Goucher College sent false admission emails to parents

Applying to College
1

<p>I am so upset right now. March 12 at 4:00pm my husband and I each received this email:</p>

<p>"Congratulations on XXXX's admission to Goucher! XXXX's offer of admission was mailed today, but I wanted to let you know the good news now, so that your family can celebrate tonight. </p>

<p>We also invite you and XXXX's to attend a reception for admitted students. Receptions will be held around the country and are a great opportunity for you to meet with other families and to ask questions of Admissions staff members. </p>

<p>Please register for one of our receptions at <a href="http://www.goucher.edu/receptions"&gt;http://www.goucher.edu/receptions&lt;/a>. </p>

<p>Do be in touch with us if you have any questions or concerns. We look forward to welcoming you to the Goucher College community. </p>

<p>Carlton E. Surbeck III Director of Admissions"</p>

<p>Unfortunately this email was a cruel mistake. On March 13 at 7:00pm we received this email;</p>

<p>"This evening we realized mixed messages were sent to a small number of parents of students who were mailed a letter dated March 12th indicating denial of admission to Goucher College. This certainly was not our intent, and I am writing to apologize to you and XXXX.</p>

<p>The correct outcome of evaluation for admission was contained in the letter mailed on March 12th. I regret Goucher is not able to offer XXXX a place in its freshman class. </p>

<p>The March 12th e-mail, addressed to you, was intended only for parents of admitted students. </p>

<p>We certainly appreciate your interest in Goucher College and wish XXXX the best with post-secondary plans. Please contact me at 410-333-6127 or by reply e-mail if you have questions.</p>

<p>Carlton E. Surbeck III Director of Admissions"</p>

<p>After being so excited about the prospect of attending Goucher my child is now devastated by this news.
I feel Goucher should offer admission to the "small number" of students who were victimized by this careless mistake. I haven't spoken to the Admissions Director yet.
What do you think?
Did something like this happen to any one else?
If so what was the outcome - how did you handle it. </p>

2

<p>You need to contact the media. The NY Times and Wall Street Journal have written stories about these practices in the past. See who wrote the NY Times story about the vassar e-mails.</p>

3

<p>This is a horrible mistake! On the other hand, I’m thinking you don’t want your child attending a school that can’t remember if they accepted them our not. This is one of the downsides to electronic communications. I like the NY Times idea. If it’s made public perhaps more schools will be careful to ensure accurate communications. </p>

4

<p>To rub salt in the wound the phone number in the email is incorrect! Unbelievable. The phone number is the extension of someone who works in the Department of Rehabilitation!</p>

5

<p>It’s an unfortunate mistake, and I can understand that you are angry, but I don’t see how this entitles you to admission. They also apparently corrected it the next day. It might be a nice gesture if the school refunded the application fee as an apology for botching your process. </p>

<p>I’m sure millions of correct emails are sent out every year. Would you rather the colleges stop using this convenient communication and force everyone to wait for the written letters? </p>

6

<p>I agree with @mathyone. Mistakes do happen. </p>

7

<p>Not the first time that Goucher has made a mistake like this:</p>

<p><a href=“Mistakenly sent acceptance letter?? Anyone else? - Goucher College - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/goucher-college/655355-mistakenly-sent-acceptance-letter-anyone-else.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.</p>

8

<p>There are other cases of this situation occurring, sometimes in large numbers. An MIT email implied admissions in the footnote in February. 2,500 applicants got a wrong letter from Fordham last year, 122 from Vassar the year before. It’s awful for the kids but I don’t think you can’t expect that any applicant should just get an auto admit because of it. Don’t teach your kid to expect entitlements because of errors. I would try to help your kid put it behind him rather than making a huge case out of it.</p>