The McDonald’s mint milkshake is only available for a few weeks, but on campus, it can be even more difficult to find.

The McDonald’s on 1972 N. High St. sells more than 900 Shamrock Shakes a week, which exceeds the amount sold at many other stores in the area, said Todd Hayes, manager of the McDonald’s on High Street.

McDonald’s employees are at a loss for why the shake is so popular with Ohio State students.

“I have not a clue, I’ve wondered that myself,” Hayes said. “It’s some of the excitement that it’s back this year. It’s popular because St. Patrick’s Day isn’t that far away, and students like St. Patrick’s Day.”

The Shamrock Shake is only available in the weeks leading up to the holiday, so students have a small window to indulge.

“It’s one time a year, so I have to get them in during that time, even though I crave them all year,” said Brionna Devos, a second-year in finance and accounting.

Some shake lovers find a way around the limited availability.

“They say people buy a bunch of them and freeze them for later,” said Belinda Watts, manager of McDonald’s.

The shake is so popular on campus, the store wasn’t receiving enough syrup a week to last more than a few days.

“We had to ask for special exceptions for more syrup. They only wanted to send us two cases a week, which we go through in about a day,” Hayes said.

Every case contains two gallons of syrup, and selling four gallons a week wasn’t enough for OSU, where more than 900 shakes were sold during the week of Feb. 20. Hayes said they go through about 10 cases of syrup every week, which is unusual.

“With other special flavors, we go through two cases in about a month,” he said.

Hayes speculated that the flavor was so popular because it was only available for a few weeks and some students agreed.

“It’s rare, and people want it because other people want it. It’s green and in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, so I don’t think it would be this popular all the time,” said Andrew Friedhoff, a fifth-year in operations management.

The campus location will occasionally run out of the mint syrup, leaving some shake-less students upset.

“I would be sad, really sad, but I would just try again the next day,” Friedhoff said.

Other area-restaurants have seasonal specials that attract attention like the Shamrock Shake. Specialty items such as Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte and Tim Horton’s Candy Cane Chocolate Doughnut are only available certain times of the year.

While some students complain about the limited availability of the shake, others complain about the cost.

Nate Moyer, a first-year in computer science and engineering, bought his first Shamrock Shake Feb. 27.

“I never try the limited edition stuff, so I wanted to try this. It’s a little more expensive than I thought it would be,” he said.

A Shamrock Shake is $1.99 for a small, $2.49 for a medium and $2.89 for a large.

Despite the expense, some students enjoy the flavor.

“It’s different, the minty flavor is unusual. More like my favorite ice cream, mint chocolate chip,” Devos said.

While several employees could not confirm a date when they will halt sales of the Shamrock Shake, it will not be available long after the March 17 holiday has passed.