In the second test, Letter-Number Sequencing, participants hear a group of numbers and letters and must then repeat the whole group, but with numbers in ascending order and letters organized alphabetically.
The apology came after Matt Flegenheimer reported that Vassar accidentally posted a test letter that led 122 early-decision students to think they had been admitted when only 46 of them had.
A Vassar admissions officer offered a highly unsatisfying and convoluted explanation that involved a "test letter" as a placeholder accidentally sent out before the actual decision appeared on line.
Jeff Kosmacher, a spokesman for Vassar, said on Saturday that a "test letter" that had been intended as a placeholder for the real admissions decision, but had not been replaced before students checked their application status online.
On Friday, around 4 p.m., 122 students who had applied for binding early admission to Vassar saw what the school later called a "test letter" congratulating them on their acceptance.
Jeff Kosmacher, a spokesman for Vassar, said on Saturday that a "test letter" that had been intended as a placeholder for the real admissions decision had not been replaced before students checked their application statuses online.
For those of you who missed Matt Flegenheimer's piece in The Times on Sunday about 122 early-decision applicants to Vassar College who viewed an errant test letter that led them to believe they had been accepted, Mr. Flegenheimer details the heartbreak that ensued: Megan Curiel, from San Antonio, saw the good news on her iPhone and sobbed.
Between 6 30 and 7 p.m. Friday, the 122 students who had seen the test letter — 46 who were, in fact, accepted and 76 who were not — were sent a message from the college that cited a "system error" and apologized for the mistake, Mr. Kosmacher said.
She wrote: "The test letter was four paragraphs and she gave me five minutes.
