"I got rejected from business school. Now what?"

If you applied to top MBA programs in Round 1, then your moment of truth has arrived. HBS, Stanford, Kellogg, Haas, NYU, Columbia and more business schools are rolling out their decisions right now. According to MBADataGuru.com, Round 1 acceptance rates at top programs range from just 8% for Stanford to 41% for Ross, with an average of 26%. So what happens to the other three quarters of applicants?

Waitlisted

If you didn't get in, but you also didn't get rejected, then congratulations! Welcome to waitlist purgatory. Getting off the waitlist at Harvard Business School, NYU Stern or Yale SOM is notoriously difficult, but if you're waiting on Olin or Kenan-Flagler, your chances aren't too bad.

Regardless of outcome, you should feel proud of the fact that you made it on the waitlist. A school doesn't put you there unless they truly believe you could get in and do well at their school. So, even if it ultimately ends in a ding, your reapplicant odds are strong - as long as you can craft a compelling story.

Rejected

Ah, the dreaded ding. Obviously, not the outcome you were hoping for. Still, just because you got rejected, it doesn't mean your business school dreams are forever dashed. In the words of Aaliyah, if at first you don't succeed...

Stop and take time to reflect. Why do you think you didn't get in? What could you have done differently in the application process? What are your career goals, and is an MBA necessary to achieve them? Does it make sense to reapply next fall? (Shameless plug: I offer a Ding Debrief service to help candidates answer these questions)

And remember...

The majority of people who apply to business school could get in. Just because you didn't, it doesn't mean you can't. Are you ready to dust yourself off and try again?

Jyll Saskin Gales is an elite MBA admissions consultant. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and currently works at Google in Toronto.