The Poughkeepsie, N.Y., school says 76 students logged onto the site after 4 p.m. Friday and saw letters saying they had been accepted when in fact they had not been.
The school says it fixed the mistaken information by 4:30 p.m. and informed all the impacted applicants of the mistake by Friday evening.
"I was praying that in some small part of me, they would see something in me and that they would take me," college applicant Sabrina Sarro said.
Sarro is a solid B+ student, president of her high school speech and debate team and a member of the poetry club.
Vassar was her top choice, she applied early and received exciting news, she had been accepted.
"David Borus, the admissions director, was like, 'Deposit your 500 dollars, congratulations, welcome to the class of Vassar 2016'. I was thrilled. I didn't have words to say I was crying. I texted so many people," Sarro explained.
Sabrina immediately called her mother and asked her to double check the email, to make sure it was correct.
45 minutes later, things began to unravel.
Upon reading it, I was like, ummm, this is clearly a rejection letter and my heart sank," Sarros mother Nancy Dessables said.
Nancy was staring at a letter that clearly stated Sabrina had not been accepted.
"She went from total elation to total, the air was knocked out of us," Dessables said.
Another 46 students who logged on had been correctly told they were accepted.
Students who apply early make a commitment to go to Vassar if they are accepted.
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