The University of California at Irvine apologized on Friday for rescinding 500 offers of admission just before the start of the fall term. The Los Angeles Timesreported that the last-minute reversals had elicited criticism from prospective students on social media.
The campus said the offers had been withdrawn because of transcript problems and bad senior-year grades, but students writing on social media said the reasons provided to them had been insufficient or nonexistent.
The Times reported that 7,100 of the 31,103 freshmen who were offered admission to UC-Irvine had accepted it by May. That put the university 850 students over its planned freshman class of 6,250.
Thomas Parham, vice chancellor for student affairs, noted in a statement of apology that admissions offers are contingent on certain conditions but that this year the university “took a harder line” due to unprecedented demand. Irvine, he said, could have “managed that process with greater care, sensitivity, and clarity about available options.”
“For those who felt ignored or mistreated, I sincerely apologize,” Mr. Parham said.
About 50 of 265 students who have filed appeals thus far have succeeded in getting their acceptances reinstated.
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/uc-irvine-withdraws-500-admissions-offers-two-months-before-fall-term/119473