29,000 applicants were probably thrilled on Tuesday to receive their acceptance notice from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). But, their hopes were dashed two hours later, when the school said "oops". The school made a "colossal screw-up," as one parent told the Los Angeles Times.
The incident is an important reminder that we should always check the TO: list and that we should always double check distribution lists,
46,377 students who applied for admission at UCSD this year, according to the local NBC station. 17,000 students were genuinely offered admission for the fall. They received notices earlier this month.
But, a second letter went out with two mistakes: (1) It went to ALL 46,377 applicants. (2) It congratulated everyone on their admission, including those who were rejected, and advised them to come to campus on Saturday for Admit Day. A half-hour later, school officials said, they realized their mistake, according to the NBC station. Almost two hours after the first note went out, a second email was sent, apologizing to 28,889 freshmen applicants for the mistake.
The mistake was all the more dire because this year is shaping up as one of the toughest in recent years at San Diego and other UC campuses. In response to a UC-wide enrollment cap ordered because of the state’s budget crisis, San Diego reduced its freshman enrollment target by 520 students, to 3,775, the Times reported.
The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Cornell
University and Northwestern University’s prestigious Kellogg School of
Management have experienced similar goof-ups in recent years, but the UCSD incident Monday was by far the largest, reported The Times. (A tip of the hat to Gregory D.
Shelton and his excellent blog, Northwest Education Law.)
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