If I were given $5,000 in bank credit with someone else’s deposit, I would know it’s not my money, and I, therefore, wouldn’t spend it. I wouldn’t take any forward action: I wouldn’t donate the money, I wouldn’t pay any bills with it, I wouldn’t develop any further plans with it, because I would know that this money is not mine.
But if I were mistakenly given acceptance to a college—which I fully believed was my own acceptance, which was fully mine—then I would take a series of actions. I would cancel my other EA apps, I would post on social media, I would celebrate with my family. And when I’m later deferred, I would have to embarrass myself on social media, out myself as a Tulane ED applicant to other schools who now know that they’re not my first choice, and I would have to completely re-evaluate the college situation.
This is not the same scenario. Tulane needs to cover up its mistake in an actionable way, and I won’t stop believing that no matter the outcome.