How to become an MIT-certified pirate

• It's an incentive to finish the four-course PE and wellness requirement for MIT students, the school says.

By the numbers: All four courses are needed for the certificate, which satisfies the four-course overall PE requirement.

• The certificate became available in 2011

How it works: Students email the PE office with their name and MIT ID once grades post for all four pirate classes. Then they get the certificate and massive street cred as the most dangerous buccaneers in Cambridge.

• The pistol requirement can be met with an air pistol or rifle.
• Non-MIT courses and what the PE department describes as "life experience" don't count.

Between the lines: The program is tongue-in-cheek. The office says it's for entertainment purposes only and doesn't actually license piracy.

The bottom line: These kids must be so annoying every Sept. 19.