Are you interested in sharpening your Excel skills? Ben Breed, MPA Class of 2026, encourages you to join the UT Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge!

This September, our UT Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge (MECC) team placed 8th in the world at our first-ever monthly international MECC competition. That is a monumental performance out of the gate for a competition featuring hundreds of schools across the world. It also happens to be the kind of feat that gets one invited to write a blog post. With that in mind, I’ll take my opportunity to talk about what comes next and invite any McCombs or other UT readers to join the team. We’re channeling our momentum to launch the UT MECC Club, a new campus community designed to welcome students from every discipline, spark curiosity, and demystify the wizardry of what Microsoft Excel is capable of. Our weekly meetings on Thursdays at 3:45 pm in McCombs (GSB 3.120) are open to all!

So, what does the competition look like? I’m glad you asked. Each monthly challenge takes the form of a case study built around realistic analytics scenarios: spotting order trends, optimizing travel routes, or decoding unstructured data. The case goes live for one weekend each month, giving participants a 30‑minute race against the clock to build formulas and models that solve seven progressively more difficult problems. There are two levels of competition: junior varsity and varsity. The JV track welcomes newcomers, offering a chance to grasp the case format and strengthen the foundational skills needed for higher tiers. Varsity, on the other hand, raises the bar with more intricate reasoning and complicated solutions. The pressure can be intense, but it’s exactly what we train for in our weekly sessions.

For those curious, find out more here – What is Excel Esports? What is Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge?

Our weekly meetings are a dedicated time for practice, growth, and collaboration. We use this space to refine our skills, revisit prior cases, and test out new analytical techniques. It’s a relaxed meeting of the minds where professors and students tackle the same problems side by side. Occasionally, a professor or student identifies a key area to enhance our competitive edge and gives a brief presentation on it to the group. Past topics have included advanced formula design, data table structuring, and the creation of custom LAMBDA functions. These sessions let experienced members translate complex concepts into clear, replicable steps. Together, we build not just better solutions, but a community of thinkers who learn from one another and push each other toward mastery.

So, why should you join? Again, great question! The way I see it, there’s something here for everyone. The UT MECC Club brings together students from all majors, not just accounting or business, to tackle analytical challenges from unique perspectives. You’ll pick up practical Excel skills and learn from the way others think, problem-solve, and approach complex data. Along the way, you might discover new career paths you hadn’t considered. Since Excel underpins so many industries, getting comfortable with it is a serious advantage no matter where you’re headed. Plus, the networking potential is huge: between competition connections and the guidance of our sponsoring professors, you’ll find mentors who are eager to share advice, experience, and professional networks. While the MECC is an excellent avenue to sharpen technical skills, its deeper value lies in the relationships built and the confidence found through collaboration. From our very first gathering, the experience has been about more than mastering formulas; it’s about nurturing curiosity, teamwork, and growth across disciplines.

Sounds pretty great, right? Why not give it a try: UT MECC Canvas