Rejected from two New Grad Nurse Residency Programs

I graduate with my Associates degree in April and have been in the process of applying to New Grad Nurse Residency programs. One position was for the standard Nurse Residency program at this particular healthcare facility and the other was for a Critical Care Nurse Residency program and I was rejected for both positions. Being rejected came as a shock to me since during my interview, the nurse managers seemed to be impressed with my work experience and one even made the comment saying “I think you would be a great asset to our emergency department”. After hearing this, hearing I didn’t get the job really is taking a toll on me. I do have 3 years of work experience as a tech in an emergency department as well as a few years in another hospital unit.

I’m just wondering, has anyone else experienced a lot of rejection when applying to nursing jobs as a new grad or is there something maybe recruiters are looking for that I’m not fitting? I guess I’m just confused on how I got rejected from a residency program specifically for new grad nurses.