Apply for Carlson Case Teams (2025 - 2026)

We envision Carlson teams that bring the strength of diversity in backgrounds, knowledge and interests. Thus, the criteria are broad:
 

Personal characteristics

• A competitive spirit and strong desire to represent Carlson in global competition.
• Availability and interest to compete in the competition events
• Commitment to team practice throughout both Fall and Spring semester. Previous team members report that, outside of competitions, they average 2 – 3 hours/week.
   

Course co-requisites or prerequisites

• CSOM students must meet JUST ONE of these requirements (though most of you will meet more than one):
  • Any business major: you must be taking (Fall 2025) - or have completed - i-Core
  • MIS major or minor: you must be taking (Fall 2025) - or have completed - IDSc 3001
  • Business analytics major or minor: you must be taking (Fall 2025) - or have completed - at least one class in the BA curriculum list
  • Special permission: we occasionally give special permission to those who have not taken i-Core (usually transfer students)
• Non-CSOM students must meet this requirement
  • CSCI (CLA/CSE), CompENG (CSE), ISysE (CSE) or ITI (CCPS) major: you must have a declared management minor
     

Class Status

• Your expected graduation date should be May 2026 through May 2028.
   

Availability

• You should be available and a registered UMN student both Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 terms. Please let us know if you plan to study abroad or will otherwise be out of the local area during one of these terms.
• You will register for IDSc 4491 (Independent Study, 1 credit) during Spring Term. The course requires attendance at workshops and practice events. Please review the tentative schedule (linked above) to ensure you are available to work productively with your team!

1. Are international students welcome? Yes. Our international students have been key players on our CSOM teams since 2010.
2. How hard is it to make the team? We emphasize a well-rounded team with team member strengths in: finance, strategy, MIS, marketing, operations, governance and/or analytics. We value your management skills--from sophomore through senior--and your strong teamwork skills. In general 35-40% of those who try out make a team on their first try.
3. What is the most common student concern? Carlson students worry about the time commitment. This is tough to address. We are challenging ourselves against not only our American peer universities (Indiana, Arizona, UT Austin), but top-tier global universities. Teams that practice more feel more prepared for international competition. We look for students who are motivated to balance their time commitment against a desire to test themselves against the best.
4. What is the second most common student concern? Carlson students worry that their knowledge and presentation skills are not yet refined. This is an area in which we can help you during our workshops and practice rounds. In fact, we have had i-Core (and IDSc 3001) students on our team every year.
5. Is a high GPA required? No. As long as you are not on academic probation, we welcome your application.
6. I’ve never done a case before, can I still apply? Yes, definitely. There are a variety of resources available to you:
   • See the sections below: How do I learn more? and Practice using last year's case.
   • Attend / watch the Case 101 workshop (link above)
7. Can I request my team/destination? No. In an effort to make sure that teams are balanced and well-positioned to succeed, our corporate judges place students on teams to achieve the best fit.
8. This is a real class. How are grades determined? Results matter, thus your team’s placing in your global competition is key. In addition, we take your attendance, preparation, and participation in the workshops and other events very seriously.
9. What will this cost me? Our sponsors pay for your registration fees and travel expenses. Students report spending less than $100 out of pocket.
10. If I make the team, what dates do I need to block out? This is a moving target since we are now in the midst of accepting competition invitations. You will find a draft schedule for the year linked above.
11. Do I try out by myself or with a team? You’ll try out by yourself. We have seminars and practice material available.
12. Is this an approved University activity? Technically no, this does not have the same status as a varsity athletic team. You will need to work with your professors to make sure they support your absence for your presentation days. Once you are placed on a team, we’ll work with you to communicate with your professors.

Practice Using a Previous Case

Want to practice and see some successful tryout presentations? We have posted a previous tryout case and a variety of student tryout slides. In order to get the most out of this, we recommend you first orient yourself to the case:

1. Read the tryout case.
2. Brainstorm (by yourself) a very high-level solution to the case
3. Jot down the type of analysis you are going to use (e.g., how are you going to convince your judges that your solution is a great solution)

Download and review six presentations for this case from students just like you:

• Student A, Student B, Student C
• Student D, Student E, Student F

Each student had 48 hours to prepare, and 10 minutes to present their slides on video. You might go through the decks and determine which you prefer before you read on (at the bottom, we tell you who the judges preferred). Here are some things you might look for:

1. The opportunity statement. If this is new to you, you may want to watch the Case 101 video on this site. The students vary a lot, and many haven’t included one.
2. Timing of the solution. Each student ensured that we heard their recommendation(s) within the first 2 – 3 slides.
3. The solutions. Each student was clear about their recommendation(s), but the solutions are very different. Our judges usually put a strong priority here when they are selecting team members.
   1. Some solutions are creative and forward thinking and others are conservative ideas that are already in use today (for example, the flipped classroom).
   2. It is popular to include one creative and one more conservative solution.
4. The depth and specificity of the analysis (competitor analysis, case study, and/or technical overview). Here is where you can show your strategic, research, or technical skills.
5. Implementation details (timeline, financials, risks, KPI, etc).
   1. Implementation contains a lot of content, and you will note that only a few students did most of it.
6. Slide design: The student work varies a lot. Several of them are very wordy, and this often counts against them.

Points to Consider

Remember that this is an art, not a science:

• The quality of these presentations varies across the different criteria (slide quality, amount of analysis, solution creativity). None was perfect.
• Students with technical background and/or finance skills are very valuable, though we didn’t see much of either in these presentations.

Who did the judges prefer?

• Students A – D were trying out for the team. Judges gave strong scores to Student B and Student C. Student A barely made the team.
• Students E – F were not trying out for the team although they worked under the same rules: 48-hours to prepare, 10-minute presentation. This case served as their midterm for IDSc 3511 (“the case class”). The judges gave strong scores to both of them, and their slides can serve as examples on how to show your skills in some of the implementation details.