More than 150 first-years received an e-mail Wednesday evening informing them they will be Lowell House next year, half a day before they were officially supposed to be notified.

In an e-mail message sent out to administrators yesterday morning, Lowell House Co-Masters Diana L. Eck and Dorothy A. Austin apologized for the premature e-mail.

"This was the honest mistake of our hard working House administrator who stayed at work far too late on Wednesday night in order to prepare a complete facebook of our new students and put everything in order in the office before a well-earned break," they wrote.

Students who received the e-mail housing assignment were unsure, initially, of whether or not it was genuine.

"We were kind of confused--we heard it was a hoax, so we didn't know what to think," said Jacquelyn A. Cronin '04. "It wasn't really a surprise when we found out this morning."

But the mistake did not dampen the spirit of rising Lowellians.

"At first I thought it was fake, but after my roommate and blockmates got it, I believed it was official," said Tracy A. Fong '04. "It made me happier though--I certainly didn't mind finding out early."

The housing officials, too, were caught off-guard by the e-mail.

For the first-years placed in the other 11 Houses, official notification came yesterday morning, at approximately 8:30 a.m., in the form of a thin envelope delivered to one member of each blocking group.

"The Houses had all agreed to not contact new members of their Houses or distribute lists to the House Committee until after the housing office had delivered the assignments," said Francis "Mac" Broderick, a housing officer for the College.

"I was very surprised to learn that Lowell House sent out the welcome e-mail on Wednesday night," he said.