Tech Glitch in PEA Admissions System Delays Notifications

In the early morning of Saturday, Mar. 10, Exeter’s Admissions Office sent its decisions to this year’s pool of prospective students. However, due to a software malfunction, nearly 300 applicants did not receive their results from the office.

Dean of Enrollment and External Affairs William Leahy explained that numerous waitlisted applicants had not received their decision emails due to a glitch in the email delivery system. While the Academy used the same framework as it had in prior years, the Admissions Office tweaked the system so waitlisted decisions would be sent to  guardians  as well as the individual applicants. Unfortunately, if either the applicant or their guardians’ emails were invalid or missing, the system did not send any results to the entire family.

According to Leahy, the admissions officers realized the mishap after parents contacted the Admissions Office. “We discovered, because we got feedback, starting Saturday afternoon and that Sunday, that about three hundred people never got their email,” he said. He explained that the Admissions Office was never alerted by the system that anything wrong had transpired or that emails had never been sent out.

Leahy noted the importance of sending clear and timely decisions to all applicants. “If any one of the three or four emails in the household weren’t there, then the email didn’t get sent. By Monday, we had lots of emails and voicemails from people,” he said. “We were devastated by that, because I think that how you say ‘no’ is actually more important than how you say ‘yes.’”

Leahy noted that the Academy uses different systems for accepted and waitlisted applicants, and that the system Exeter has historically used for waitlisted and denied students indicated that the emails had all been sent. “For those who were not offered admission, the vast majority received their decisions that morning as planned.  Unfortunately, about sixteen percent of the students who were not admitted did not receive our email on the tenth despite our system showing that all emails had been sent,” Leahy explained.

A current Exonian who was originally placed on the waitlist—who chose to remain anonymous—described their hypothetical reaction if they’d been put in this situation. “I imagine I’d feel in a state of limbo. I imagine I’d be pretty disappointed, hoping that this temporary pause before your decision comes out means that you’re in, and then being notified you’re on the waitlist. Hearing it the day of decisions was tough enough, so I can’t even imagine the stress having to wait for a few more days,” they said.

According to Leahy, the waitlisted applicants and their families were forgiving. He explained that most of them, while concerned during the few days of uncertainty, were ultimately relieved just to hear the decision. “We didn’t know what caused it for several days. By the time we figured it out, most people had already called or emailed in to ask about what was going on. I think most found out quickly, since they were so eager to find out,” Leahy said. “They mostly wanted to hear their decision. We spent the next week working with our IT partners to determine the cause. We were totally sympathetic to their concerns and understand their disappointment. Unfortunately, we didn’t know it was really a problem until Sunday.”

One applicant to the class of 2022 described a sense of numbness by the time they heard from the Admissions Office. “After that much waiting, the few days immediately before I heard my decision all felt like a blur. I had already waited for so long, a few days wouldn’t matter that much. It really didn’t feel like anything,” the anonymous applicant said.

Leahy added that the Office is working to ensure this delay is not repeated next year. “We will adjust our process next year so that this will not happen again. Those families impacted were very understanding, and we felt terrible that their decisions were not delivered as intended.”