Wake Forest Gives Law Students Money, Takes it Back Immediately

For one glorious moment, prospective law students thinking of going to Wake Forest Law School learned that they had received the Melanie Nutt Scholarship from the school. Then, in an instant, the scholarship was recalled. Apparently the offer of free money was a technical error:

About ten minutes ago I received an e-mail from them telling me I had been offered a $30k/year scholarship. Obviously I was thrilled, as Wake was (keyword: was) at the top of my list. Before I could gloat to my friends, I received a follow-up e-mail …

That follow up email had “ERROR” in the headline, so students knew it couldn’t be good. Apparently there was a technical glitch and a number of students were accidently promised scholarship money.
And the mistake wasn’t limited to just one poor soul.


Many prospective Wake Forest law students told us about having nearly six figures untimely ripped from their eager hands.
Wake Forest, just sent out emails claiming people got a 90K total scholarship, then an email that it was in error.
Here’s one version of the happy scholarship email:

Congratulations! You have been awarded a merit-based scholarship in the amount of $30,000 based on your most impressive accomplishments. The competition is keen and you should be proud of your fine record and personal qualifications. The scholarship is renewable each year you are enrolled in the regular J.D. program. We are confident that you will make an outstanding contribution to the school, and we look forward to having you with us.
To retain the full amount of your scholarship for three years your cumulative class standing must remain in the upper two-thirds of your class at the end of each year. If you are not in the upper two-thirds of your class but remain in good standing, you will retain 50% of your scholarship.
We have been working diligently on ideas to help you defray your expenses if you are attending an Open House. We have decided that the Law School will reimburse you up to $200 for travel and one night?s lodging if you matriculate at Wake. Of course, this reimbursement would not be made until after enrollment. We ask that you keep detailed receipts such as gas (.505 per mile – round-trip) or airline boarding passes showing the cost of the ticket, as the University Financial Services Department requires these items. Please bring your receipts to the Admissions and Financial Office when you arrive at school and a refund will be issued.
Again, congratulations on your scholarship award. If you have any questions, please call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX or email nuttme@wfu.edu, or better yet, come to visit us! You’ll find Wake Law friendly and inviting. We truly look forward to having you as a member of the Great Class of 2013.

And now, the horrible retraction:

ERROR! Wake Forest Law: Scholarship Award Error
The Scholarship award letter you just received was sent in error. We cannot tell you how sorry we are that this event happend [sic] and we hope that you will accept our sincerest apology.
Please call me if you have any questions.

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If Seth Rogan were here, he’d say: “dude, not cool.”
If Bill Urquhart were here, he’d say: “CHECK YOU CASH PRIZES.”
But I’m here, and I really can’t do any better than this commenter on the Top Law Schools message board:
“Does anybody else find it rather amusing that Melanie Nutt’s email is “nuttme@wfu.com?” lol it describes perfectly what happened to all of
us today.
Of course, I don’t want to make too much fun of (ahem) technical difficulties. But one hopes that Wake pays a little more attention to scholarship offers in the middle of a recession.

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