For most students, receiving a college acceptance letter is a moment of celebration. But for Owen Johansen and eight other applicants, the excitement quickly turned into confusion and disappointment.
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Johansen, from Oakton, Virginia, was among a group of students who mistakenly received congratulatory acceptance notifications from Brigham Young University.
In reality, they had not been admitted. Johansen and his parents, both alumni of BYU, were initially "thrilled" when they saw the message, according to KSL.
University Acceptance Letters Mix-up Sparks Confusion for Applicants
KSL reported the Johansen family had already begun moving forward with the enrollment process, including accepting the admission and searching for a roommate.
Then something unexpected happened.
The "Welcome to BYU" notification that appeared in Johansen's online portal was suddenly replaced with a rejection notice.
After reaching out to university officials, the family learned that the acceptance notification had been sent in error.
"I was really mad," Owen Johansen said. "They could have done it way better."
The experience, he added, left him feeling "pretty sad."
BYU has not shared additional details explaining how the mistaken acceptance notifications were sent.
Johansen's mother, Talai, said she believes the university should honor the original admissions notice.
"I don't want them to just do it for Owen. I want them to do it for these eight other students," she said. The college got students' hopes up. "I want all of these nine students to be admitted into BYU. It is the right thing to do."
"I have been completely heartbroken by this entire process."
BYU Apologizes After Admissions Error
Following the mistake, BYU admissions director Chad Johnson issued a public apology.
"We are truly sorry that an unfortunate error in our admissions decision notification system resulted in nine prospective students mistakenly receiving congratulatory messages of acceptance," Johnson said. "The Admissions Department reached out to those impacted to express our regret and our sincere apologies."
"We know that admissions decisions are highly anticipated, and we recognize this mistake caused confusion and disappointment. Our BYU admissions team is working to ensure this mistake does not occur in the future."
According to KSL, the university later clarified that all nine students affected by the error have now been admitted to BYU.
However, the situation is not entirely unprecedented.
In 2024, BYU's College of Nursing sent both acceptance and rejection notifications to hundreds of prospective students due to another system error.
At the time, the university attributed the mistake to a "new system."
While the latest incident caused brief heartbreak for several families, it ultimately ended with the students receiving the acceptance they had originally celebrated.
