It feels like everything is just getting harder and harder

I'm applying to grad programs this year, and it seems every year there are more and more applications, and applicants have higher and higher hurdles to clear. I've got a 3.9 and 2 years of research experience, multiple leadership roles, and experience interning at a national lab. I should be good to go, but I'm just middling and so far rejected from over half the programs I applied to.

Looking at the job market is equally bleak. My friends in the job market with masters degrees are applying to 300+ jobs and unemployed for months or years at a time. The jobs they do land are often underpaid. Many of my working friends haven't had a promotion or a raise in years.

Every year housing gets more expensive, food gets more expensive, insurance gets more expensive, and medical care seems to get worse.

I keep trying to find a way out of this. This is why I went back to school! But everything is "oversaturated" or lacking demand, except for like door dashing for WFH tech lords, who are also probably about to get laid off.