By Dillon Thomas

DENVER (CBS4) – A high school student in Aurora waiting to hear back from colleges says his family was one of those that received an erroneous email from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs this week implying he was accepted.

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Connor Ireland is a senior at Vista PEAK Preparatory School. He told CBS4 he was pleased to learn on Thursday he had apparently been accepted to the school.

The email from university said “Welcome to the UCCS Mountain Lion Family” and went on to provide resources for the parents of future students.

“I applied for UCCS and a couple other places. And UCCS was probably the main one, because I love Colorado Springs to begin with,” Ireland said.

Then, after a few hours, Ireland learned he had not been accepted. At least not yet.

“My mom texted me, and said it was a mess up,” Ireland said.

The emails went out accidentally to more than 11,000 people. In addition to applicants like Ireland who are still waiting for the final word on acceptance, the university confirmed they also went to more than 500 people who had already been denied acceptance to the college.

Ireland said the mistake was confusing.

“It’s like a rollercoaster ride of emotions,” he said.

The university said they believed the error was a result of their process of filing emails into their system.

“That’s a big hiccup,” Ireland said.

Senior Executive Director of Enrollment Mathew Cox said “we obviously regret the miscommunication.”

Dillon Thomas is a reporter at CBS4 and a Colorado native. He believes everyone has a story, and would love to share yours! You can find more of his stories by following him on Twitter, @DillonMThomas.