BYU Erroneously Sends Acceptance Letters to Rejected Applicants, Promptly Addresses the Oversight

A group of nine prospective students who sought admission to Brigham Young University were erroneously sent acceptance letters, despite not being accepted. In a turn of events, the university has decided to admit them following this mishap.

Among those affected was high school senior Owen Johansen from Oakton, Virginia. Upon receiving the acceptance letter, he expressed immense joy, and his parents, both BYU alumni, shared in his excitement, as reported by KSL.

However, as Owen proceeded with the enrollment process and began searching for a roommate, his online portal’s welcoming message abruptly switched to a rejection notice.

Distressed, Owen’s parents contacted the private institution in Utah for clarification, only to learn that the acceptance notification had been sent in error.

“I was really mad,” Owen admitted to the news outlet, explaining that his initial anger soon gave way to disappointment.

Talai Johansen, Owen’s mother, expressed further frustration over the university’s handling of the situation, noting that while they apologized to her and her husband, they had not directly reached out to her son.

Talai Johansen said the experience left her “completely heartbroken by this entire process,” and demanded that BYU not only honor her son’s acceptance, but also the other eight students.

After mounting backlash over the admissions mix-up, the university said Wednesday that all nine students will be allowed to enroll, according to KSL.

BYU’s director of admissions, Chad Johnson, issued a public apology after applicants were mistakenly given false hope despite having already been denied admission.

“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 told KSL late last month.

Johnson said the school understands that “admissions decisions are highly anticipated, and we recognize this mistake caused confusion and disappointment,” adding the university had already expressed its “regret and sincere apologies” to the nine students.

He shared that the Provo-based university’s “admissions team is working to ensure this mistake does not occur in the future.”

The university said it has granted provisional admission to the nine students and that admissions officials are working with each of them to ensure they meet BYU’s academic standards.

However, Owen’s family said that BYU admissions officials said their son would need to earn at least a 3.0 GPA.

More than 14,000 incoming freshmen have applied to attend BYU.

BYU accepts 68.7 percent of freshman applicants, according to the university website. The average tuition cost is $6,688 each semester for undergraduate students who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and $3,344 for members.

This isn’t the first time the University has made a critical admissions error.

BYU’s College of Nursing mistakenly sent both acceptance and rejection letters to hundreds of prospective students in 2024, KSL reported.

The university blamed it on “an error in a new system.”