UC Berkeley’s e-mail error puzzles applicants

A clerical error made last Friday by the director of admissions
for UC Berkeley’s law school left many of the school’s
applicants confused after they received an e-mail congratulating
them on their acceptance even though most had not received an
admissions decision.

Edward Tom, admissions director for the Boalt Hall School of
Law, accidentally sent out an e-mail to hundreds ““ perhaps
thousands ““ of applicants, which seemed to indicate they had
been accepted.

The e-mail, an invitation to an alumni-sponsored event for
applicants who have already been admitted, congratulated the
recipients on their recent acceptance.

Tom said he was demonstrating to a new staffer how to use the
e-mail system when he mistakenly sent the e-mail.

“I am not normally the person who does the e-mails,”
Tom said. “I took it upon myself, mistakenly, to show her
(the system). I was showing her (what not) to do and I clicked the
mouse.” After realizing his blunder, Tom sent out an
explanatory e-mail within about 20 minutes and a longer apologetic
e-mail the following day.

Tom said he is unsure of the number of people to whom the e-mail
was sent, but he is operating under the assumption that it went to
all 7,000 applicants. However, he also said that based on the
e-mail and telephone responses he has received, it seems to have
been sent to applicants whose last names begin with a letter in the
first half of the alphabet.

The school has not yet sent out any denials, and has only sent
out some of its acceptances. Tom said the e-mail has no bearing on
acceptance status.

“Just because they got the e-mail, it does not mean they
were denied, nor does it mean they were admitted,” he
said.

The school expects to complete its admissions notifications by
the end of March.

Tom said his staff has begun taking steps to ensure that this
does not happen again, including, as he said, “my
staff’s not going to let me touch the e-mails
anymore.”

Compiled by Richard Clough, Bruin senior staff.