Get started with free dev tools and support

Missed the deadline for Big App on Campus?  You can still get started building apps for Windows Phone. Students can get the Windows Phone SDK and other pro dev tools and support - at no charge.

Go Underground to download a Windows Phone Getting Started guide, plus access to a rich community of support, tutorials, student forums, and more. It's all happening Underground.

Finalists will win the trip of a lifetime!

Windows® Phone is giving you the opportunity to create and publish your dream app. In doing so, you could win Big, a 4-day trip (for you and a friend) to the 2012 SxSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas. [See Contest Prizes below.]

Two grand-prizes worth $15,000

There are two categories to enter - free apps and paid apps. You choose. Then let your mobile app's creativity and popularity deliver the ultimate prize, 15,000 U.S. dollars.

Win big cash or a trip to South by Southwest

Two Grand Prizes

Each Grand Prize winner will receive one check for $15,000. One winner in the "paid app" category, and one winner in the "free app" category.

Ten Finalist Prizes

There will be five (5) finalist prize winners in the "paid app" category, and five (5) finalist prizes in the "free app" category.

Each Finalist WInner gets this and more:

  • A trip for you and one guest to the SxSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas on March 13-18, 2012 (Approximate Retail Value: $2500 per person)
  • Round trip coach airfare
  • 3 night's standard hotel accomodations
  • 2 passes to the 2012 SxSW Music Festival
  • Transpotation to and from Airport/Hotel
  • $500 spending money
  • A tremendously swelled head and inflated ego on your campus

For full contest prizes, details and conditions, please click here. https://www.microsoft.com/student/en-us/campaign/bigapponcampus/officialrules.aspx

Details, details

To start with, you must currently be enrolled as a U.S. student to enter. We want to see the energy and creativity that students can bring to the exciting and unique UX of Windows Phone.

How to enter:

  • You create and publish Windows Phone apps.
  • Each app you successfully publish to the Windows Phone Marketplace will be considered an "entry".
  • Entires will be bucketed into two categories: free and paid. One of the judging criteria is the number of times your app is downloaded, so naturally, free apps would outpace paid apps.

Rules to abide by

It's easy to enter. No Obligation. Do it now.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open only to US university students 18+ who are legal residents of the U.S. and D.C. Submissions due 02/14/2012 and game ends 03/13/2012. For Official Rules, click here.