McKinsey/Bain FT one year wait for reapplication

McKinsey and Bain say that candidates should wait a year before reapplying--is there any way around this? I expressed interest in an international office to that office directly with the help of a well respected professor there and the HR lady said to the professor that unfortunately I had applied within the last year, even though she claims they are extremely interested and that she'd still like to talk to me (though the prof claims she didn't offer any way around that policy).

Has anyone heard of/experienced flexibility on this policy? I got very far with the firm for internship recruitment and the FT recruitment at the end of the summer was non-standard, rushed/less than ideal, so it doesn't, on a case-by-case basis, seem to make sense that they would summarily dismiss my interest if they were actually interested, no?