Savannah Jones, a high school senior from Chicago, received an email on the afternoon of April 5 from the Emory Office of Admission congratulating her on her acceptance to the College and inviting her to an admitted students event as part of the Choose Emory campaign.
Jones immediately called her mom to express how excited she was that she had been admitted to her top choice school. However, upon checking OPUS, she noticed her status on the waitlist had not changed.
Jones was one of approximately 350 wait-listed students who wrongly received the invitation to accepted student events.
The Office of Admission accidentally sent out an email to multiple wait-listed students inviting them to attend various "Choose Emory" admitted student receptions across the country, according to Daniel Creasy, the director of communications in the Office of Admission.
The email error affected less than two percent of the overall applicant pool, Creasy said. This amounts to about 350 students.
"These invites were sent to admitted students in these four regions, but unfortunately, due to a technical glitch, the invite was also received by a small number of wait-listed students," Creasy wrote in an email to the Wheel.
The first email was sent to students around 4 p.m. on April 5.
The beginning of the email, which was forwarded to the Wheel by Jones, read: "Congratulations once again on your admission to Emory University! Out of a record applicant pool, we've chosen YOU to join the Class of 2017 because of your involvement in your school and community, stellar academic accomplishments, and potential to impact our campus."
The Office of Admission sent out a clarification and apology to those not admitted following the initial email six hours later.
The apology email read: "On behalf of Emory University, I would like to apologize for the email you received earlier today inviting you to our Choose Emory admitted student events. This message was intended for admitted students only, but unfortunately, due to a technical oversight, an additional group of applicants also received the message."
Jones explained that she was very confused by the offer and that she was initially upset by the accident.
Emory admissions counselors received a few follow-up phone calls from students who had received the email, but the situation was then clarified, according to Creasy.
"All systems have glitches, but that is damaging emotionally especially for someone who is dead set on Emory and didn't get in in the first place," Jones said.
– Contact Dustin Slade at
dpslade@emory.edu
