College News and Fun Facts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

The Infinite Corridor lines up with the plane of the ecliptic twice a year, filling the 0.16 mile hallway with sunlight.

MIT has an “Engineer’s Drinking Song”.

The Smoot: In 1958 the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity measured the Harvard Bridge according the to the body lengths of one Oliver Smoot (class of ’62). This was originally done as a joke because Smoot was made fun of for being so short that he could be his own unit of measurement. And thus a tradition was born so each year, members of the fraternity maintain the painted marks. The official length of the bridge is reported to be “364.4 Smoots + 1 ear.” Local police even use the Smoot markings to estimate locations of accidents. Along the bridge you can see lines painted at intervals of 10 Smoots. It may be called Harvard Bridge, but MIT is written all over it!

MIT students can receive the greatly coveted Pirate’s License/ Certificate if they complete PE classes in pistol, archery, fencing, and sailing!

More traditions

  • Color: Cardinal, Black and Steel Gray
  • Mascot: Tim the Beaver
  • Admit Rate: 6.7% (Class of 2022). Read more