Officials at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are apologizing after erroneously telling some applicants that they had been accepted.
The mass email was about financial aid, but it ended with the phrase: "You are on this list because you are admitted to MIT."
But that wasn't true. MIT says the mistake happened when email lists were consolidated, causing part of a message intended for applicants to be overwritten with a portion intended for students who were accepted in December.
It was unclear how many applicants received the erroneous email.
The Boston Globe reports that the admissions office didn't notice the error until applicants started posting questions on an office website.
Admissions counselor Chris Peterson wrote that it "crushes" him that he may have caused some unintentional disappointment.