<p>You’ve got nine shots at making it in. And I wish you luck with the best one of the group for you…whatever that might be. (EDIT: Remember, 1 for 9 is awesome and all you need!)</p>
<p>But you pose a good question. Hypothetically, let’s suppose you go 0 for 9. (I’m just rolling along with your question, not making any predictions.) First, given that you claim BS to be a necessity for which there’s no day school fall-back position, I think you’re wise to be looking down from the high wire to see if there’s a net. It doesn’t mean you’ll fall or that you lack confidence because even the best (or especially the best) high wire acts insist on a safety net.</p>
<p>Second, Plan B is a sort of last resort. It means applying to at least one other school. Sure, you could have applied to 10 or 11 or 12 or more schools during the regular track…but I commend you for sticking to just those you desire…instead of shooting for “safeties” while also trying to make it across the wire.</p>
<p>Finally, and to get to the heart of your question (without, unfortunately, giving you a pre-assembled answer), you’re going to have to do a few things. (A) Heed the message from an 0 for 9 response and shoot “lower” (or less competitive). (B) Look for schools with rolling admissions (and, luckily, those with openings in March are probably going to be the less competitive schools you need to be zeroing in on). (C) Pay close attention to what you’re hearing from sources like CC…and perhaps other admission offices…about the yields (acceptances) so you’re in a position to seize an opportunity (opening) that may come about. </p>
<p>Being prepared means calling around to admission offices in the weeks after decisions are announced and following the deadline for applicants to confirm their decisions. You just never know…particularly in a year when there are so many more applications. </p>
<p>(If students apply to 5 schools on average, but have applied to 6 schools on average this year, that accounts for a 20% increase in applications without adding one more seat. I suspect last year’s record number of applications has compelled many to apply to more schools than they might have applied to in the past. And if the 20% increase in applications is driven by roughly the same number of applicants, then some schools are bound to be surprised by much lower yields (acceptances) than planned for…meaning a door (or window) might open for you in mid-April.)</p>
<p>The last part about being prepared to pounce on opportunities that you ferret out by being diligent and tenacious once you learn of your (hypothetical ) 0 for 9 news…is that you need to have several pre-packaged, pre-assembled applications all but ready to fly out the door the second you learn of a potential opening.</p>
<p>Actually, I lied…that’s the second-to-last thing. The last – but most important – thing is to be positive. You can’t get that 0 for 9 and think of yourself as a failure. You will have your work cut out for you when (if) you get that news and you’ll need to be on your toes and very active. People who think they’re failures are not very active…because why should they bother? Now, don’t be arrogant. But hold yourself in high esteem and go get that seat that’s out there – somewhere! Don’t let it go unfilled or let someone else snatch it from under you because you were wallowing in self-pity while they were beating the bushes.</p>
<p>Like I said, I’m not even going to venture a guess as to what your chances are. That’s an exercise I’ll leave to others. I’m just working off the assumption you proposed and giving you an idea of what I would think I would do if I was standing in your shoes at your age in that circumstance.</p>