biotech, proving one exam doesn’t define success and urging students to pursue broader life‑science careers beyond the NEET‑or‑nothing mindset.

At 17, Pragya Gupta failed NEET and was convinced she had ruined her life before it even started. Ten years on, she has a master’s degree from Columbia University and works in US corporate biotech, far from the exam hall where it all began. Her honest, funny and sharp retelling of that journey has gone viral, offering anxious students a radically different script: your marks are not your destiny.

A Different Path After Failing NEET

In her now‑popular reel, Pragya recalls writing NEET in 2016 and missing the cut‑off, watching classmates move into medical colleges while she battled shame and self‑doubt. Instead of getting trapped in multiple repeat attempts, she chose an undergraduate programme in life sciences that genuinely interested her. That decision, which looked like a compromise at the time, slowly opened doors—strong academics, research exposure and clarity about what she liked in science and what she didn’t.

From Indian Classrooms To Ivy League Corridors

Pragya eventually moved to the United States for higher studies and completed a master’s degree at Columbia University, an Ivy League institution. Today she works in corporate biotechnology, on the business and strategy side of the industry rather than as a practising doctor. In the video, she jokingly calls herself a “biotech baddie” and says she’s “never touching pipettes again,” underlining that a career in science can exist well beyond the lab coat and stethoscope clichés.

Life After NEET Highlights

Failed NEET at 17 in 2016 and initially believed her future was finished
Chose a life‑science aligned undergraduate degree instead of only chasing a repeat attempt
Moved to the US and completed a master’s from Columbia University
Now works in US corporate biotech, staying in healthcare without being a doctor
Viral story urges students to think outside the NEET‑or‑nothing mindset and not measure their worth by one exam