MBA Stock Pitch Challenge Frequently Asked Questions

Applications go live at the beginning of August. The application is typically open for about a month. If you are interested, please email cornell_mba_spc@cornell.edu to be added to the email list to be notified when the application is live.

For the MBA Stock Pitch Challenge, teams should be comprised of 3 first-year full-time MBA students from the same university.

We ask that all applicants commit to attending the entirety of the event and designate 1-2 students as backups in case of unforeseen circumstances. We understand that circumstances may arise, but it is important to note that we have turned away other teams that could have taken advantage of this opportunity. If something comes up after your team has been accepted and a team member can no longer attend a portion of the vent, please let us know as soon as possible if your entire team has decided to withdraw so we may turn to our waitlist.

We send out emails on application statuses during mid-October. If you have any questions on your application status, please send us an email.

1. Confirm or decline your offer by filling out the form (link included in the email). Please think carefully before committing as our planning and costs hinge on every student commitment.
2. Review and sign the two waivers and email them to our email address.
3. Review all pages on the MBA Stock Pitch Challenge website.
4. Start thinking about your final round presentation. While your team has a day to prepare for the preliminary round presentation, the final round presentation can be created well ahead of time.

We send the teams a basket of stocks to pick from to pitch 2 days ahead of the challenge. The turnaround time is quick (12 hours from assignment to due date).

Please use our presentation template.

All presentations (preliminary and final round) are due on the Tuesday before the challenge. Please submit the presentations to the Box folder. However, if you have technical difficulties, please submit via email by the deadline.

Any stock of your choosing, market cap of at least $3b, U.S. listed, BUY or Short Try to stay away from ‘Sell assuming you are holding’; and please note that for this event no outside help from advisors, mentors, etc. is allowed.

Your pitch must be original work by all team members and not reworked from others’ pitches in the past.

You must use our presentation template.

For lodging, Cornell provides a shared room (where appropriate) at the hotel where the event is hosted. We send rooming assignments a few weeks ahead of the conference. We provide a reception and dinner on Thursday evening and breakfast and lunch on Friday. Teams are responsible for their own travel. We encourage reaching out to your student services team at your university to see if they have funding available to support your travel.

The top 2 teams receive prize money and certificates of award. Event organizers will follow up within a few days after the challenge to collect the winning team members’ information for processing awards.

We discourage switching out team members unless absolutely necessary. Switching team members results in the correct team members’ resumes not being included in the resume book sent to sponsors. That said, if this is unavoidable, please email us as soon as possible to request a team member switch.

Around August, event organizers will email team members a deadline to submit an updated resume. If you do not submit an updated resume, the resume provided to us in your application will be included in the resume book. After that deadline passes, we cannot guarantee that your updated resumes will be included in the book for event sponsors.

If your team can no longer participate, please let us know as soon as possible, so we can turn to our waitlist. Last-minute cancellations are strongly discouraged and may be flagged to your school’s administration and to event sponsors. Please let us know at least three weeks ahead of the event.

The dress code is business professional.

No, the event adjourns following the Friday lunch and awards announcement.