The Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge (MECC) is a Microsoft Excel esports competition.
Background
The MECC started in 2022 and combines elements of the Financial Modeling World Cup and the Microsoft Excel World Championship, targeting college students. Contestants solve problems, in the form of case studies, using the spreadsheet software. Competitors are ranked through multiple rounds of timed competition, including an in-person final round. Participants may compete in either individuals or teams. The competition is jointly organized by the Eller College of Management and Financial Modeling World Cup.
In each round, competitors solve problems presented as one-to-five-page-long financial modeling case studies with questions at the end, using Microsoft Excel.
2022 Edition
Competition Details and Format Changes
2,730 students from 93 countries and 596 universities and colleges registered for the 2022 MECC. The total prize pool was $30,000 USD. Competitors could sign up individually, or in teams of up to 3 athletes.
The MECC began with two preliminary rounds, taking place online in October 2022. Competitors were allotted two hours to complete each round. Both rounds featured three FMWC style cases. The cases for the 2nd preliminary round were equivalent to those for Stage 7 of the FMWC competition.
Invites to the final day were distributed in the following manner:
- 30 individual competitors with the highest combined scores of the preliminary rounds
- 5 teams with the highest combined scores of the preliminary rounds
- 5 schools with the highest number of MECC signups
The final day took place on December 3, in the University of Arizona .[1][2][3] The final day started with two semifinal rounds. The top 8 individual competitors and top 4 teams advanced to the final rounds.
The final rounds were held in the University of Arizona Esports Arena and consisted entirely of Microsoft Excel World Cup style cases. It was live streamed on FMWC's YouTube channel, and ESPNU later aired a condensed version on December 18.[4][5]
Results[6]
Individual
Finals - Round 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | University | Score | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Isaac Lee |  Singapore | National University of Singapore | 381 | $10,000 |
 | Gavin Hartzell |  United States | The Ohio State University | 216 | $5,000 |
 | Forrest Liu | United States | University of Pennsylvania | 205 | $2,500 |
| 4 | Andrew Cheng | United States | New York University | 176 | $1,250 |
Finals - Round 1
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | University | Score | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forrest Liu | United States | University of Pennsylvania | 1,014 | |
| 2 | Isaac Lee | Singapore | National University of Singapore | 1,000 | |
| 3 | Gavin Hartzell | United States | The Ohio State University | 836 | |
| 4 | Andrew Cheng | United States | New York University | 775 | |
| 5 | Patrick Chatain | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada | McGill University | 760 | $750 |
| 6 | Danendra Lohanata | Singapore | Nanyang Technological University | 724 | |
| 7 | Nitish Mehta | Canada | Ivey Business School | 722 | |
| 8 | Morgan Carr | United States | Middle Georgia State University | 617 |
Semifinals
Team
Finals
| Rank | Nation | Athletes | University | Score | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Roshni Chandawarkar Manny Mehta Austin Towle | The Ohio State University | 558 | $6,000 |
|  Madagascar | Kiraën Andriamandimbisoa Tafitantsoa Rakotondrafara Ny Tsiory Nomentsoa Rakotonanahary | INSCAE | 420 | $3,000 |
| United States | Garima Gupta Pranjal Bhatt Thomas Ewing | University of Texas at Dallas | 328 | $1,500 |
| 4 | United States | Samuel Primack Brandon Jung Benhamin Cherdak | University of Arizona | 204 | |
Semifinals
| Rank | Nation | Athletes | University | Case 1 | Case 2 | Total Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madagascar | Kiraën Andriamandimbisoa Tafitantsoa Rakotondrafara Ny Tsiory Nomentsoa Rakotonanahary | INSCAE | 710 | 485 | 1195 |
| 2 | United States | Roshni Chandawarkar Manny Mehta Austin Towle | The Ohio State University | 345 | 610 | 955 |
| 3 | United States | Samuel Primack Brandon Jung Benhamin Cherdak | University of Arizona | 385 | 465 | 850 |
| 4 | United States | Garima Gupta Pranjal Bhatt Thomas Ewing | University of Texas at Dallas | 262 | 442 | 704 |
| 5 | United States | Tammy Brewer Rowen Fletcher Kate Martin | University of Arizona | 269 | 410 | 679 |
| 6 | United States | Akshay Kolte Maria Toledano Florian Mehl | Babson College | 336 | 267 | 603 |
| 7 | United States | Kayla Oxley Krishang Agarwal Divyansh Gour | Indiana University Bloomington | 228 | 305 | 533 |
| - |  Kenya | Saeed Shaffiq Michasel Muiruri | Strathmore University | — (DNS) | ||
| - |  Pakistan | Maarij Haroon Swaleh Ahmed | NED | — (DNS) | ||
2023 Edition
Competition Details and Format Changes
Team sign up is no longer available to all students. In order to compete as a team, students must be enrolled in a partner school. Partner Schools have coordinated with the FMWC organizers to be named as a partner school and receive an automatic bid for one team (up to 3 people) to compete in-person on the final day
Invites to the final day will be distributed in the following manner:
- 20 individual competitors with the highest combined scores of the preliminary rounds
- 1 team for each partner school
Results
Qualification Round
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | University | Round 1 | Round 2 | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benjamin Weber |  Austria | University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien | 1360 | 765 | 2125 |
| 2 | Tim Froelich | United States | Indiana University Bloomington | 1230 | 855 | 2085 |
| 3 | Gavin Hartzell | United States | The Ohio State University | 1110 | 825 | 1935 |
| 4 | Zefanie Gayle Tan |  Philippines | Ateneo de Manila University | 1140 | 705 | 1845 |
| 5 | Antonio Gorgijovski | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia | Macquarie University | 1090 | 650 | 1740 |
| 6 | Patrick Chatain | Canada | McGill University | 1080 | 610 | 1690 |
| 7 | Jonathan Razanamparany | Madagascar | INSCAE | 1080 | 530 | 1610 |
| 7 | Samuel Hanley | Australia | Curtin University | 840 | 770 | 1610 |
| 9 | Julian Poeltl |  Germany | Hochschule Reutlingen | 780 | 800 | 1580 |
| 10 | Giorgi Goderzishvili |  Georgia | Free University of Tbilisi | 850 | 690 | 1540 |
References
- ↑ Yeoh, Grace (December 3, 2022). "He loved numbers so much, this Singapore student became a finalist in an e-sports competition – on Microsoft Excel". Channel News Asia. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
- ↑ Financial Modeling World Cup [@FMWC_] (December 2, 2022). "❗First-ever in-person and LIVE Excel battle already tomorrow! Join the livestream on our YouTube channel from the Arizona Esports Arena where Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge finals will take place at 9:45 PM" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ↑ Microsoft Excel [@msexcel] (November 23, 2022). "📅 Mark December 3 on your calendars. It's the Microsoft #Excel Collegiate Championship Finals, and you won't want to miss it!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ↑ Bennett, William (December 2, 2022). "Media Note: Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge Finals in UArizona will be streamed on YouTube and broadcast on ESPNU". LocalToday. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
- ↑ Smith, Molly (December 3, 2022). "University of Arizona Eller College of Management Hosts Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge Finals". Patch. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
- ↑ "MECC 2022 Rankings". Retrieved April 30, 2023.