Student Experience

We are a team of Accounting and Financial Management students from the University of Waterloo who had the opportunity to participate in this exciting Eclipse Case Competition open for undergraduate students across Ontario. Our team, consisting of Mohammad, Robert, Bryce, and Nathan, had an incredible time at the competition, and we’re excited to share our experience with you.

The Lang Tax Conference was an amazing opportunity for our team to combine creativity and research skills in a tax policy-based setting! This was our second year participating in the competition, so we had an idea of what to expect, but it was the first time we were able to prepare for the case and attend the conference in-person.

Our team was comprised of two Master of Accounting (MAcc) students who completed all their co-op terms in audit and a fourth-year Accounting and Financial Management (AFM) student who only completed one of his co-op terms in a tax-related role. With a limited background in tax, we all felt underqualified heading into the case competition since we knew we would be competing against peers with much more relevant tax experience. Although our success in the competition was down to our own research, collaboration, and presentation efforts, we would like to give a special mention to our professor, Julie Robson. Professor Robson reached out to us initially and encouraged all of our team members to compete. Without this nudge from her, it is unlikely that we would’ve signed up and achieved this successful win. Tax is definitely one of those areas that can be intimidating, even to accounting professionals, and so sometimes all that’s needed is a little encouragement!

As first-year students in our 1B term, all with diverse backgrounds and experiences, we came together to take on the Schulich Accounting Society (SAS) Pathways Case Competition. 

In early March, School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) students Mahek, Puneet, Daniel and I competed in the final round of the National Investment Banking Conference (NIBC) in Vancouver. I participated in the conference because I believed it would offer a glimpse into what a career in investment banking would be like.

Going to conferences is one of the best ways to keep track of your evolution as a PhD student. The first conference you ever go to will probably be a little (a lot) overwhelming: conferences provide a lot of new experiences.

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A Journey of Learning and Collaboration

Participating in a case competition is an incredible opportunity to challenge oneself and learn from talented peers. That's precisely what myself and my colleagues, Pratham, Katherine, and Chloe, experienced when we competed in the ACHIEVE Case Competition in January. 

The Inter-Collegiate Business Competition (I.C.B.C.) is one of the oldest case competitions in Canada and is known for its complex yet integrative cases. This year, we had the pleasure of competing in the accounting stream.

As previous analysts on the Student Venture Fund and AFM 433: Business Strategy, enthusiasts, we had always been interested in analyzing companies and thinking of strategic possibilities for them. This drew us to the Inter-Collegiate Business Competition (I.C.B.C.), where we became finalists in the business policy event.