My visa was rejected twice before I gave up. One of my friend was rejected 3 or 4 times before he was granted a visa, in a span of less than 1 year. I don’t think it’s out of the ordinary to see someone’s visa rejected 8 times before one was granted. The F1 student visa requirements are quite ambiguous and leave a lot of room for “interpretation”. Most are rejected because they cannot demonstrate “strong ties” to the home country to prove they will return after graduation. Now tell me how do a senior in college with no asset and no job prove they will return to the home country after 5 years of graduate school.