Apply for the Simon Scholars Case Competition by Jan 1st

Written by Justine Rumbel, Assistant Director of Admissions for Special Interest Programs

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Justine Rumbel, Assistant Director of Admissions for Special Interest Programs. I not only travel and read applications like other counselors in our office, but I also get to work with new program development in areas such as the arts, business, and our three Combined-Admission Programs in GEAR (engineering), GRADE (education), and REMS (medicine). From students interested in the Dual Degree-Eastman opportunity to those hoping to apply for the Kauffman Entrepreneurial Year as current students, I love seeing where these unique opportunities take students.

But one program I am particularly excited for this year is our new Simon Scholars Case Competition. What you may not realize is that while the University of Rochester offers world-renowned programs that span from medical research to professional music degrees and everywhere in between, we also have an incredible business program that can reap the benefits of these surroundings. And with this new scholarship competition, applicants can compete for a renewable $15,000 scholarship to pursue any undergraduate degree they want at Rochester. Additionally, the Simon Graduate School of Business will continue offering this $15,000 scholarship to those who apply and are admitted into any master’s or MBA degree at Simon upon completion of their bachelor’s degree.

So what is a case competition, you might ask? Well, they generally come in many formats, either individual or team-based, where competitors are given a real-world problem of a particular business that leaders within those businesses needed to solve. In addition to being a common theme at business colleges (and increasingly more in high school business clubs such as DECA), solving cases are often part of the hiring process for many firms. Essentially, participants are presented with the historical and logistical background of a given company’s predicament and have a certain amount of time to come up with a solution to the question. Perhaps Whole Foods is deciding whether to open a new store given the decline of another grocery store chain in a particularly appealing market. Or maybe Starbucks is considering how they will respond to the growing competition from Green Mountain Coffee Roaster’s single-cup Keurig.

The Simon Scholars Case Competition is a team-based competition, so participants will work together with their team to weigh the pros and cons of the case, given the facts a month in advance (although the actual question will be received 24 hours before the presentations begin). The best outcome: a $15,000 annual scholarship to attend the University of Rochester, regardless of what your intended major will be! What everyone wins: the case competition experience and the opportunity to meet other applicants who—who knows—may be working beside you someday.

To learn more about this competition and the application process to be a competitor, check it out on our Simon Scholars website. But hurry! The deadline to apply is January 1!

Meet last year’s winners!