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Carnegie-Mellon Sends Hundreds of Acceptance Letters By Mistake

An anonymous reader writes As reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Carnegie-Mellon University mistakenly sent 800 acceptances for its Master of Science in Computer Science program. They're not saying "computer error," but what are the other explanations? High irony all around. The program accepts fewer than nine percent of more than 1,200 applicants, which places the acceptance level at about a hundred, so they're bad at math, too.

24 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Dammit Jim! by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm a PhD in CompSci, not a software engineer!

    1. Re:Dammit Jim! by omfg-no · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm a PhD in CompSci, not a software engineer!

      Code Monkey get up get coffee...

  2. Re: What should they do? by Kvathe · · Score: 5, Funny

    Imagine their disappointment when they only get an apology and no scholarship! The emotional damages must cost millions.

  3. hmmm... by Charliemopps · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I suspect those that turned down other university offers for this one, only to find out they weren't accepted and no have no-where to go have basis for a lawsuit. And what about those that had scholarships at other schools and lost them? Mistakes like this, and such a critical point in your life, affect the whole of the rest of your life. It could change the entire trajectory of your career.

    1. Re:hmmm... by sribe · · Score: 5, Informative

      I suspect those that turned down other university offers for this one, only to find out they weren't accepted and no have no-where to go...

      The email was corrected within 7 hours--pretty unlikely there are any damages to anyone other than the huge disappointment.

    2. Re:hmmm... by DarkOx · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Wait though, given its February I assume these are early acceptances for Fall 2015 semester? I don't recall ever "turning down other offers" of acceptance is that even a thing do people do that? I thought you just let the other offers expire. Those letters usually say you have until a certain date to contact the school about enrolling. Given that its still only February, I suspect most students still have the ability to exercise any other offers they might have gotten.

      Well unless they did something stupid like dial up the admissions office at $STATE to say "Suck-it fools I got accepted at Carnegie!"

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    3. Re:hmmm... by mwvdlee · · Score: 2

      I guess that's Carnegie-mellon's luck then, that they're unlikely to get sued.
      7 hours is plenty of time to both recieve multiple acceptances and send back replies politely turning them down.
      With hundreds of people, there are bound to be a few.

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    4. Re:hmmm... by ranton · · Score: 2

      I suspect those that turned down other university offers for this one, only to find out they weren't accepted and no have no-where to go have basis for a lawsuit. And what about those that had scholarships at other schools and lost them? Mistakes like this, and such a critical point in your life, affect the whole of the rest of your life. It could change the entire trajectory of your career.

      The article says people who can show actual harm like the situation you just gave (which was also given in TFA) would probably have a good case for a lawsuit. Although they also mention that because the apology email was sent only a few hours after the mistaken acceptance letters were sent, it is unlikely anyone was harmed. Hopefully most students smart enough to get into Carnegie-Mellon are also smart enough to follow due diligence and verify their financial aid is in order before contacting other colleges and withdrawing their applications.

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      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    5. Re:hmmm... by thaylin · · Score: 2

      Especially since most of this is done online now..

      --
      When you cant win, ad hominem.
    6. Re:hmmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well most of them were not smart enough to get into Carnegie-Mellon. That's sort of the point.

    7. Re:hmmm... by jpapon · · Score: 2

      Not to mention that I doubt the university you turned down would give you grief if you called them and explained the situation.

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      -- Let us endeavor so to live that when we pass even the undertaker shall be sorry. -- M. Twain
  4. Re:What should they do? by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 4, Funny

    It already did something positive: It saved them from a useless degree.

  5. Re:What should they do? by Richard_at_work · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why the hell should they offer anything? It was a mistake, tough luck. Why does the topic of compensation come up for every simple mistake these days?

    So what if you were disappointed - welcome to the real world, sometimes your hopes are dashed after being raised.

  6. WOOHOO, I got in! by NotDrWho · · Score: 5, Funny

    FUCK YOU, Rob, you sad McJob manager! I just got into Carnegie-Mellon's CS program for grad school! So you can SUCK MY DICK, Rob! And that goes for you too Stacey! This motherfucker right here is GOING PLACES, BITCH! So you can shove this smock right up your tight asses! And don't look to see me again, 'cause I'm going to be in Pittsburg getting my Masters on!

    Oh look, I just got another letter from them. Must be to congratulate me AGAIN! Let's open it up, so I can shove it right in your FAT FACES!

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  7. Re:"what are the other explanations?" by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe he works in my building. Nothing is ever anything other than computer error, as far as everyone other than me is concerned.

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    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  8. Re:computer error? by PPH · · Score: 3, Funny

    Still, it comes down to an error in their process. I'd bump them down to a CMM Level of 1.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  9. Re:What should they do? by tnk1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Depends on the actual harm. I doubt your story of how you told the 7-11 to go fuck themselves once you got into C-M is going to get much sympathy in court. That just sounds like you burned bridges unnecessarily. Besides, there are tons of shit jobs out there, as long as you don't want to make a career out of them.

    As the article said, however, if you were accepted elsewhere prestigious and declined their offer, and now you had no place to go in the fall, that's something that represents real harm. In that case, you have to accept either waiting a semester or a whole year to reapply to the other school, or you have to accept going to a less prestigious school, which would have longer term effects.

    You could then additionally argue (without mentioning any burned bridges) that a year of waiting to try again (and possibly failing the second time around) would represent a hardship financially as well, but that is less persuasive because going to grad school costs money, it doesn't make you money. You could get TA jobs and grad living arrangements, of course, but it's not like being a grad student is actually more lucrative in the short term than being a pizza delivery person who lives with their parents for another year.

  10. Yes where your degree is from matters by sjbe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nope. Google does not care about the useless "where you went to school" nonsense.

    I don't believe that for a second. It might not be of primary concern but I have zero doubt that if you went to MIT or Carnegie Mellon and graduated with an IT related degree, it WILL factor into the hiring decision at Google.

    They want to know you have skills and abilities.

    Of course they do. That's precisely why they care whether or not you graduated from a known good training program. It is evidence that you are likely to have the sort of skills they are looking for. They'll test you further but it is a piece of evidence.

    Show up with a brilliant invention under your arm and they will gladly take an ITT Tech graduate.

    Perhaps but since that doesn't happen very often where you went to school WILL get looked at.

    1. Re:Yes where your degree is from matters by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 2

      After a job or three, basically nobody that knows shit cares were you went to school or even if you went to school.

      Which suggests that for your first job or three, the people hiring you will, indeed, care where you got your degree.

      --

      How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
    2. Re:Yes where your degree is from matters by ranton · · Score: 2

      After a job or three, basically nobody that knows shit cares were you went to school or even if you went to school.

      So you are saying where you went to school is very important, since it has an impact on your early career. How you spend the first 5-10 years of your career has enormous impact on your entire career. There are obviously exceptions, but by definition most people are not exceptions.

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      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    3. Re:Yes where your degree is from matters by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      if you went to MIT or Carnegie Mellon and graduated with an IT related degree, it WILL factor into the hiring decision at Google.

      It will factor even more into the decision to interview you in the first place. At my company, we interview only about 5% of applicants. Google likely interviews a much smaller percentage.

  11. Re:This isn't the first time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    They wanted to be damn sure you didn't show up!

  12. Re:What should they do? by david_thornley · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The problem with the burned bridges "tough luck" is that, as you say, you may have declined another grad school opportunity. In that case, I think CMU has responsibility for the situation and should work with the other school to make sure the applicant gets in somewhere.

    Being a grad student isn't more lucrative than pizza delivery, on the whole, However, it advances one's career much more, and so having to wait another year is simply cutting a year out of the applicant's professional life.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  13. Re:What should they do? by JustChrisM · · Score: 4, Informative

    Nope. You can probabaly get an 80K a year job in CS with a degree someplace else. However using the 2013 survey numbers ( http://www.cmu.edu/career/sala... ) Undergard CS majors had a mean salary of $94,544 . Grads data is a bit more sporadic because of the multiple majors, but VLIS was $107,333 and Software Engineering was $94,125. Considering your starting salary out of college has a major impact on your long-term earnings there is a compelling argument to be made that it has a major impact on your long-term $ earned: http://www.businessinsider.com...