[University Entrance Exams] Zero regular admissions to safety private universities. A record of grasping success from the brink of disaster

There is one week left until the national and public university entrance exams. For those who have already taken private university exams, the results have likely come out for the most part. There are mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, but whether you cry or laugh, there is only a little time left.

Around this time last year, my child received a waitlist spot at one private medical school, and while waiting for a spot to open up, they were quietly studying for the national public medical school entrance exam. Writing this reminds me that it was around this time that they were pushed into applying for the late-schedule private medical school exam. In the end, they didn't take the exam, but we paid the 60,000 yen application fee.

My child's entrance exam strategy

My child applied to four private medical schools and was operating under the assumption that they would attend a private medical school if they failed the national public medical school exam. For that reason, they did not apply for the mid-term or late-term national public exams.
There are no medical schools in the mid-term national public exams, and the late-term exams have high competition ratios and difficulty levels; above all, we were concerned about the Common Test cutoff. Based on mock exam results, we assumed they would be accepted to at least one private medical school.

The result was that out of the four private medical schools, one waitlisted them, and the others were rejections. And since there was no notification of a waitlist opening before the national public medical school exam,at this point, there was nowhere to go, and there were no regular admissions to safety schools.Therefore, as a last-ditch effort, they applied to one late-term private medical school exam for which applications were still being accepted at that time.

The exam date for the late-term private medical school was the day after the national public medical school results were announced. In other words, in the worst-case scenario, the plan was to check the national public medical school results, and while still reeling from the mental blow of failure, immediately board the Shinkansen to stay overnight for the late-term private medical school exam. It is a cruel story, but I imagine the mental state of all students taking late-term exams is like this.

Waitlist openings for private medical schools

I think this depends on the school, but for theprivate medical school where my child was waitlisted, there was no movement in February; it started to move a little in March, and I have the impression that it started moving busily around the second week of March when the national public results began to be announced.

At the time of the announcement, the waitlist ranking was provided, and it was a ranking that should have been reached in a typical year, but I was still anxious. A waitlist spot is just a waitlist spot, not an acceptance. In the end, the call came one week after the national public results were announced, and my child received a call on their mobile phone about being moved up. If the announcement had been a little earlier, it might have been mentally stabilizing, but on the other hand, thinking 'at worst, I can go to medical school' might have caused them to lose focus, so it's a toss-up.

I think those who currently hold a waitlist spot at a private medical school are on pins and needles, but worrying won't change the situation, so you have no choice but to wait patiently. What you can do now is focus on the national public exams.

Behavior after the national public first-term exam

There were more than 10 days between my child's national public first-term exam date and the results announcement, buteven after the exam, they did not change their daily rhythm and went to the study room as usual to study.Part of it was because of the aforementioned late-term private medical school exam, but there was also the possibility of being a ronin for another year, so they did not lose their motivation until the national public results were announced. That was the same for my child's friends. My child's friends were not in medical school, but the mindset of running through to the end was the same.

National public results announcement day

On the day of the announcement, they didn't seem to feel like studying, so they waited at home, feeling restless from the morning. Since the announcement itself was in the evening, I remember it being a very long day. My child kept saying, 'I think it's probably okay' based on their self-grading. As a parent, I believed them, but there was also the performance of those around them, and I couldn't feel at ease until I saw it.

When the time came, we logged in online to check, and I remember shouting and clapping in the house when we found their exam number. That was when both parent and child were finally released from the entrance exams. By the way, all the friends who ran through to the end also successfully passed their desired schools.

As a result, whether you pass your desired school, unfortunately advance to a safety school, or work hard for another year, various options will arise in the future, but I hope you will do your best so that you do not leave any regrets in this moment.