My partner and I are Ph.D. psychologists who have developed a unique roadmap to permanent behavior change based on our personal experiences (we each lost 40+ lbs. 5 years ago and have kept it off) and professional knowledge. We are longtime friends and business partners so other than being non-hackers we fit the preferred criteria for teams pretty well.
We were rejected as well (www.readysteadychange.com) and as I read these comments several things that have been stated seem abundantly clear:
1. The YC team is telling the truth when they say the number of high quality applications keeps increasing while the limited spots for interviews/funded teams remains more or less constant;
2. The process of thoughtfully completing the application is an incredibly valuable idea stage experience in and for itself;
3. Getting to market and crossing the chasm are the real objectives for all of us, not getting into YC;
4. There really is no guarantee that getting into YC is the best thing for many of us. As someone wrote they seem to favor particular types of teams and ideas which they know a lot about and are able to mentor well. The rest of us should take rejection as a sign to keep moving forward on our own terms and capture any and all "data" from this experience as valuable learning.
As a colleague once said, "the only way out is through," to which I would add, "the only real direction is forward."