A 36-year-old Chinese man has been labelled “China’s most stubborn man” after taking the national college admission exam for 16 consecutive years in an attempt to gain admission to the prestigious Tsinghua University.

According to reports, the man identified as Tang Shangjun has been trying to get into the prestigious Chinese university since 2009 without success.

The persistence of his efforts birthed his now-infamous title. Despite earning improved scores over the years, and meeting matriculation standards for other schools the results still failed to yield acceptance to his desired school.

Now approaching 40 years old, Shangjun may finally be ready to pursue different goals at another school.

“He thinks that getting into the country’s top prestigious university is a great success, helping to open up a good life, but life has many ways to be successful,” a director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute in China said.