The Undergraduate Admissions Office at Cornell University regrets the very serious error that occurred Wednesday morning when an email that was intended only for admitted early decision students was sent to a wider pool of applicants. Within 2-3 hours following the discovery of the error, a letter of explanation, including our heartfelt apologies, was sent via email to all students who received the original message by mistake.

Although in some cases our first email message was perceived to be an "acceptance" notification, it was not. The message was intended only to provide an update to those students who had already been admitted to our fall class through early decision. All students who applied early decision were formally notified of their decision in December and early January.

It was never the intention of the Admissions Office to cause harm, even though we understand that some students and their families may have experienced distress. The office immediately began reviewing the causes for the situation and will implement means to ensure that errors of this kind will not occur in the future. We have asked the Cornell Audit Office and the Office of Information Technologies to lend us their expertise and involvement in creating guidelines and procedures that will prevent further problems.

Again, my personal apologies go out to students and families who have been affected by this unfortunate situation.

Angela Griffin-Jones
Dean of Undergraduate Admissions
Cornell University
http://www.admissions.cornell.edu