LadyScientist

I totally understand... I applied to 5 programs, and have received 3 rejections with no sign of any interviews/admits from the last two either. I am devastated... I should have invested more in a "Plan B"... And it kills me to see people talking about how they are upset that they didn't get into their dream school but got admits from numerous other places when I am desperate for one offer from anywhere I applied to. I am right there with you in the misery category.
During my whole application process everyone was so encouraging that I had a very strong application, and then to come out of this empty handed... It hurts. Badly. I also cannot afford to just wait it out and apply again next year. I have to go get a job. And given bio jobs are pretty limited for people with just a Bachelor's degree, I might have to switch fields if I can't find anything that is relevant to my studies. Talk about having an existential crisis (day after day).
I am so sorry your second round of this has been rough yet again... It is embarrassing to talk about failures (for me at least), especially when people are more than happy to share their numerous successes. But, you are not alone at least. Hopefully you hear good news from your other 3 programs very soon!

I totally understand... I applied to 5 programs, and have received 3 rejections with no sign of any interviews/admits from the last two either. I am devastated... I should have invested more in a "Plan B"... And it kills me to see people talking about how they are upset that they didn't get into their dream school but got admits from numerous other places when I am desperate for one offer from anywhere I applied to. I am right there with you in the misery category.
During my whole application process everyone was so encouraging that I had a very strong application, and then to come out of this empty handed... It hurts. Badly. I also cannot afford to just wait it out and apply again next year. I have to go get a job. And given bio jobs are pretty limited for people with just a Bachelor's degree, I might have to switch fields if I can't find anything that is relevant to my studies. Talk about having an existential crisis (day after day).
I am so sorry your second round of this has been rough yet again... It is embarrassing to talk about failures (for me at least), especially when people are more than happy to share their numerous successes. But, you are not alone at least. Hopefully you hear good news from your other 3 programs very soon!

I totally understand... I applied to 5 programs, and have received 3 rejections with no sign of any interviews/admits from the last two either. I am devastated... I should have invested more in a "Plan B"... And it kills me to see people talking about how they are upset that they didn't get into their dream school but got admits from numerous other places when I am desperate for one offer from anywhere I applied to. I am right there with you in the misery category.
During my whole application process everyone was so encouraging that I had a very strong application, and then to come out of this empty handed... It hurts. Badly. I also cannot afford to just wait it out and apply again next year. I have to go get a job. And given bio jobs are pretty limited for people with just a Bachelor's degree, I might have to switch fields if I can't find anything that is relevant to my studies. Talk about having an existential crisis (day after day).
I am so sorry your second round of this has been rough yet again... It is embarrassing to talk about failures (for me at least), especially when people are more than happy to share their numerous successes. But, you are not alone at least. Hopefully you hear good news from your other 3 programs very soon!

I totally understand... I applied to 5 programs, and have received 3 rejections with no sign of any interviews/admits from the last two either. I am devastated... I should have invested more in a "Plan B"... And it kills me to see people talking about how they are upset that they didn't get into their dream school but got admits from numerous other places when I am desperate for one offer from anywhere I applied to. I am right there with you in the misery category.
During my whole application process everyone was so encouraging that I had a very strong application, and then to come out of this empty handed... It hurts. Badly. I also cannot afford to just wait it out and apply again next year. I have to go get a job. And given bio jobs are pretty limited for people with just a Bachelor's degree, I might have to switch fields if I can't find anything that is relevant to my studies. Talk about having an existential crisis (day after day).
I am so sorry your second round of this has been rough yet again... It is embarrassing to talk about failures (for me at least), especially when people are more than happy to share their numerous successes. But, you are not alone at least. Hopefully you hear good news from your other 3 programs very soon!

I totally understand... I applied to 5 programs, and have received 3 rejections with no sign of any interviews/admits from the last two either. I am devastated... I should have invested more in a "Plan B"... And it kills me to see people talking about how they are upset that they didn't get into their dream school but got admits from numerous other places when I am desperate for one offer from anywhere I applied to. I am right there with you in the misery category.
During my whole application process everyone was so encouraging that I had a very strong application, and then to come out of this empty handed... It hurts. Badly. I also cannot afford to just wait it out and apply again next year. I have to go get a job. And given bio jobs are pretty limited for people with just a Bachelor's degree, I might have to switch fields if I can't find anything that is relevant to my studies. Talk about having an existential crisis (day after day).
I am so sorry your second round of this has been rough yet again... It is embarrassing to talk about failures (for me at least), especially when people are more than happy to share their numerous successes. But, you are not alone at least. Hopefully you hear good news from your other 3 programs very soon!

I totally understand... I applied to 5 programs, and have received 3 rejections with no sign of any interviews/admits from the last two either. I am devastated... I should have invested more in a "Plan B"... And it kills me to see people talking about how they are upset that they didn't get into their dream school but got admits from numerous other places when I am desperate for one offer from anywhere I applied to. I am right there with you in the misery category.
During my whole application process everyone was so encouraging that I had a very strong application, and then to come out of this empty handed... It hurts. Badly. I also cannot afford to just wait it out and apply again next year. I have to go get a job. And given bio jobs are pretty limited for people with just a Bachelor's degree, I might have to switch fields if I can't find anything that is relevant to my studies. Talk about having an existential crisis (day after day).
I am so sorry your second round of this has been rough yet again... It is embarrassing to talk about failures (for me at least), especially when people are more than happy to share their numerous successes. But, you are not alone at least. Hopefully you hear good news from your other 3 programs very soon!

I totally understand... I applied to 5 programs, and have received 3 rejections with no sign of any interviews/admits from the last two either. I am devastated... I should have invested more in a "Plan B"... And it kills me to see people talking about how they are upset that they didn't get into their dream school but got admits from numerous other places when I am desperate for one offer from anywhere I applied to. I am right there with you in the misery category.
During my whole application process everyone was so encouraging that I had a very strong application, and then to come out of this empty handed... It hurts. Badly. I also cannot afford to just wait it out and apply again next year. I have to go get a job. And given bio jobs are pretty limited for people with just a Bachelor's degree, I might have to switch fields if I can't find anything that is relevant to my studies. Talk about having an existential crisis (day after day).
I am so sorry your second round of this has been rough yet again... It is embarrassing to talk about failures (for me at least), especially when people are more than happy to share their numerous successes. But, you are not alone at least. Hopefully you hear good news from your other 3 programs very soon!

I totally understand... I applied to 5 programs, and have received 3 rejections with no sign of any interviews/admits from the last two either. I am devastated... I should have invested more in a "Plan B"... And it kills me to see people talking about how they are upset that they didn't get into their dream school but got admits from numerous other places when I am desperate for one offer from anywhere I applied to. I am right there with you in the misery category.
During my whole application process everyone was so encouraging that I had a very strong application, and then to come out of this empty handed... It hurts. Badly. I also cannot afford to just wait it out and apply again next year. I have to go get a job. And given bio jobs are pretty limited for people with just a Bachelor's degree, I might have to switch fields if I can't find anything that is relevant to my studies. Talk about having an existential crisis (day after day).
I am so sorry your second round of this has been rough yet again... It is embarrassing to talk about failures (for me at least), especially when people are more than happy to share their numerous successes. But, you are not alone at least. Hopefully you hear good news from your other 3 programs very soon!

I totally understand... I applied to 5 programs, and have received 3 rejections with no sign of any interviews/admits from the last two either. I am devastated... I should have invested more in a "Plan B"... And it kills me to see people talking about how they are upset that they didn't get into their dream school but got admits from numerous other places when I am desperate for one offer from anywhere I applied to. I am right there with you in the misery category.
During my whole application process everyone was so encouraging that I had a very strong application, and then to come out of this empty handed... It hurts. Badly. I also cannot afford to just wait it out and apply again next year. I have to go get a job. And given bio jobs are pretty limited for people with just a Bachelor's degree, I might have to switch fields if I can't find anything that is relevant to my studies. Talk about having an existential crisis (day after day).
I am so sorry your second round of this has been rough yet again... It is embarrassing to talk about failures (for me at least), especially when people are more than happy to share their numerous successes. But, you are not alone at least. Hopefully you hear good news from your other 3 programs very soon!

I totally understand... I applied to 5 programs, and have received 3 rejections with no sign of any interviews/admits from the last two either. I am devastated... I should have invested more in a "Plan B"... And it kills me to see people talking about how they are upset that they didn't get into their dream school but got admits from numerous other places when I am desperate for one offer from anywhere I applied to. I am right there with you in the misery category.
During my whole application process everyone was so encouraging that I had a very strong application, and then to come out of this empty handed... It hurts. Badly. I also cannot afford to just wait it out and apply again next year. I have to go get a job. And given bio jobs are pretty limited for people with just a Bachelor's degree, I might have to switch fields if I can't find anything that is relevant to my studies. Talk about having an existential crisis (day after day).
I am so sorry your second round of this has been rough yet again... It is embarrassing to talk about failures (for me at least), especially when people are more than happy to share their numerous successes. But, you are not alone at least. Hopefully you hear good news from your other 3 programs very soon!

Wow, congrats @cosiva!! You have been accepted to some wonderful places!  

I'm definitely riding the anxiety roller-coaster right now myself. And as much as I love this forum, hearing that everyone else is getting interviews and offers already makes me feel incredibly overwhelmed-- yet I still keep checking the forum to see how everyone else is doing? I'm a mess. I didn't apply to any schools on the East coast (and it seems like they tend to send their letters out earlier), but knowing people are already hearing back about their applications has me second-guessing every application I submitted... Especially since I have not heard anything from any of the schools I applied to yet. It just gives me a sinking feeling.
I want to hear back about my applications because I am anxious... But at the same time... Do I really want to know? I am struggling to keep myself occupied-- now that my semester is over, applications are submitted, and my conferences are over, I feel like I am just sitting here in a holding pattern. Here's hoping we all start hearing things soon... The wait has been brutal! 

I got an email interview invite from the specific umbrella program director (Stem Cell/Regen Medicine) before the New Year and he explicitly said, and I quote:
"The 14 Home Program Admissions Committees all operate on their own timelines, so your friends and coworkers may or may not have heard from another Biosciences Program. Please understand that "no news does not mean bad news", as many Programs do not complete their admission process until the 2nd week of January. So, please keep this in mind when sharing your good news with others."

I agree with @fadedfigures. While GPA and GRE are not completely negligible components by any means, when applying to graduate school, programs are looking for students that bring a wide breadth of skills and knowledge that are not necessarily addressed by looking at GPA and GRE.
Similarly, unlike your undergraduate career, graduate school is a very unstructured environment. So, success when taking exams and doing homework assignments does not always go hand in hand with being able to conduct independent research well-- which is what graduate school focuses heavily on!
But all things considered, I don't think you should feel guilty! Everyone has different skill sets, experiences, and goals (both personal and academic) which all contribute to someone's success/experience with graduate school. Programs are looking for well-rounded candidates that have shown that they have what it takes to thrive in a more fluid environment where you play a much bigger hand in your success!
Best of luck with all of your endeavours!

I agree with @fadedfigures. While GPA and GRE are not completely negligible components by any means, when applying to graduate school, programs are looking for students that bring a wide breadth of skills and knowledge that are not necessarily addressed by looking at GPA and GRE.
Similarly, unlike your undergraduate career, graduate school is a very unstructured environment. So, success when taking exams and doing homework assignments does not always go hand in hand with being able to conduct independent research well-- which is what graduate school focuses heavily on!
But all things considered, I don't think you should feel guilty! Everyone has different skill sets, experiences, and goals (both personal and academic) which all contribute to someone's success/experience with graduate school. Programs are looking for well-rounded candidates that have shown that they have what it takes to thrive in a more fluid environment where you play a much bigger hand in your success!
Best of luck with all of your endeavours!

Oh gosh @GeorgeC07 I was only kidding about asking for an interview, haha! But it would be nice if it worked that way-- or that I got a letter in my stocking!
But happy holidays to you as well!

Yes, I think the worst part about this wait is having so little to do in the interim... I am still in the lab a lot over break, but I still have way too much free time on my hands. So I sit around and check my email just one more time in case I got something in the 30 seconds since I last checked my email.   School resumes on the 8th of January and I am very thankful!