See how this school’s major email gaffe got sent to nearly 900 students.
UCLA’s financial aid department sent out an email telling 894 high school seniors that they’d been admitted for the fall. Problem is, they were actually just on the waiting list.
The source of the mistake: Updated notices of provisional financial aid were sent out to thousands of admitted students along with the wait-listed hopefuls. But all the emails had this line:
“Once again congratulations on your admission to UCLA, we hope that this information will assist you in making your decision to join the Bruin Family in the fall.”
As a result, the school was flooded with phone calls from confused students who suddenly didn’t know if they’d been admitted or not. The financial aid office had to send out messages explaining the error to the 894 students.
It’s an unfortunate goof, but not unfamiliar. UC San Diego accidentally sent out admissions letters to about 28,000 rejected applicants in 2010; and most recently, Cambridge University had to apologize for mistakenly congratulating 400 students who didn’t make the cut.
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