Dozens of high school seniors were able to breathe a sigh of relief last Friday when they were told they were accepted into their college of choice: the University of Delaware.
But soon after, that breath was sucked right back in with shock. A computer glitch accepted their applications; the university did not.
Sixty-one out-of-state applicants got congratulations on their personalized college application pages, saying they were accepted to the University of Delaware March 12. But they weren’t.
“To have a blunder like this cause such pain is terrible,” university admissions director Louis Hirsh told NBC Philadelphia. “I’m grateful it’s not more students, it’s just 61. But for those 61 kids- my heart goes out to them.”
About 24,000 high school students applied to the University of Delaware’s fall semester, so it’s almost fortunate for the school and the applicants that only 61 students logged on to that error-ridden page Friday.
Of those 61 students whose hopes were dashed, half was waitlisted – so they may still get into the university. The other half was denied admission and received an apology from the university.
“It hurts enough to sign a letter that says unfortunately we can’t offer you admission,” said Hirsh. “The last thing in the world you want to do is add to that pain, and yet that’s exactly what this computer blunder did.”
