Best Large Delegation is one of the highest team honors at a Model United Nations conference. It recognizes the school or university whose large contingent of delegates accumulated the strongest overall performance across committees. Unlike individual gavels or Best Delegate awards, which recognize a single person in one committee, delegation awards aggregate results across an entire school's roster.
Most conferences split delegation awards by size bracket so that schools sending 5 delegates are not competing directly against schools sending 30 or 40. The exact threshold for "large" varies by conference. At many North American collegiate circuits, including conferences hosted by Harvard, Georgetown, and the University of Pennsylvania, the large delegation tier typically begins somewhere around 15–20 delegates, with smaller and medium brackets below. High school conferences such as NHSMUN, ILMUNC, and BMUN use similar tiered systems with their own cutoffs.
Scoring methodologies differ but generally combine:
- Individual awards earned by the school's delegates (Best Delegate, Outstanding, Honorable Mention, Verbal Commendation), each weighted by a point value.
- Award rate — the proportion of delegates who placed — to prevent schools from winning purely by sending more people.
- Occasionally, position paper scores or chair feedback.
Because the award depends on consistent performance across many committees, it tends to reward programs with deep training pipelines, strong institutional knowledge, and experienced head delegates. Universities such as the University of Chicago, Harvard, Georgetown, and West Point have historically dominated large delegation rankings on collegiate circuits tracked by Best Delegate's North American College ranking. On the high school side, schools like Hunter College High School and Cherry Creek have been frequent contenders.
Winning Best Large Delegation is generally considered the most prestigious team outcome at a conference, as it signals breadth of skill rather than a single standout performance.
Example
At HNMUN 2023, the host institution announced Best Large Delegation as the top team award, recognizing the university whose delegates collectively earned the most individual gavels and outstanding awards across the conference's General Assembly, ECOSOC, and specialized committees.
Frequently asked questions
The threshold varies by conference. Many conferences set it around 15–20 delegates, but each secretariat publishes its own size brackets in the awards policy.
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