York University has apologized for mistakenly sending acceptance emails to about 500 students who recently applied to the school.

The emails were supposed to indicate the school had received the students’ applications, rather than announce that they actually got in, explained Jock Phippen, York’s director of student recruitment and admission.

“We really empathize that there’s a small group of students that got this message, and they get anxious and excited, and so we did do the outreach and tried to do it as quickly as possible,” Phippen said. “We got it completely. I have a son who’s in high school … To every one of those students and those families, it’s paramount. It’s the most important thing, and that’s why we were so quick on getting back to them.”

Phippen said the mistake was made on Monday morning, when admissions staff arrived to take stock of applications that had arrived late Friday and over the weekend. Those applicants, most of them high school students, were sent an acknowledgment email, then an acceptance email by mistake, he said.

The mix-up was discovered Monday evening, followed by emails notifying applicants of the error on Tuesday.

Phippen was quick to point out that these students haven’t been rejected; it’s just that a decision hasn’t been made yet.

“We’ve had a number of people who have contacted me directly,” he told the Star. “Most have been fairly understanding, I would say, but truthfully it’s probably something that’s pretty disappointing for some of them as well.”

Application mishaps aren’t unprecedented. In 1993, for example, a glitch in the province’s computer system for community college applications forced thousands of them to be reviewed. At the time, a school worker told the Star: “Everybody’s freaking out.”

York University has received about 26,000 applications for this year’s fall semester, Phippen said.

Wednesday marked the deadline for applications through the Ontario University Application Centre, which processes prospective students looking to attend university in the province.