Registration Guidelines

The McCombs National Women's Case Competition began as an initiative to provide more opportunities for women to participate in a heavily male-dominated case competition space. Now, the McCombs National Women's Case Competition is open to all students who wish to participate, regardless of gender identity. Below are the guidelines for forming a team:

1. The McCombs National Women's Case Competition is only open to undergraduate students.
   
   
2. Teams may be comprised of 3-4 students.
• At least 2 students on each team must be enrolled in the business school at their home institution.
  
  
3. Seniors in accelerated masters programs (accelerated MBA, MPA, or MS programs) may not participate in the competition.
   
   
4. Each university is only allowed to send one team to participate in the competition.
• Priority will be given to the first team from each university that registers meeting the guidelines outlined here.
  
  
5. Each team may have a faculty/staff advisor coach them on addressing their case and developing their presentation prior to the case submission deadline.
• Faculty/staff advisors may not contribute to the case solutions or development in any way. However, advisors are allowed to assist with contextual questions and provide feedback on the presentation format and delivery.

Awards for Winning Teams

Thanks to the generous support from our sponsor, Apple, the National Women's Case Competition is able to provide the following cash prizes to the first, second, and third place teams: 

• First Place - $4,000 ($1,000 for each team member)
• Second Place - $2,500 ($625 for each team member) 
• Third Place - $1,500 ($375 for each team member)

Tips for Success for Competing Teams 

Below are tips for success for teams who plan to compete in the National Women's Case Competition. More guidance and tips for success will be shared to competition participants once the case is released in mid-March. 

1. Leverage the strengths of your team members: all of your team members will have a different strength that can aid in your success during this competition. Utilize the individual strengths of your team members to get the most out of your case presentation. 
2. Manage your time well: you will receive the case for the competition and have a specific timeline to analyze the case and draft your presentation prior to the competition date. Effective time management will ensure that your case is completed in a timely manner. 
3. Communicate with confidence and maintain eye contact: this competition provides opportunities for participants to showcase their knowledge and skills through a case analysis. Participants will be presenting to industry professionals, therefore be sure to communicate with confidence and maintain eye contact as you would at a professional presentation to a client or colleague. 
4. Understand the case and ask questions at the employer check-in: an understanding of the case is important for a successful presentation. Be sure to utilize the employer check-in to ask any and all questions you have about the case to better understand how you are going to construct your analysis. 
5. Include qualitative and quantitative aspects in your final recommendations: your case will contain multifaceted, real-world industry issues; therefore, your recommendations must also be multifaceted. This means that you will need to share both qualitative and quantitative data/insights in your final recommendations to capture the full scope of the issues within the case. 
6. Set aside time to rehearse your presentation: in order to communicate with confidence, you will need to be confident in your presentation materials. Be sure to rehearse your presentation so your are comfortable with the flow and the material. 
7. Be prepared for questions from the judging panel: there will be a section of your presentation that is reserved for questions from the judges. Be sure that you have additional information ready to answer any questions from the judges.