FAQ

1. What is Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge ?

Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge (hereinafter – the Competition) is a series of competitions for university students in Microsoft Excel, data analysis, business analysis and Excel modeling. During the Competition, the overall Rankings are calculated and updated, based on the participant’s performance.

It is an exciting competition for University and High school students to improve their excel and logical thinking skills, have fun and meet like-minded people from all over the world.

Various Excel-based game tasks would be provided and participants would have 2 hours to solve them.

2. Who can participate in Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge?

The Competition is open to any University and High school student regardless of age, gender, race, place of living or any other limiting factor. While all students are welcome to participate in all online aspects of the competition, some students may be restricted from participating in the in-person finals event in Tucson, AZ, and thus may not be eligible for prizes. The Organizers will follow guidelines from the United States State Department, the University of Arizona, and corporate sponsors in determining any such restrictions.

3. When will the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge take place?

The Competition will take place from September 14, 2022, until December 3, 2022. It is expected that further competitions in a similar format will take place in later semesters as well. The rules for these possible upcoming competitions will be announced separately.

4. When will each round take place ?

The Competition will take place on the following dates:

• Training Period: September 14 – October 5, 2022
• Round 1: October 8 – October 9, 2022
• Round 2: October 15, 2022 (4:00-6:00 PM UTC)
• In-Person Live Finals: December 3, 2022 (Tucson, AZ).

5. Where does the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge take place?

Training Sessions, Round 1 and Round 2 will take place online. The In-Person Finals will take place in Tucson, Arizona at the Eller College of Management and the University of Arizona Esports Arena 

6. How can I register for the Microsoft Collegiate Challenge?

Please press the Shop button at the very top of the FMWC homepage or click here and follow the instructions. To register, you will be required to pay a participation fee for the respective Stage of the competition.

7. Can I join the competition after the training sessions?

Yes, you can sign up after the completion of training sessions but you can’t achieve the certificate of participation unless you submit tasks for Training sessions, Round 1 and Round 2.

8. What is the format of the tasks of the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge?

• The Training Period will take place online on the Training Platform from Wednesday, September 14, 2022, until Wednesday, October 5, 2022. Participants will be able to complete the case studies and submit their answers with no time constraints and can submit their answers multiple times to improve their position on published leader boards. Submission of case study answers during the Training Period is a requirement to receive the Completion Certificate (see section 11). Training period results will not affect the overall rankings.
• Round 1 will take place online on the Examination Platform from Saturday, October 8, 2022, until Sunday, October 9, 2022. In Round 1, participants will only have 2h to complete the case studies. Here, the 2h Timeframe begins upon the Participant opting to begin the Competition on the Examination Platform within the overall timeframe of Round 1. Please note that all Examination Platform sessions will be automatically closed at the deadline, even if the 2h countdown will not have run out.
  • The 2h Timeframe takes into account:
    • Downloading all relevant Tasks,
    • Reading and analyzing the Tasks,
    • Creation of financial models,
    • Completing the relevant answers for Tasks,
    •  
  • All participants will qualify to compete in Competition Round 2.
• Round 2 will take place online on the Examination Platform on October 15, 2022. All participants will be completing the case studies simultaneously from 4 PM – 6 PM (UTC+0). As in Round 1, participants will have 2h to complete all case studies and submit their answers.
  • The top 30 performing individual participants (based on the total points earned in Round 1 and Round 2) will qualify for the in-person finals. The top 10 finishers will have airfare reimbursed (up to $800 domestic and $1,800 international). All top 30 participants will have hotel accommodations provided and there are no conference expenses for participants.
  • The top 5 performing Teams (based on the total points earned in Round 1 and Round 2) will qualify for the in-person finals. The top United States (US) Team and top non-US teams will have airfare reimbursed (up to $800 domestic and $1,800 international). All top 5 Team participants will have hotel accommodations provided and there are no conference expenses to participants.
  • One team from each Partner School (formed by the Partner School at the Partner School’s discretion) will have hotel accommodations provided to all participants and there are no conference expenses to participants.
• The In-Person Finals will take place in Tucson, Arizona at the Eller College of Management and the University of Arizona Esports Arena (hereinafter – “Arena”) on December 3, 2022, and will be streamed on the FMWC YouTube channel. This will be a full-day event. The specific plan for the day will be published later.
  • Testing will take place privately at the Eller College of Management (in the morning) and publicly at the Arena (in the afternoon). In the Arena, the participants will be required to share their screens with viewers that will be able to spectate the modeling performed by the finalists. Participants must provide their own hardware and software to be used in the morning. In the Arena, Participants may bring in their own hardware setup that they are accustomed to, to improve their performance. The Organizers will provide details to finalists on the existing hardware in the Arena.
  • If participants are not able or willing to take part in the Finals, they might be substituted with other participants, and they will not qualify for prize money.

9. When are the results published?

• Upon completion of each Round, updated Rankings will be published.
  • The Rankings will be updated on a regular and reasonable basis.
  • The information which will be published includes:
    • The full list of participants,
    • Rank,
    • University,
    • Enrollment (Bachelor’s, Master’s) and Year of studies (Year 1, Year 2 or Year 3+),
    • Region of the participant,
    • Country of the participant,
    • The number of points scored,
    • Recent photograph (only for top performers).
    • Major
  • The Participant names outside the Top 30% will not be published (only ID numbers, received in an email).
  • Team Rankings will be calculated separately from the individual rankings.

10. How does the Point System work?

Point system for Training Period:

• Training period results will not affect the overall rankings. Top results may be reported on leader boards with participants’ names and schools.

Points system for Round 1:

• The total number of points available for correctly solving all the Tasks is 1,000 points. Additional extra point bonuses could be introduced by the organizers (e.g., extra 100 points for answering an additional extra-hard question).
• If a participant solves all the cases before the 2h deadline, a bonus mark of 10 points is awarded for each full minute saved. To get the bonus marks, it is required that at least 90% of regular points are scored.

Points system for Round 2:

• The total number of points available for correctly solving all the Tasks at each round is 1,000 points. Additional extra point bonuses could be introduced by the organizers (e.g., extra 100 points for answering an additional extra-hard question).
• If a participant solves all the cases before the 2h deadline, a bonus mark of 10 points is awarded for each full minute saved. To get the bonus marks, it is required that at least 90% of regular points are scored.

Finals:

• During the morning competition (not publicly broadcast), the total number of points available for correctly solving all the Tasks is 1,000 points. Participants will qualify for the public Esports Arena finals based on their morning scores. Details on the scoring of the finals will be published later.

After the Round is over, the participants will have to upload their financial models. If this is not done upon completion of the participant’s work, the participant’s results might be annulled.

11. How many Points can I earn in a Season?

You can earn 1000 points each in Round 1, Round 2 and Final. 100 additional points can be earned by answering a extra hard question in Round 1 and Round 2.

12. How do Rankings and Ratings work?

• The Competition utilizes an internal Ranking System which is based on the Participants’ performance.
• The Ranking System is unbiasedly handled, calculated and updated on the Website by the Organizers, based upon defined criteria.
• All rankings and decisions relating to rankings are strictly at the discretion of the organizers, who are under no obligation to disclose any decision-making processes.
• Participants will be ranked based on the total number of points.
• As it is expected that there will be further editions of the Competition, the rankings might be further expanded to accommodate the results of these future tournaments.
• Regional subsets of Rankings will be published, e.g., regional rankings:
  • Africa,
  • Asia/Pacific (including Australia),
  • Europe,
  • South/Latin America,
  • North America (US & Canada).
• Upon completion of each Round, updated Rankings will be published.
  • The Rankings will be updated on a regular and reasonable basis.
  • The information which will be published includes:
    • The full list of participants,
    • Rank,
    • University,
    • Enrollment (Bachelor’s, Master’s) and Year of studies (Year 1, Year 2 or Year 3+),
    • Region of the participant,
    • Country of the participant,
    • The number of points scored,

13. How much does it cost to participate?

There is no participation fees

14. Will I get the correct solutions for the tasks after the competition?

Yes, you will get the solutions of task after the completion of each round.