Vassar Hopefuls Incorrectly Notified of Acceptance
This note just got sent to all Vassar alumni:
Dear alumnae/i and families,
We know how sensitive the process of acceptance to Vassar is. Over our long history we have protected that process and the applicants so that the moment of notification can be as wonderful as possible for accepted students and as least damaging as possible for those denied. We put 76 applicants in a terrible position on Friday. A "test" acceptance letter that was a placeholder on a special website for Early Decision applicants inadvertently was left in place. By the time the error was discovered, 30 minutes after the time students were told they could check decisions, 76 applicants had read that they had been accepted when in fact they had not been. Each of those students was informed of the error and received our deepest apologies.
We are full of regret and we will be making changes to our notification system. We apologize to these students and their families, to our alumnae/i, our students, our faculty, to Vassar's community.
Yup, my DH who is a Vassar grad, just forwarded this to me. What a mess, and not the first time a college/university has had a screw-up like this. There are a number of examples. So when kids complain about another top LAC which only releases decisions by snail mail and they have to wait for it, here's another example about what happens with online decisions.
"We apologize sincerely for any confusion or disappointment that this mistake may have caused. If after checking your decision again, you still have questions, please feel free to contact the Admissions Office on Monday morning. Thank you for your understanding."
That's a horrible thing to happen, but since it was THEIR mistake, I feel like they should accept at least some of the students who were told that they were accepted, if not all. Many students have probably withdrawn their other applications so where are they supposed to go now? Many of the deadlines are before February 1st...opinions?
It is an unfortunate situation, no doubt, but don't be ridiculous about kids w/drawing or missing Feb. 1 deadlines. The mistake was up for roughly 3 hours on a Friday, so while it is emotionally draining and disappointing for those involved, I doubt it would alter any kids' other college prospects. BTW, it happened to my D with a high school, but similarly, as the error was corrected within hours, she was able to move on to other choices and put it behind her. Adversity is part of life, Tunisian, and I am sure it will be a slight blip in your college acceptance path. Good luck.
Word spread quickly among the applicants, many of whom had been communicating on the Web site College Confidential in the days before the decisions were to be released, sharing their well-wishes and trepidation.
Ms. Curiel heard from a classmate who had also been told he was accepted. Mr. Ghedira found out early Saturday morning. “He was so happy, he wanted to read it again,” his mother, Sonia Ghedira, said Saturday, adding that her son was too distraught to come to the telephone.
At 5:11 p.m. Friday, the first panicked message hit the College Confidential message board: “Now it says I’m declined??????”
“Accepted at 4, reject at 5,” read another. “I don’t understand.”
Over at College Confidential, mecca for helicopter parents and their overachieving children, Francois—"one of the 76"—has compared his misery to that of a lighthouse in a stormy sea...
To rub salt into the wound, the Vassar admissions office called it a week andmatter-of-factly posted, “If after checking your decision again you still have questions, please feel free to contact the Admissions Office on Monday morning.” After such a major gaffe, it’s unbelievable to me that there was no one on the end of a telephone to provide some cold comfort or at the very least to apologize. It’s unbelievable that a kid who, as one applicant posted on College Confidential’s Web site, “was accepted at 4, reject at 5. I don’t understand…” would be abandoned, along with all the others, for an entire weekend.
I'm a senior editor at Vassar College's student newspaper, the Miscellany News, and I was wondering if anyone who received a false acceptance letter would be willing to speak with me over the phone or via Skype. I know that many members of the College community are eager to hear from the applicants about their experience and their thoughts on the situation. Please email me at erlorenzsonn@vassar.edu if you are interested!
