Story highlights The university apologized after it sent out more than 5,000 acceptance letters in error

It says applications are still being considered, so students still have a chance to get in

Carnegie Mellon and Johns Hopkins have suffered similar embarrassments in the past

(CNN) Waiting to hear whether you've been accepted into a college is a nerve-wracking time for any prospective student.

For more than 5,000 applicants to the State University of New York at Buffalo, the process became even more stressful.

The university sent out 5,109 acceptance letters in error, it admitted in a statement Friday.

The mistake was made when an incorrect email list was generated from a database of applicants, according to the statement from John DellaContrada, the university's associate vice president for media relations and stakeholder communications.

He said that within three to four hours of the discovery of the mistake, the applicants were emailed an explanation of what had occurred, along with the university's "sincerest apologies."

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