Happy Holidays! You've been kicked out of school!

Oh wait, that was a mistake.

You know that gut-wrenching feeling you get in your stomach when something bad happens?

That happened a few too many times last week when 500 students on academic probation mistakenly received letters from Cal State L.A. telling them they had been academically disqualified from the school and could not return for the winter quarter.

The letter "told students that their fall 2010 grade point averages and overall GPAs fell below university standards for continued enrollment. Students were also told that they could submit a petition to be reinstated after meeting with their academic advisor."

Campus officials told the L.A. Times that although those 500 students were on academic probation, "they should not have received the disqualification letters."

The letters, which were sent out by the registrar's office the week after Christmas, were supposed to go to 164 students who received them, but not the 500 on the list of students on probation.

The school, which chocks the problem up to a "mailing label code error," has since apologized to the students via e-mail and hard-copy.

How's that for a winter break?