First time applicants and parents are always surprised how competitive it is for unhooked students. It is.
If you have to apply again, cast a wider net. An excellent unhooked student friend of my daughter’s got on 10 WLs of 10 top BSs. Yes, and didn’t get admitted to any one of them. But her parents were smart and she was full pay and they pursued a top day school and got in, ready and willing to move to NYC.