UC San Diego’s admissions mess

Re “Admissions gaffe gives applicants false hope,” April 1

When you think of the hoops kids have to jump through today to gain admission into even a second-rate college, the UC San Diego admissions snafu becomes a particularly cruel joke on 28,000 young hopefuls.

That it was unintentional makes it all the more inexcusable: incompetence of that level affecting that many people’s destinies. All the usual platitudes only add insult to injury.

At moments like this, it’s tempting to believe there are occasions when the use of torture is justified.

And no, I’m not perfect, and yes, I’ve made mistakes. But I’m happy to say I’ve never hurt that many people in one fell swoop.

Kevin Dawson

Sylmar

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You begin your story with an account of how a high school student celebrated after receiving an e-mail inviting him to Admit Day, only to have his hopes dashed hours later.

That an e-mail had gone out in mid-March, directing students to a secure website where they could check their admissions status, is not mentioned until well into your story.

This leaves readers with the impression that the mistaken e-mail was the first communication students received from the admissions office. In fact, all applicants received not only the prior e-mail message but a formal rejection or acceptance letter sent by mail. It is hard to understand how a student could have somehow failed to receive both earlier forms of communication.

This does not excuse what happened. But it seems to me that your story does not provide a fair account of the events that transpired.

Having served on the admissions committee for several years, I have seen how hard admissions director Mae Brown works to ensure an equitable and efficient admissions process. Needless to say, it is an enormous -- and enormously difficult -- undertaking.

It would be unfair to judge her or her staff on the basis of this single, unfortunate mistake.

Rebecca Plant

San Diego

The writer is an assistant professor of history at UC San Diego.