Of all the students who had applied to study at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, one of the top medical schools in the US, 364 made it to the final round of applicants being considered for 50 slots. On Thursday, acceptance emails were sent out. To all 364 applicants. Oops. Three hours later, a correction was sent.
"... Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine erroneously emailed 364 letters of acceptance to talented, engaging individuals seeking an appointment to the medical school. Soon after the emails were sent, a technical error was discovered and the letters of acceptance were withdrawn by e-mail," wrote Mayo Clinic Spokeswoman Heather Carlson Kehren in a statement late Thursday night. "All affected applicants have been contacted by phone. We deeply regret having caused disappointment to these applicants, and we are continuing to investigate the issue."
A later email was sent to 315 applicants, withdrawing the offer of acceptance. By then some students had already withdrawn their applications to other medical schools. Some shared their disappointment online.
"I literally ran down the halls of this prestigious academic institution yelling to everyone that I got into Mayo. I burst into my mentor's office and told him the news and he hugged me. I called other mentors and they immediately spread the news, resulting in me getting several texts congratulating me," wrote one poster. "The worst part about it was telling my mentor in person. He looked at me like how I'd imagine you'd look at a puppy who just got hit by a car ... It'll take me a while to get over this."
Read the details of the story at the Post Bulletin. -via reddit
(Image credit: Christo and Melissa Philips)