144 Students Were Rejected Then Accepted to NYC Lab School Due To Program Glitch

As reported by Chalkbeat, 144 students received an offer to the New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies after they were informed they had been rejected. All of this is due to admissions error. The Typical Student team learned the details. 

What Happened During The Admission Process?

Doug Cohen, a spokesman for the education department confirmed there was an error on Tuesday.  According to the education department, the mistake happened due to an error in how the Lab school had ranked applicants. It has been reported that no similar mistakes occurred at any other school this academic year. Mr. Cohen's statement reads as follows: 

"We want the admissions process to work for students and families, and this was an isolated error made by the school. We’ve reached out and provided an offer to every student that should have received one, and apologize for the mistake and the confusion it caused."

Were Any Other Schools Affected By The Mistake?

It is reported that the error didn’t impact any offers at other schools. As there was a "small enough number" of "students assigned to any single school who have now been accepted to Lab." Also, it's said that the first round of high school offers accounts for attrition. This mistake, however, didn't please a lot of people as they found it "unsettling."

And these concerns are absolutely understandable as getting into a high school in New York City isn't an easy process for both students and their parents. It begins with students picking their top 12 schools that have their own student admission requirements. Finally, the Office of Enrollment uses an algorithm to match students to schools.

This year, a new online system used to submit high school applicants was rolled out. Guidance counselors reported glitches which eventually prevented eighth graders from properly submitting their high school applications.