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You submitted your MBA applications two hours ago:

click.

You have been productive ever since. Laundry is in the dryer, bills are paid. You are heading towards the refrigerator for your third beer, when it hits you:

You applied to business school today. Wow. Fantastic. It’s all done!

…But wait, when are you going to hear back from the Admissions office? Will they email you?  Do they have your correct address? Did you spell it correctly on the application? Go back and check. Yes, you’re fine. Hey, what if they defer you? What if you are on the waiting list? What if you get rejected? Can you kiss and make up with flowers? Will your life be over?

In other words: Now what?

First of all, relax.

Post-application anxiety is common. Unfortunately, there is no cure…other than twiddling your thumbs and watching re-runs of Seinfeld. As you wait, though, you might want to consider what could happen after you apply, and what you should do in each situation. The following sections explain the four potential possibilities you may confront after submitting your MBA applications. Read them. They will help you make decisions, take actions, and prepare yourself for the future.

Acceptance

This is the ideal scenario: you wake up one sunny morning, and a fat envelope is in your mailbox. You rip it open, and see bright blue stars: they like you, they really like you! And they want you to study at their institution. You faint, scream, and cry. Forbes 500, here you come! Then, you do three different victory dances, all in a row, one after the other… for three straight hours.

Yeah, b-school acceptance feels good. Typically, it comes in the form of a letter. The admissions office will send this document to you electronically and physically. The letter will congratulate you, and offer you a seat in the school. The letter will also contain important information about upcoming decisions and deadlines. In particular, you will have to pay a deposit fee; this sum reserves your space in the program.  But you will still be on cloud nine, so you will probably gloss over these details. At this point, you will think to call all your family and friends, to set up a celebratory dinner.

If you receive admission to several colleges, you have a tough decision to make. Ultimately, you want to pick the school that is best suited for you. So, do some online research. Talk to your parents, friends, and counselors. Call the business school itself for specific questions. In making your final selection, consider all aspects of the college: academics, resources, job opportunities, your financial ability– everything that matters and applies to you. Remember to think in the long term. If you want to go into finance, do not attend the school that is best known for marketing. If you want to work at a multinational corporation in New York City, do not pick the school that is located in rural Tennessee.

Once you’ve made your final decision, get to work. Reply to the acceptance letter, and start the administrative processes. Pay your fees, select your classes, etc. If you are an international student, obtain the necessary I-20 form from the b-school, and begin your visa applications.

 Deferment/Waitlisting

Sometimes, students who apply to business school are deferred or waitlisted. In this sense, they are neither accepted nor rejected by the institution. Students who get deferred by the school are desirable for the MBA program, but require some more work experience in order to attend the school. Students may also ask to be deferred, in order to pursue other opportunities. For example, a candidate may receive admission into NYU Stern’s School of Business, but want to defer enrollment for a year to work as a full time financial advisor at Morgan Stanley.

Students can also be waitlisted. If there are not enough students who enroll, the school will accept students from the waitlist. Receiving deferment, or being on the waitlist is hard. It means that you are hanging in there; you are not sure if you will get to go to the school or not. In either case, you should not panic. If the program wanted to outright reject you, it would have done so. Clearly, you are qualified for admission. There is still hope for students who are deferred or waitlisted. You need to persevere, and work hard to gain admission into the school. This is what you need to do:

• Call the admissions office and ask them why you were deferred/waitlisted. Be respectful and diplomatic. Convey your deep desire to attend the school. Address weaknesses in your application. Ask if there is anything further that you can do to secure a place at the school. If you are waitlisted, ask what your priority number is. Then, try to gauge how likely you are to get accepted.  Finally, ask the office if/how you should follow up with them, to know whether or not you receive admission later.
• Try to stay in constant contact with the admissions office. This will show them how eager you are to join their MBA program.
• Write the admissions office a letter of continued interest. Tell them why you still really want to be a part of their MBA program. Try to sound enthusiastic and sincere. The office wants to know how serious and invested you are in them.
• Update the admission s office with new and improved information about you. Send them an additional letter of recommendation; let them know about a recent job proposal you received.  You want to provide the admissions office with some resources. These tools will help them better understand you.
• At the same time, do not overwhelm or harass the admissions office. Fifteen phone calls a day will irritate them. Similarly, sending in twenty four ‘Employee of the Month’ awards you received at your last job is a terrible idea. Be smart about your supplemental materials. Just submit a few items that make you look like a strong candidate.
• Ultimately, however, you still need to have a back up. Often, deferred/waitlisted students get rejected. So, you need to have a safety, or other school that you could attend. Do not overlook this precaution. At the end of the day, you want an MBA. So try and get in somewhere.

 Rejection

This is the worst scenario: you wake up one cloudy morning, and a flimsy envelope is in your mailbox. You rip it open, and find a cruel letter: unfortunately, the business school cannot accept you. You’ve been denied. Your heart shatters to the floor: then, you faint.

You wake up, hoping it was all a nightmare, but nope: the letter. is. still. there. You call in sick. You eat three tubs of ice-cream, and prop yourself on the couch, where you remain for the next two weeks… Yes, rejection hurts us all. But at some point, you need to get off that couch and pull yourself together.

This is what you need to do:

• Take a deep breath, and just let the whole thing go. Don’t overanalyze the situation; dwelling in bouts of self-pity will get you nowhere. So do something else, and keep yourself occupied. Visit your brother. Go fishing.
• Don’t take it too personally. Almost every MBA-bound student gets a rejection letter of some sort. You are not the only one. Also keep in mind that the school does not really know you. You are strong, intelligent, and capable. Your worth is not determined by a flimsy letter.
• Understand that rejection does not completely ruin your chances of success. If you work and study hard, some other MBA program will accept you. Every business school will give you an MBA degree, so you will do well, no matter where you go.
• Stay positive, and look at other business schools. There are so many MBA programs in the sea! You can still have a great education and job experience elsewhere.
• If you get rejected by all of your business schools, don’t fret. You probably just need more work experience and qualifications. Get a good job and work hard. You can always apply to business school at a later point in your life. There are always other paths, other options to consider and pursue. Ultimately, nothing is set in stone. If you are bent on going to business school, you can make it happen, some way or the other.

All the best, and hang in there!