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Columbia Mistakenly Tells Hundreds Of Students They Were Accepted, Apologize For Error

NEW YORK, N.Y. (CBS) -- Hundreds of students are probably a little upset this week after receiving acceptance emails from Columbia University. The sadness stems from the fact that those acceptances were later recalled by the school.

According to CBS News, 277 acceptance emails were sent to students applying to get into their School of Public Health's Masters Program. University officials say the emails "incorrectly implied," that the students had been accepted.

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Columbia said the mistake was discovered by the school and corrections were sent out within an hour.

Vice Dean for Education Julie Kornfeld apologized, saying the school values the energy and enthusiasm of applicants and they regretted the confusion that the emails caused.

"There's still that hour you probably told everyone you know. Your told your friends, you put it on Facebook, and then – oops, it didn't happen," Victoria Fashakan, a third-year medical student, told CBS New York. "That's so incredibly heartbreaking. I'm very sad to hear that that happened to people."

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