In this day and age of electronic communication, it is very easy to make a substantial mistake. Nearly everyone has been on the receiving end of a misdirected e-mail; modern technology makes sending a message to the wrong list a cinch—just like the Office of Admissions did recently by mistakenly sending a few hundred prospective students notification that they were Rensselaer Medalists. Therefore, while that gaffe was highly embarrassing, it shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise. The more important aspect of the whole mess is how the enrollment officials responded once they realized their error.
Fortunately, admissions took the high road by admitting to the mistake promptly and doing its best to compensate those who were affected. That may simply seem like common courtesy, but not everyone is so quick to make good on their slip-ups; it is good to see those at fault taking responsibility for their actions. More impressive than their honesty, however, was the way that they managed to make the best of an otherwise potentially disastrous situation. By offering an equivalent scholarship to those affected only if they apply early decision, RPI gets a significant benefit in return—guaranteed attendance from some promising candidates. The commitment made by early decision applicants to choose RPI if accepted allows the Office of Admissions to make important demographic identifications and come closer to target enrollment numbers; furthermore, it has access to these statistics much earlier. Given that the students eligible for these scholarships are already highly talented, the added expense resulting from this increased financial aid seems like a fair trade-off.
Of course, it goes without saying that measures should be taken to ensure that this sort of mistake doesn’t happen again. The fact that RPI took appropriate action and obtained some benefit from the whole ordeal does not excuse the error. Mass-mailing addresses should be double-checked, and there should be a clear separation between lists—but these are steps that we’re sure are already being enacted. Looking to the future, however, we do hope that admissions makes good on these promises, particularly when it comes time to give consideration to the Class of 2013. The affected prospective students should not be forgotten in a year and should get similar treatment to their Class of 2012 counterparts.
