More than 800 computer science applicants to Carnegie Mellon were told on Monday they’d been selected for admission–and later, those same applicants received a second email explaining the acceptances had been sent in error, and that they had in fact been rejected.
“You are one of the select few, less than 9 percent of the more than 1,200 applicants, that we are inviting,” read the first email. “Welcome to Carnegie Mellon!” Oops.
University spokesman Kenneth Walters tells the Associated Press that the “Welcome to Carnegie Mellon!” emails were the result of “serious mistakes” in the university’s process for generating acceptance letters, and that the prestigious university would conduct a review to prevent further errors.
“We understand the disappointment created by this mistake, and deeply apologize to the applicants for this miscommunication,” Walters said.
The university sent a follow-up email to the rejected students today explaining its system had “incorrectly flagged” applicants as having been admitted.
Gawker was first with the news, and has the full text of the email.
