Writer's Fallout Shelter

Oh, it's been a while, hasn't it?

This may have already been discussed but I figured we could use something anyway.

I'm desperately trying to get published. I've received rejection letters before and got another recently. The editors there called me mediocre (my friend is the managing editor so she was honest with me). I need to get published to ensure that I get into a decent grad school, that and it's a wonderful start for my career.

I was wondering if anyone else has any publishing stories or any way to get around that "mediocre" label?