Resolution criteria

This market resolves to the bucket containing the calendar date (America/New_York time) when MIT EECS releases the FIRST MAIN (“first wave”) batch of PhD admission decisions (offers of admission) for Fall 2026 entry.

MIT EECS decisions are delivered via “MIT Application Management”: when a decision is posted, applicants are emailed and directed to log in to view the update.

What counts

- Counts ONLY offers of admission (Accepted / Admitted) to the MIT EECS PhD program for Fall 2026 entry.

- Does NOT count: interviews, PI chats, “under review” updates, waitlist, rejection, funding/visit-day info, or decisions for other MIT departments/programs.

Operational definition of “first wave” (to filter out outliers)

Because isolated early acceptances can appear in crowdsourced trackers, “first wave” is defined as the first date on which there is clear evidence of a batch release, i.e.:

The earliest date where EITHER

(A) at least 5 independent applicants publicly report an EECS PhD acceptance within a 24-hour window, with reports spanning at least 2 independent platforms (e.g., Reddit + GradCafe), OR

(B) at least 3 independent applicants post screenshots showing an EECS PhD acceptance decision in MIT Application Management (or the official “decision posted” email) within a 24-hour window.

Evidence / how I will resolve

Priority order:

1) Screenshots showing the MIT Application Management decision date/time (or the “decision posted” email timestamp), converted to America/New_York date.

2) Multiple independent acceptance reports in the main MIT EECS decision threads (date/time stated).

3) GradCafe acceptance entries used as corroboration (not sufficient alone unless part of a clear batch).

If acceptances start appearing on one date and continue into the next day, I resolve to the FIRST date in America/New_York time when the batch begins.