BIZZARE! Seriously, this is a story for the pages.

[Lo0sEg0oSe]

On Dec. 1st I received an acceptance from the AADSAS website to a particular school which I will not mention. A week later, when I had not received any paper work, I emailed the associate dean of admissions & she emailed me back saying to give it a few days.

Later that day, she calls me & tell me that there's been a mistake. That actually I was not the one that got accepted, that another person who has the same FIRST NAME as I do but SPELLS IT DIFFERENTLY was the one who was accepted.

I am stunned. This was the only school I got accepted to, or even interviewed at & I have been applying for three years. I called the dean of admissions today for some clarification & she was extremely rude. She kept repeating how she is human like everyone else & that she's not a superwoman, she made a mistake & that's just the way it is, people make mistakes all the time, etc... She even asked me why I was calling.

I have never heard of a situation like this before & I cannot believe I am in the thick of it. Has anyone heard of something like this before?

 

[Doh Boy Fresh]

GAH! this is terrible!! I am so sorry this happened to you. I can not imagine how frustrated you must be! I guess, try to talk to them and get them to understand your situation.

 

[Lo0sEg0oSe]

her higher ups know about it but i don't think they're going to DO anything about.

 

[sks2286]

That is a horrible story. I feel for you. I hate when admissions people are rude to their applicants. It can really have a negative impact on the applicant's view of the school. A few times I feel that admissions people at some schools have really no idea what it is like to apply to dental school.

You should try to not to dwell on this. They made a mistake. Hopefully you will recieve interviews at other schools.

Good Luck!

 

[Doh Boy Fresh]

you may just have to accept the harsh reality

 

[froggiesmile]

i'm so sorry you had to hear that. but yes. the dean was very rude she should not be so rude.. esp after getting your hopes up like that. i'm sorry. i'm pretty sure u will get some good news from now good luck

 

[sks2286]

Believe in Karma.

 

[Lo0sEg0oSe]

so, you guys are telling me that if you were in my position you would just shrug it off? this is my only acceptance and i don't think there are anymore coming since it's past the first round of offers made and i haven't received invitations to interview anywhere else.

 

[froggiesmile]

well, i guess you could contact the school's chancellor or something but I really dont' think that there is alot they can do. I would think the Dean will make the final cut... and even if you do get into the school, i dont' know how I would feel facing the dean everyday. I don't know, i mean it doesn't hurt to try and see if you get other interviews...
gluck

 

[oreoson]

I have heard of a case like that, and actually mistakes like that do happen. The school gave them admission for the following cycle though. - -a

 

[doc toothache]

If you were denied admission due to a mistake similar to the one you described, would you call out the cavalry to decline an acceptance?

 

[losdientes]

That is the worst mistake that could happen, but do you really think it's fair they offer you a spot because of it? That seat rightfully belongs to someone else who they felt deserves it.

I feel for you, I really do. I cannot imagine how devastating news like that is after 3 cycles of stress and finally attaining your goal, only to have it snatched away :/ It's very unfortunate the dean wasn't more understanding, but perhaps she felt attacked when you called her?

I'd probably accept it for what it is and pray I get an interview elsewhere. Don't give up! Another member on here finally got in after 4 cycles. Who knows, you still have a chance to get in this cycle!

 

[Lo0sEg0oSe]

If I really did not feel I was deserving of this slot then I would back down, but I don't believe that's the case. I think I might have been wrongly evaluated under the other person's name. The Dean of Admissions said that my interview had not gone well and that doesn't make any sense at all. I received such position feedback from 2 out of the 3 interviewers. In fact, one of them kept in contact with me after the interview via phone and email.

There's also a legal issue at hand. When a school makes an offer to individual, they bind themselves to a contract. That contract becomes activated once the student accepts it. In no way do I want to have to settle this issue in court, but I feel that I'm not being given a fair chance. Almost as if the school has acknowledged their mistake, but they're not willing to own up to it, or even investigate it.

doc tooth - i don't understand your question

 

[ziptree]

Forget it. Pissing them off isn't going to get you in, sorry.

 

[Andrew324]

There was no offer, there was no contract

Sucks but you are out of luck

 

[dent2009]

...There's also a legal issue at hand. When a school makes an offer to individual, they bind themselves to a contract. That contract becomes activated once the student accepts it. In no way do I want to have to settle this issue in court, but I feel that I'm not being given a fair chance. Almost as if the school has acknowledged their mistake, but they're not willing to own up to it, or even investigate it.

doc tooth - i don't understand your question

I feel for you and hope things turn out for the better. Btw, did you make a deposit and formally accept their offer? f i'm not mistaken, you never got the acceptance letter right? Then on that basis, you don't have a legal issue.

 

[LuckyMiner]

 

[ukgirl]

I am sorry....unfortunately things like this can happen. My friend got accepted to a certain pharmacy school and weeks before the school year started she was informed that she was not accepted and they had made a mistake because a person with her exact name (first and last "Patel") was the one that was actually chosen for the school.

 

[DrReo]

AADSAS website isn't official, a hard copy acceptances is.

 

[219122]

sorry this happened to you OP, but it was a mixup. You can't hold them to anything because they didn't actually offer you anything. There was a computer glitch on aadsas, nothing in writing, no letter. You have no leg to stand on. Hopefully you get into another school this cycle!

 

[TeamGuo]

I am sorry....unfortunately things like this can happen. My friend got accepted to a certain pharmacy school and weeks before the school year started she was informed that she was not accepted and they had made a mistake because a person with her exact name (first and last "Patel") was the one that was actually chosen for the school.

I can definately see that happening with so many Patel's. kk

But for the OP, sorry to hear the bad news, that's a horrible mistake the school made. All I can say is best of luck to you from here on.

 

[dent2009]

I can definately see that happening with so many Patel's. kk

But for the OP, sorry to hear the bad news, that's a horrible mistake the school made. All I can say is best of luck to you from here on.

I betcha it happens a lot with Kim's too, since there's so many koreans in dentistry.

 

[Lo0sEg0oSe]

thanks for all the feedback.

this actually is a legal issue because the aadsas website was the agreed mode of communication between the university and myself. also, i have the print out that shows an offer was made from the university on the aadsas website and i have an email where i was inquiring the dean for the hard copy to sign and accept my offer. in her reply, she did not deny an offer was made, in fact she told me to wait a few days for it to come in the mail. later that day is when i received the phone call.

so it was never a gliche on the aadsas website. this situation was completely derived from human error. which is why i believe i was wrongly evaluated. i think my evaluation was switched with the other student who shares the same pronunciation of my name. in no way could my interview had been bad.

the one thing that gets me is that the other candidate who was supposed to receive the offer does not have the same name as i do. we share the same pronunciation of our first names, but the spelling is different. and for sure we don't share the same last name.

 

[DrReo]

thanks for all the feedback.

this actually is a legal issue because the aadsas website was the agreed mode of communication between the university and myself. also, i have the print out that shows an offer was made from the university on the aadsas website and i have an email where i was inquiring the dean for the hard copy to sign and accept my offer. in her reply, she did not deny an offer was made, in fact she told me to wait a few days for it to come in the mail. later that day is when i received the phone call.

so it was never a gliche on the aadsas website. this situation was completely derived from human error. which is why i believe i was wrongly evaluated. i think my evaluation was switched with the other student who shares the same pronunciation of my name. in no way could my interview had been bad.

the one thing that gets me is that the other candidate who was supposed to receive the offer does not have the same name as i do. we share the same pronunciation of our first names, but the spelling is different. and for sure we don't share the same last name.

Oh my god, there must be some type of racism and/or sexism occuring.... This is a serious legal issue

 

[dent2009]

I second the person who said to contact your interviewer. Perhaps he/she can help clear things up. Another reason why some dent school ask for a photo...

 

[TeamGuo]

I betcha it happens a lot with Kim's too, since there's so many koreans in dentistry.

that's bound to happen man. kk

 

[TempleDMDKrazd]

sometimes you think you did poorly on a test, but yet you find out later you did great
sometimes you think you did great on a test, but yet you find out later you did poorly

sometimes you think you did poorly in an interview, but yet you find out later you did great (acceptance)
sometimes you think you did greatly in an interview, but yet you find out later you did poorly (denial, waitlisted)

i am sorry OP

 

[Streetwolf]

Yeah this sucks for you. Yeah they made a mistake. This isn't something you can or should sue them over. I know you want to get accepted badly. But do you really want to be that dental student that got in by mistake, or do you want to be a dental student that earned their spot? If you're still trying to get accepted after 3 years then you should take a step back and look at what you're doing wrong. You've had interviews so this can't all be because of your stats.

 

[dent2009]

...I received such position (sp? 'positive'?) feedback from 2 out of the 3 interviewers. In fact, one of them kept in contact with me after the interview via phone and email.

Maybe you needed 3 out of 3 positive feedbacks...

 

[Lo0sEg0oSe]

temple - i agree with your comments except in this situation i received feedback from two of my interviewers that i actually did do great.

i did call the interview who gave me his number and he said he would look into it but he couldn't disclose too much information because it's a conflict of interest. i've been waiting for his call back but i think at this point i just need to fly to the school and speak with the dean of the dental school and the dean of student affairs.

 

[dent2009]

temple - i agree with your comments except in this situation i received feedback from two of my interviewers that i actually did do great.

i did call the interview who gave me his number and he said he would look into it but he couldn't disclose too much information because it's a conflict of interest. i've been waiting for his call back but i think at this point i just need to fly to the school and speak with the dean of the dental school and the dean of student affairs.

Let us know the outcome. I hope things go your way.

 

[rewJW]

temple - i agree with your comments except in this situation i received feedback from two of my interviewers that i actually did do great..

I hate to say it, but it's likely that an interviewer will tell you you are doing/did fine, regardless of how you actually performed. And the ultimate decision is with the entire committee or dean, however that particular school chooses to run its program; the interviewers at some schools have little to no say other than to say yes, you are a competent human being potentially worthy of acceptance, or no, you're not.

It is a crappy situation but I don't think you are going to be able to do anything about it. You might have been able to request a re-interview, but I think at this point you've probably come off to them as very pissed off and pushy if you're giving them the same type of attitude you're conveying in this forum and likely you have burned your bridges.

How would you feel if you were that other person with the same first name who got rejected accidentally?

Also, OP, did the school really give you the first and last name of the person they meant to accept instead of you? ... seems to me like that would violate some privacy rules.

Maybe you should focus on improving the weak points in your application. There is probably a reason why three cycles in you still don't have any acceptances, especially if you really applied to EVERY U.S. dental school as you've mentioned in prior posts. Hate to be the jerk but somebody's got to say it like it is.

 

[Lo0sEg0oSe]

they did give me the other person's first name spelling and how it differed from mine and i actually interviewed with that person so i know we do not share the same last name. the dean also told me that there were only 80 people who interviewed so the odds of the person they confused me with being someone else is slim to none. i don't have a common first name.

i would just like to add a disclaimer: the post where i said i am applying to every dental school was from 2006. since that time, i've re-taken the DATs and did well, and i also have 5 more hours for my second bachelor's with a gpa of 4.0.

aside from these statistics, i obviously meet the scholastic criteria. if i hadn't, i wouldn't have been offered an interview.

 

[froggiesmile]

just a reminder... if things dont work out and you are going to apply next year try not to bash the school too much because the dean do read SDN quite often and they may hold it against you.

 

[NJDental]

they did give me the other person's first name spelling and how it differed from mine and i actually interviewed with that person so i know we do not share the same last name. the dean also told me that there were only 80 people who interviewed so the odds of the person they confused me with being someone else is slim to none. i don't have a common first name.

i would just like to add a disclaimer: the post where i said i am applying to every dental school was from 2006. since that time, i've re-taken the DATs and did well, and i also have 5 more hours for my second bachelor's with a gpa of 4.0.

aside from these statistics, i obviously meet the scholastic criteria. if i hadn't, i wouldn't have been offered an interview.

thats a really sucky situation, id be pretty mad if that were me. but, unfortunately mistakes happen and you do just have to suck it up and keep on going. did you only apply to that one school? if so apply to more next time.

it really really sucks but, everything happens for a reason!

 

[Kash54]

Your situation is terrible. I understand that you're probably frustrated that you thought you had an acceptance when you didn't.
But, even so, technically there isn't much you can do. There are plenty of reasons why this mix up could have happened (no pictures with the file could be a major one). Even if you don't believe your name sounds similar or doesn't look the same, the person looking at your file vs theres may have thought it was (especially if it's a foreign name...my name is always mixed up with other people from my culture even though I see no resemblance what-so-ever). Maybe the person updating aadsas clicked on the wrong name, human errors do happen, and it's not a legal issue.
As mentioned before, you did not receive any acceptance paper work and they did not accept a deposit from you. Hence the seat was never technically yours to begin with.
I know this is harsh, but life's a bitch sometimes. AADSAS is a means of communication, in no way does it legally entitle you to a spot.

 

[klpennin]

I know it sucks what happened to you, but you want to make sure you don't burn bridges. You might want to talk to them to assure that they didn't mistake you for someone else, but in a polite way. Don't seem too desprite... and don't try to fight your way into that school. It will just make them not want you there. You should handle it with class.

 

[Doh Boy Fresh]

I know it sucks what happened to you, but you want to make sure you don't burn bridges. You might want to talk to them to assure that they didn't mistake you for someone else, but in a polite way. Don't seem too desprite... and don't try to fight your way into that school. It will just make them not want you there. You should handle it with class.

beautifully said. tear.

 

[ou_jay]

just a reminder... if things dont work out and you are going to apply next year try not to bash the school too much because the dean do read SDN quite often and they may hold it against you.

Actually most deans have a lot of better things to do than hang out on SDN. Although a few may have some staff members review it for them on occasion.

That being said, the OP must remain diplomatic. The admissions cycle isn't over. The school may accept you in the next round, but they won't if you burn all your bridges there.

Be persistent but polite with the interviewer with whom you are in contact. Do not escalate to the provost, chancellor, or president, and do not antagonize the dean or his/her staff.

You cannot succeed in trying to browbeat your way in, not even with a lawyer's help. Even if you got in, your dental school experience would be miserable and you would most likely be weeded out of the class.

I know you think you will just be too good for them to kick you out, but it doesn't work that way. Grading of projects, practicals, and clinical work in dental school is subjective. If the faculty has a vendetta against you, then they can get rid you. They will have a vendetta against you, if they perceive you as someone who forced his/her way in and someone who does not deserve to be there.

 

[AlwaysImproving]

You should handle it with class.

I especially like that part. Nicely put.

We should always strive to handle ourselves in that manner

 

[harrygt]

On Dec. 1st I received an acceptance from the AADSAS website to a particular school which I will not mention. A week later, when I had not received any paper work, I emailed the associate dean of admissions & she emailed me back saying to give it a few days.

Later that day, she calls me & tell me that there's been a mistake. That actually I was not the one that got accepted, that another person who has the same FIRST NAME as I do but SPELLS IT DIFFERENTLY was the one who was accepted.

I am stunned. This was the only school I got accepted to, or even interviewed at & I have been applying for three years. I called the dean of admissions today for some clarification & she was extremely rude. She kept repeating how she is human like everyone else & that she's not a superwoman, she made a mistake & that's just the way it is, people make mistakes all the time, etc... She even asked me why I was calling.

I have never heard of a situation like this before & I cannot believe I am in the thick of it. Has anyone heard of something like this before?

Are you sure it was the associate dean who called you back? Most of the time, the secretaries check the email of the dean and the associate dean, and even reply back. This has happened to me several times when I have sent an email to Dr. X and got an answer from Mrs. Y. Make sure you call back and get to talk to the dean or the associate dean, and tell him/her how this woman has played with your emotions. I mean she might even not tell the dean about this, and try to cover up. At least, you better make sure the dean(s) know about this. That can be a reliever. Do this for the God's sake, so that next time, the chick won't be doing her make up while updating AADSAS. GHhhhhhhhh

 

[Contach]

Americans and their law suits...

why does it always resort to lawyers and judges?
are we not a capable people to handle our own affairs?

 

[xhamburgersamx]

Did you get rejected? If not, you still have a chance to get accepted!! keep your hopes up!

 

[doc toothache]

There's also a legal issue at hand. When a school makes an offer to individual, they bind themselves to a contract. That contract becomes activated once the student accepts it. In no way do I want to have to settle this issue in court, but I feel that I'm not being given a fair chance. Almost as if the school has acknowledged their mistake, but they're not willing to own up to it, or even investigate it.

doc tooth - i don't understand your question

thanks for all the feedback.

this actually is a legal issue because the aadsas website was the agreed mode of communication between the university and myself. also, i have the print out that shows an offer was made from the university on the aadsas website and i have an email where i was inquiring the dean for the hard copy to sign and accept my offer. in her reply, she did not deny an offer was made, in fact she told me to wait a few days for it to come in the mail. later that day is when i received the phone call.

so it was never a gliche on the aadsas website. this situation was completely derived from human error. which is why i believe i was wrongly evaluated. i think my evaluation was switched with the other student who shares the same pronunciation of my name. in no way could my interview had been bad.

Is this your own rendition of the legalese or is it something you gathered from a legal counsel? It would be interesting to see how even a Boston Legal character would spin a clerical error into a binding contract. An interviewer worth his hoot should make everyone believe they have won the oscars. The question was quite simple: if the original decision had been a rejection, and they realized that a clerical error was made and that you should have been accepted, would you be fighting to change the acceptance into a denial with as much zeal?

 

[Ranelar]

Is this your own rendition of the legalese or is it something you gathered from a legal counsel? It would be interesting to see how even a Boston Legal character would spin a clerical error into a binding contract. An interviewer worth his hoot should make everyone believe they have won the oscars. The question was quite simple: if the original decision had been a rejection, and they realized that a clerical error was made and that you should have been accepted, would you be fighting to change the acceptance into a denial with as much zeal?

The obvious answer to your question is if both parties agreed on a solution (acceptance) it wouldn't matter. My complete lack of legal background leads me to believe that contracts can be broken if both parties agree. Of course, the real question is whether this was a legal contract. *shrug* Probably not.

 

[Jessi4eve]

Americans and their law suits...

why does it always resort to lawyers and judges?
are we not a capable people to handle our own affairs?

...From a Canadian student, trying to dig his way into an American dental school. Go back to Canada, if you don't like it here, dear!

The OP has my sympathy by the way. This is a very sad story, but keep your hopes up! Being interviewed there simply means you have the credentials to be admitted to dental school, hopefully this year.

 

[lazystatefan]

If I remember correctly from my business law class, you need three things to have a legal contract.
1. An offer has to be made
2. An offer has to be accepted
3. There must be "consideration" which is usually in the form of money (but can also be something else of value)

Unless you gave them a deposit that was accepted I dont see how there would be consideration in this instance.
Just my two cents.

Thank you business law class for actually teaching me something useful!

 

[klpennin]

...From a Canadian student, trying to dig his way into an American dental school. Go back to Canada, if you don't like it here, dear!

The OP has my sympathy by the way. This is a very sad story, but keep your hopes up! Being interviewed there simply means you have the credentials to be admitted to dental school, hopefully this year.

You shouldn't be so intolerant to people's opinions. This is probably why the whole international community doesn't like America.

 

[doc toothache]

...From a Canadian student, trying to dig his way into an American dental school. Go back to Canada, if you don't like it here, dear!

Some things are better said sottovoce than blared through a loudspeaker.

 

[D3ntalDud3]

You shouldn't be so intolerant to people's opinions. This is probably why the whole international community doesn't like America.

If the international community doesn't like America then maybe they should stay in whatever community they do like.

I hope you're not intolerant of that opinion, if you are then maybe you have an inner American in you after all.

To the OP, I wish you the best of luck in whatever happens next!