Can You Handle Rejection Well?

I was asked this question a few days ago by a professor I really admire at the law school during a conversation we were having about jobs.

Me: I'm thinking about applying for this job but they require you to be in the top x% of my class. What do you think my chances are of even getting an interview?

Professor: Well, how close are you to the top x%?

Me: Um...not. But I have really great practical, real-world experiences (explain real world experience to him at this point) that I think help me stand out in other ways.

Professor: Well, can you handle rejection well?

What? Can I handle rejection well? I mean, of course I laughingly responded yes. I felt like telling him, well I've made it to my last year in law school, so apparently I can. But what kind of question/answer is that?  What does that even mean? Does anyone ever handle rejection "well?" I mean, I'm pretty sure that even the most successful person, when confronted with rejection, isn't like:

YAY I'M SUPER EXCITED TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE REJECTED!

And besides that, I guess I was hoping more for a "oh man Katie you're an excellent candidate. I would think you have a great chance of getting an interview. In fact, let me just call them and tell them to go ahead and hire you with a $30,000 signing bonus and a new car." Well...maybe not all of that. The signing bonus and car are negotiable. But anyways, I guess that I was able to handle my professor's semi-rejection "well?" I mean, nervous/appalled laughter is one way of doing it...

Anyways, rejection is a sad, but necessary part of life. And I think the more you get rejected, the better you learn how to outwardly handle it "well" by smiling politely as you're inwardly flipping them the bird.

So. Moral of this story I'm going to apply for that job and pray they can see past the grade thing to how awesome of a human being I am. As they say, I have more of a chance of getting the job if I apply, than if I don't.

 Fingers crossed that I'm the one on the left