Shame on Johns Hopkins Admissions

Shame on Johns Hopkins Admissions December 18 We never thought wed put a photo of a Bed Bath Beyond coupon on our college admissions blog. But now we have. If a Cuisinart blender that costs $300 is mislabeled as costing $30 at Bed Bath Beyond, there are consumer protection laws on the books here in the United States that dictate the customer is entitled to purchase that blender for $30. And that customer can indeed still use a 20%-off coupon and walk away with a blender for $24 plus tax. After all, to shop at Bed Bath Beyond without coupons is like applying to college by marketing yourself as a three-sport athlete who has a passion for Key Club. Yikes! The items are marked up at Bed Bath Beyond in anticipation of customers using coupons so its quite foolish if you ask us to walk in without those blue, ubiquitous  blue marketing material. But enough about Bed Bath Beyond. Whats the point of our little anecdote, you ask? Well, the Johns Hopkins admissions office made an egregious error this admissions cycle. And by egregious error we really mean nearly 300 egregious errors. Johns Hopkins sent offers of admission to nearly 300 Early candidates only to later rescind their acceptances, stating that they were sent in error. Their message to these impacted students read as follows: Earlier today, you may have received an email from us with the subject line: Embrace the YES!  Please note that this email was sent in error.  The decision posted on the decision site reflects the accurate result of your Early Decision application.  We regret this technical mistake and any confusion it may have caused. Please note that this email was sent in error. Noted, thanks Johns Hopkins. It caused more than confusion, Johns Hopkins. While none of our students were impacted by this error and we congratulate our students who earned admission in the Early round to Hopkins, perhaps the admissions office should have been more careful when sending out their decisions. Unless theyre prepared to blame this error on North Korea (and private, salacious emails from the dean of admissions are about to get posted on The Guardian), someone in that admissions office has some explaining to do. And perhaps Johns Hopkins would be better served by proceeding as Bed Bath Beyond would. Let these students in. Build another dorm if you have to. It was your mistake. So deal with it. Shame on the Johns Hopkins admissions office for the unnecessary roller coaster ride they put these nearly 300 students on, students who were already on the roller coaster ride of highly selective college admissions. Oh, and if youre recall, the Johns Hopkins admissions office previously emailed out misleading letters  to parents saying their students put them in touch. Pull it together, Hopkins admissions!