The Bain & Company Study Competition, also known as the James Andre High School Case, invites students from all over Los Angeles to compete in teams to work on a real-world problem that a major corporation, such as Disney, Netflix or Alo, wants to solve.
This year, the students’ client is Activision, a leading video game company that created the “Call of Duty,” “Skylanders” and “Crash Bandicoot” franchises. Competitors are tasked with the prompt: What are the key reasons behind why teenagers discover, play and stay engaged with their preferred video games?
Since Marlborough alum Meghan Vinnicombe ’14, a consultant at Bain & Company, first presented the idea for current Marlborough students to be involved in the competition, it has become a popular entrepreneurship venture for students in grades 9-12.
Students are mentored by current consultants who work for Bain & Copany and also get support from undergraduate students interested in business at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
In previous years, multiple Marlborough teams participated in the competition, but this year there is only one team, made up solely of juniors and seniors.
“Unfortunately, we could only field one team of six or seven students,” Engineering and Entrepreneurship Program Head Catie Mino said. “I let seniors have first dibs since it’s their last chance to participate, and we had a lot of really enthusiastic seniors, so we wanted to give them one last hurrah at the [Bain & Company] competition.”
Due to a lower number of involvement of the UCLA mentors, as well as an increase of other high schools in Los Angeles wanting to participate, many Marlborough students who had expressed interest in partaking in the opportunity were unable to do so.
Elle ’27 has been involved in the competition for the prior two years, but this year she was one of many who had not been given the opportunity to participate.
“I am upset that it’s a missed opportunity,” Elle said. “I do get that seniors have priority given it’s their last year, but I am definitely bummed out since I was planning on putting it on my college applications, and it’s just such a great experience.”
As an alternative to the limitations on participants in the Bain & Company competition, Mino and the entrepreneurship team have planned to integrate a new business opportunity for 9-11 graders called the Flintridge Stock Pitch Competition, which surrounding LA high schools such as Loyola High School and Mayfield Senior School have previously participated in. This contest focuses on investment strategies and pitching a stock to a judges’ panel.
Despite the change, Mino is excited for the future and for Marlborough teams to earn some awards, especially after coming off last year’s big wins of Most Innovative Solution, Best Presentation Skills and Best Performance in the Q+A in the 2025 Bain & Company competition. Mino hopes for the team’s continued growth this year.
“Of course it would be great for the team to come away with the top award from the competition, but I’m ultimately hoping the team has a fantastic time collaborating, learning from each other and pushing themselves as they work to solve a problem for their client, Activision,” Mino said.
