Initially, you just kind of stare at your computer screen or the person's face. Then it sinks in. Sorry, you were rejected.

Hundreds of articles discuss how high school students receive numerous rejection letters from colleges around the country every year. Thank goodness we are beyond that awful time. Gone are the days of acceptance statistics. Yet, we still face rejection. Beth Fisher-Yoshida, director of the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Program at Columbia University, even devised the five stages of rejection and how to deal with it. Sometimes our work and luck pays off for an internship, scholarship, job, fellowship, friend, club, program, etc., but a lot of times it does not. I guess people have started to change up their word order. Here's a list of several types of internship rejections:

1. Silence. This feels like the most common response. Sending in an application online feels like playing the lottery.

2. “ The selection has now closed for applicants. We appreciate your interest and hope you will find another summer program." Do you? Do you really hope that?

3. “After serious consideration of all applicants, we believe other candidates better meet the qualifications for the program." Of course you thought other candidates met the qualifications better.

4. “Thank you for expressing an interest in _________. While this has not been an easy decision, we have decided to consider other candidates." Do people lose sleep over these applications?

5."I very much regret that it was not possible to include your name on this list." The thought counts, right?

7. “Unfortunately, we do not usually have summer interns. Please do keep us in mind when you are considering doctoral programs." Years from now.

8. “The admissions committee has carefully reviewed your application. After much consideration, I regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you a place." For some reason, this feeling of "regret" is very popular. No?

9."Due to the high number of qualified applicants this year, we regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you an interview this year."

10. “I just don't think this is going to work out."This isn't even a thing. #drama

Luckily, we don't tend to measure success by our rejections or failures. There are some people who we just don't connect with. Maybe there was a typo in our application. Our skill set might not have fit the requirements. Another applicant may have had better networking power. Our cover letter may have lacked a strong opening. That skirt may have been too short. The list of possible reasons for rejection goes on. Dwelling on the negative is probably not the best idea, but we can always benefit from learning, and prepare for the future. There's always an 11th opportunity.