Ships once crossed dangerous oceans in convoys because it was safer together. Move with people headed the same way.

Crossing alone meant every danger fell on one ship. Travelling together did not make the ocean any calmer, it just meant that trouble arriving for one boat arrived in front of witnesses who could do something about it. Risk shared is not risk removed, but it is risk survivable, which is usually the version that matters.

Look at what you are trying to do this year and find two people headed the same way. Study with them, train with them, apply at the same time. Going together is slower to arrange and considerably harder to quit.