<p>Actually wasn’t it a portal not an e-mail? The big mistake IMO was having an acceptance letter be the placeholder. That was a boneheaded thing to do, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t consider it important. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.</p>
<p>Jym, I didn’t at first but I did after I posted and left it anyway 
. I was focused on rebutting Lurkerdad’s false arguments</p>
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<p>Two comments … </p>
<p>Virtually everyone responding this to thread is a parent. As a parent have you spend as much time and money is needed to ensure the safety of your kids in every situation of every moment of their lives? Or have you made decisions of when you believe you’ve done enough? I assume, and it is only a guess, Vassar thought they had a tight process for this … and they were wrong. Have your parenting safety decisions ever been proved to be inadaquate?</p>
<p>Looking at the situation from a different angle. We hear about these slip ups what 2-3 times a year and, again I assume, we hear about virtually all of them since it is so newsworthy. There are 3000+ colleges in the US … so the process works 99.9% of the time. While I’d like to be perfect I have never been perfect and as much as I’d like those “serving” me and my family to be perfect I realize there will be mistakes made.</p>
<p>Vassar screwed up … however I doubt it was from being systematically uncaring or uncareful (is that a word) … and they certainly are paying for their mistake.</p>
<p>LOL, cortana. Great minds think alike :)</p>
<p>LasMa-
No one is saying that at all. Everyone acknowledges that it was a bad screwup. A huge oversight of colossal proportions. But mistakes or oversights happen, even with the best of double and triple checking, especially in emotionally charged times. I have a very healthy respect for the students who posted about this in the VassarED2 thread over in the Vassar forum. They have moved on. Its we parents (us parents??) who like to argue over how many fairies dance on the head of a pin.</p>
<p>*crossposted with 3togo</p>
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<p>They made a mistake! Of course they didn’t do everything possible to keep this error from happening. That’s why it HAPPENED. For those of you who are railing against Vassar, I ask this: Have you never made an avoidable mistake? Hindsight better than foresight and all that? Ever rear-ended someone? Were you planning to? Did you do EVERYTHING possible to avoid it? Ever hit “reply all” when replying candidly to ONE person was what you had in mind? I am surprised that there weren’t safeguards in place to prevent this but, heck, now there will be. Do I think the people who made this mistake were callous and unfeeling? Of course not. They were fallible and human like every single person on this thread, and they probably feel horrible. If you’ve never done something bone-headed or thoughtless in your life, I’d love to hear how you managed that.</p>
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<p>Of course any organization made up of people is going to make mistakes. But this one has been made at least 3 times now, so even elite colleges can no longer delude themselves that “It can’t happen to us.” Making SURE they’re sending the correct communication isn’t rocket science, and I don’t get why safeguards aren’t already in place.</p>
<p>Re post 203 while Dean J is indeed involved here on CC, I was referring to her personal touch at UVA’s admission blog</p>
<p>[Notes</a> from Peabody: The UVA Application Process](<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/]Notes”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/)</p>
<p>Integrity can be determined by how one, or an organization cleans up a mistake. 'Not too impressed with Vassar’s responsiveness here. When the bad information went out, were there administrators, spokespeople available and handling telephone calls with a coordinated message from the college / leadership? Perhaps even one that shows communication to, and participation from trustees/board of directors? Today, you are what information you decide to put out. I would suspend electronic notification of admission decisions for the remainder of this year, and those who made the error and did not pay attention to the detail should go, as well as those who backed them up. You want to uphold integrity and fidelity with the admissions process. Have I made mistakes, yes, but none that have impacted so many people. Its not easy to apologize - and actions speak louder than words. Respectfully, Mr. VC</p>
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I agree … especially with the first part. Everyone makes mistakes; even some huge ones … however the response to the mistake is what really lingers with most people.</p>
<p>For crying out loud…let it die already</p>
<p>Wish there was a “like” button, snowdog :)</p>