Most colleges in the area announced that they’d let students know of their early admissions decisions “by December 15.’’ But that vague wording led to a lot of anxiety, with nervous high schoolers refreshing their accounts every few seconds for days on end to see if the application statuses at their dream schools had changed.

That wasn’t the case at MIT, where, unsurprisingly, the timing of admissions decisions is an exact science. The elite university notified students at exactly 6:28 p.m. (otherwise known as Tau Time) Wednesday, Dec. 16. The timing was, of course, symbolic, as 6.28 represents double the value of Pi, 3.14, which is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.


At Tau Time, 656 of the 7,767 students who applied for early admission found out they had been accepted, according to figures provided by the university. Of those who weren’t admitted early, 4,776 were deferred to the regular admission cycle, and 2,175 were denied admission. The university encouraged those students to “take a deep breath, shake it off, and go crush the rest of your college applications this cycle.’’

Easier said (or sung?) than done. But, those who still have a chance will find out their acceptance status on March 14, also known as Pi Day in a manner guaranteed to be just as witty. Last year, MIT teased its Pi Day admissions decisions with a futuristic video that showed what it’d be like to have a drone deliver an acceptance letter. (They didn’t actually use drones, but it’s the thought that counts).

So, until drone delivery is possible, the university is sticking to its impeccably timed announcements to let its new “force’’ of students know that they’re officially accepted to their new home.