Dec 17, 2014 12:05 PM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

294 students recently denied early admission to Johns Hopkins University (JHU) mistakenly received emails shortly after that seemingly contradicted the last one.

Speaking to the Washington Post, 17-year-old Sam Stephenson and his mother Cathy believed JHU reversed their decision just two days after initially denying him. About two-and-a-half hours after receiving the acceptance email, Sam was notified of the mistake.

"The decision posted on the decision site reflects the accurate result of your Early Decision application," the email read. "We regret this technical mistake and any confusion it may have caused."

Stephenson said he was just getting started on his second batch of college applications when he saw an email from JHU with "Embrace the YES!" in the subject line. Mass emailing systems for acceptance and rejection notices have no doubt done wonders for college administrators, but they have caused a few headaches in recent years.

Last year, Fordham sent out 2,500 acceptance letters to students who should not have received them. In 2009, the University of California - San Diego sent acceptance notices to all 46,000 applicants, whereas more than half of whom should have had their applications denied.

"The first time when I got rejected, it wasn't nearly as bad as the second time," Sam Stephenson told the Washington Post Wednesday, a few days after being rejected by JHU twice in close succession.

JHU, one of the nation's most prestigious private research schools, posted an acceptance rate of 15 percent in 2014. The school is almost as selective as the most accepting Ivy League institution, so being rejected hardly came as a surprise. But being accepted was, making the error notice that much more devastating.

"Made me think the decision I got on Friday was a mistake," Stephenson said of the feeling of being accepted to JHU. "I don't know how a school that prestigious could send out a false e-mail like that."

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