Waking up to find yourself admitted to Columbia University.
Columbia email
Students who never applied to the program, working professionals who graduated long ago, and even 11th graders who attended a summer program were all notified of their "acceptance."
Source: Reddit
A few hours later, an email clarified that the message was sent in error.
Columbia email
For those who actually applied and are still waiting for an offer, all they can say is, "The joke's on me" 🤡
Columbia has proven with action that "if you make enough mistakes, they stop being mistakes," as its legendary typos live up to their reputation.
As early as 2017, Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health mistakenly sent 277 graduate acceptance letters due to a system test error, only to urgently retract them.
Source: WMAR
Netizens chimed in: "Columbia teaches the most profound life philosophy—impermanence is the norm—and charges the highest tuition for it."
In fact, sending wrong offers has become a classic saga for universities. It's almost surprising when an admissions season goes off without a hitch.
Admissions Season Blunders Happen Every Year
Georgia State's Reminder to Submit Materials Turned into Acceptance
Last February, GSU sent acceptance letters to 1,500 students who hadn't even applied. The email read: "We noticed you haven't submitted your materials, but we've decided to admit you directly."
The university later explained that the email was intended to urge students to submit remaining materials, but due to a technical glitch, the draft template with the word "admission" was sent out.
Source: NPR
Reborn: I Keep Becoming a Freshman at Northeastern
Northeastern University went even further. In 2022, due to a technical error, NEU sent erroneous acceptance emails to 4,135 applicants, including past applicants and current freshmen who had already enrolled in Fall 2022.
The school retracted the emails, admitting the system erroneously used a historical applicant database without filtering for the current season. One student laughed bitterly, "I was sitting in an NEU classroom when I got the email."
Source: CNN
UCI Revoked Offers Two Months Before Fall Term
In 2017, UC Irvine revoked offers from over 500 admitted students, just two months before the fall term began.
The incident sparked a storm of protest on social media, with many accusing UCI of over-enrolling and deliberately canceling admissions. Calls for apologies and compensation mounted. Eventually, the university issued an apology letter and reinstated 63 out of 295 appeals.
Source: CBS
Cornell sent acceptances just for creating an account, then swiftly retracted them; the University of Kentucky flooded 500,000 prospective applicants with offers for a program that actually admits only 35 per year; Boston University's emails began with a laughable "Dear {First Name}"—if you're going to market, at least put in some effort.
Source: Internet
All we can say is, the world is one big amateur operation.
Onlookers might find it amusing, but for students applying with high hopes, these school shenanigans are both frustrating and laughable.
More Terrifying than Typos: Scammers Chasing KPIs
University blunders are one thing, but what's worse are the scammers taking advantage of the chaos.
Take email, our most common tool. Today's phishing emails are meticulously formatted, with formal language, and can perfectly mimic school names and logos. During the anxious application process, applicants or new admits can easily overlook details and fall prey.
Source: rednote
Though wearing an "official" mask, these scam emails often have flaws—misspelled school abbreviations, nonsensical content, etc. Some low-level errors are easy to spot, but other phishing emails are so convincingly disguised that it's hard to tell real from fake.
Source: Internet
In short, whenever you receive any email involving money or personal information, be sure to scrutinize it carefully (e.g., sender's email domain, content), and do not click links or fill in details lightly.
Never disclose sensitive information like passport numbers, bank accounts, or home addresses. If in doubt, verify directly with the school's official offices or relevant authorities, not through channels provided in a suspicious email.
Source: rednote
In an application season battered by both system bugs and phishing emails, getting a genuine offer is truly no easy feat.
Good things take time. CheersYou（清柚教育） wishes every student success in securing their dream school's admission and making all the effort worthwhile!
