Every year, thousands of teams participate in the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM)® and the Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (ICM)®. They spend four intense days building models to solve a real-world problem and communicating their results.

And then… they wait.

For many teams, the only official outcome has traditionally been a designation. While that recognition is important, it doesn’t always answer the question that both students and advisors care about most: How did we actually do? And, how can we improve?

This year, COMAP is taking a step toward answering that.

Introducing the MCM/ICM Feedback Pilot

For the 2026 contests, COMAP is launching a feedback pilot program for MCM/ICM teams.

As part of this pilot:

• Approximately 35% of teams will be randomly selected to receive feedback reports
• Selection is completely random
• Not every team will receive feedback during this pilot phase

This is an important point: This is a test, not a full rollout.

We want to explore what meaningful, scalable feedback could look like in a contest of this size, while being consistent across thousands of submissions.

What We Learned from HiMCM® and MidMCM

COMAP has already tested feedback reports in the High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling (HiMCM)® and the Middle Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MidMCM).

The results were encouraging:

• 68% of HiMCM teams received feedback
• 99% of MidMCM teams received feedback
• 73% overall across both programs

More importantly, the response from students and team advisors made it clear that feedback adds real value to the experience:

“I’ll be combining this with the report and guidelines from the team members for future members.” — Anonymous survey response

“I truly appreciate this thoughtful initiative, which is very valuable for both advisors and students.” — Anonymous survey response

That kind of response reinforced something we already believed: The learning doesn’t stop when the contest ends.

Why Not Give Feedback to Everyone?

It’s a fair question! The short answer is scale.

MCM/ICM involves thousands of teams worldwide, each submitting a full technical paper. Providing feedback takes a lot of dedicated time, consistency, coordination, and a lot of judge support, especially at the MCM/ICM scale. 

This pilot allows COMAP to:

• Test feedback formats and usefulness
• Understand workload and feasibility
• Get feedback from participants
• Improve the process before expanding

In other words, this is about getting it right, not just getting it done. Each report is based on input from the judges who read the papers, highlighting areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. This is not AI-generated or automated feedback.

What This Means for Teams

If your team is selected to receive feedback:

• You’ll get additional insight into your submission
• You’ll have something tangible to build on for future MCM/ICM contests
• You can use it as a learning tool (for students and advisors)

If your team is not selected, your contest experience is still evaluated the same way, and your designation is not affected. You’re still part of the data that will help shape future improvements.

What’s Next?

This is just the beginning. The long-term goal is to make MCM/ICM an even stronger learning experience for everyone who participates.

As we approach the official results announcement on May 8, this pilot is one of the ways COMAP is working behind the scenes to evolve the contests while maintaining what makes the MCM/ICM so valuable in the first place.

If your team participated this year, keep an eye out for results. And, if selected, your feedback report.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does one of my teams not have a report link?

Not all teams were included in the initial pilot program. Depending on feedback from this pilot program, we hope to expand the offering in 2027.

Will you be adding any new feedback reports for the 2026 submissions?

Sorry, no, all the reports will be completed and made available to the teams on May 8, 2026.

If my teams did not receive feedback, can we request this service?

Sorry, no, all the reports will be completed and made available to the teams on May 8, 2026.

How did you decide which teams received feedback?

Any team that was awarded a designation of Successful Participant or above was randomly selected to receive feedback.

How long will the report files be available online?

The links will be available for 7 days after the contest results are announced. You are encouraged to download the files and save them locally for later reference.

For more information on how to access the feedback, if available, please click here.