US Model UN Conferences: A Prep Guide (2026–27)
The major US Model UN (MUN) conferences for high school and college students, how the US circuit works, and a practical plan for choosing, applying to and preparing for a big travel conference.
The US Circuit
How Model UN works in the United States
In the US, Model UN is mostly a school activity that travels. A school club (or a class) registers as a delegation, a teacher or other adult goes as the faculty advisor, and the conference assigns the school a set of countries or roles spread across its committees. Students then prepare individually for their own committee. Most of the well-known conferences are run by undergraduates at a university's international relations club, last three or four days, and fill a hotel or a campus. The high school season runs from roughly November to March, with the heaviest cluster of big conferences in January and February. College Model UN has its own separate circuit and its own conferences.
Key Points
- You usually register as a school, not as an individual. The conference deals with your faculty advisor.
- Your school receives its country or role assignments weeks before the conference; you then research one committee in depth.
- At most big conferences the chairs, crisis staff and Secretariat are college students, often only a few years older than you.
- High school and college conferences are separate. College conferences are generally for university delegations, and high school conferences for high school students.
Major high school Model UN conferences
These are the large, long-running high school conferences most US teams have heard of. Committees, fees, rules and dates change every year, so read this year's details on each official site before you plan anything.
Harvard Model United Nations (HMUN), Boston, usually late January
- •Run by Harvard undergraduates; a multi-day conference for high school students in Boston.
- •One of the largest and best-known high school conferences in the US. Check the official site for how schools apply, eligibility rules and advisor requirements.
North American Invitational Model UN (NAIMUN), Washington, D.C., usually February
- •Run by Georgetown University students; a large multi-day high school conference.
- •Offers a wide committee menu, from General Assembly bodies to crisis simulations. Read the current committee list on the official site.
National High School Model United Nations (NHSMUN), New York City, usually March
- •Run by IMUNA, a US nonprofit, for high school students.
- •A large conference in New York City. Check the official site for this year's session dates, registration process and position paper requirements.
Berkeley Model United Nations (BMUN), Berkeley, California, usually late winter
- •Run by students at the University of California, Berkeley.
- •A long-running high school conference and one of the best-known on the West Coast.
Yale Model United Nations (YMUN), New Haven, Connecticut, usually January
- •Run by Yale University students; a multi-day high school conference in New Haven.
- •Check the official dates page early: registration opens in the fall and deadlines can come well before the conference.
Model United Nations of the University of Chicago (MUNUC), Chicago, usually February
- •Run by University of Chicago undergraduates; a large multi-day high school conference in Chicago.
- •Committee topics range from contemporary policy problems to historical scenarios; read the current list on the official site.
Ivy League Model United Nations Conference (ILMUNC), Philadelphia, usually January
- •Run by University of Pennsylvania students; a multi-day high school conference in Philadelphia.
- •Typically offers General Assembly, specialized and crisis committees.
Princeton Model United Nations Conference (PMUNC), Princeton, New Jersey, usually in the fall
- •Run by Princeton University undergraduates.
- •Held in the fall, which makes it one of the earlier major high school conferences in the season.
College Model UN conferences
If you are finishing high school, it helps to know the college circuit exists and works differently. College teams are usually a university club that travels to several conferences a year, and delegates tend to be older, more experienced and more procedural. Two well-known examples are below.
Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN), Boston, usually February
- •Harvard's college-level conference, separate from the high school HMUN.
- •Staffed by Harvard undergraduates, for university delegations.
National Model United Nations (NMUN•NY), New York City, spring
- •An intercollegiate simulation for university students, held in New York City.
- •Draws university delegations from the US and other countries. Check the official site for dates and registration.
What is different about the big US conferences
If you have only done a school or local conference, the big travel conferences can feel like a different activity. The core rules are the same, but the scale, the committee menu and the expectations change. Knowing this in advance stops the first session from being a shock.
Key Points
- Scale: General Assembly committees are much larger, so you get fewer turns on the speakers' list and have to be noticed in unmoderated caucus instead.
- Committee variety: alongside GA committees you will see specialized agencies, regional bodies, historical committees, national cabinets, fictional scenarios and joint crisis committees.
- Procedure: each conference publishes its own rules of procedure. Most are close to the common US-style rules, but details such as how many sponsors a draft needs or which motions exist can differ.
- Awards: many US conferences give individual awards (typically a best delegate award, then outstanding delegate and honorable mention tiers) and delegation awards for schools. Check each conference's handbook; policies differ.
- Paperwork: position papers are commonly required, sometimes as a condition of award eligibility, and the deadline is usually a few weeks before the conference.
Choosing & Applying
How to choose which conferences to attend
Pick conferences to fit your team's goals for the season, not only their reputations. A team of mostly first-year delegates gets more from two local conferences than from one famous one where they barely speak. Decide what the season is for, then fit the calendar around it.
Questions to answer as a team
- •Experience: how many delegates have attended a conference before? New delegates need smaller committees where they will actually speak.
- •Budget: registration fees, a per-delegate fee, hotel nights, travel and meals. Hotel-based conferences in large cities cost far more than a local one-day event.
- •Time: a four-day conference usually means missing school days. Check your school's policy early.
- •Committee menu: does the conference offer committees your delegates want (crisis, specialized, GA)? Most publish a committee list before registration.
- •Level: is it genuinely a high school conference, and does it welcome newer delegates, or is it known as a competitive, experienced field?
A sensible season plan
- •Fall: one or two local or regional conferences so every delegate gets committee experience.
- •Winter: one travel conference, chosen together, with everyone preparing seriously.
- •Spring: a final conference for seniors, or a chance for newer delegates to try crisis or specialized committees.
Delegation registration and applications
Registration works in one of two ways. Some conferences accept delegations in the order they register until they are full. Others ask schools to apply and do not guarantee a place. Either way, your faculty advisor normally submits it on behalf of the school, and the process starts months before the conference.
Key Points
- Your advisor gives the delegation size and, usually, a ranked list of preferred countries and committee types.
- Expect a deposit or registration fee soon after you register to hold your place, and a later deadline for per-delegate fees and final numbers.
- Country assignments arrive after registration. Larger schools usually get larger or more prominent countries, and the Security Council and crisis seats are limited.
- Once assignments arrive, the advisor or club leaders place students into committees. Match people to committees by experience and interest, not only by seniority.
- Put every deadline (deposit, final numbers, position papers, hotel booking, permission forms) on one shared calendar the day you register.
Examples
Writing country preferences
Conferences cannot give every school the same five countries. Realistic, varied preferences are easier to honour, and a mid-sized country with a clear position is often a better seat to lead from.
If your school has no Model UN club
Because big conferences register schools and require an adult advisor, a student on their own usually cannot just sign up. The practical route is to create a small delegation.
Key Points
- Find a teacher willing to sponsor a club; history, government and English teachers are common advisors.
- Recruit a handful of friends. A small delegation can still attend many conferences.
- Start with a nearby conference run by a local high school or college, which is cheaper and less intimidating.
- Ask the conference directly whether it accepts small or newly formed delegations; many are glad to help new teams.
Committee Types
General Assembly committees
GA committees (DISEC, SOCHUM, SPECPOL, the Legal Committee and so on) simulate the main committees of the UN General Assembly, where every member state has a seat. At big US conferences they are the largest rooms. Debate follows standard procedure: a speakers' list, moderated and unmoderated caucuses, working papers merging into draft resolutions, and a vote at the end. They reward consistent presence and coalition work over single brilliant speeches.
Key Points
- Expect fewer formal speeches than you are used to. Most of your influence happens in unmoderated caucus.
- Some committees seat two delegates per country (a double delegation). Split the work: one speaks and negotiates in the room, the other writes.
- The final output is usually one or more resolutions voted on in the last session.
Specialized agencies, regional bodies and the Security Council
Smaller committees such as the Security Council, the WHO, the Human Rights Council, or regional bodies such as the African Union or the Organization of American States usually have tighter mandates and fewer delegates. You speak more often, and the dais notices mistakes about what the body can and cannot do.
Key Points
- Learn the body's real mandate and powers. A WHO resolution cannot deploy peacekeepers; only the Security Council can adopt binding decisions under Chapter VII.
- In the Security Council, know the veto and how your country uses it. Permanent members vote very differently from elected members.
- Regional bodies expect regional detail: treaties, trade agreements, and the history between member states.
Crisis, historical and joint crisis committees
Crisis committees move fast. You usually play a person (a minister, general, CEO or historical figure) rather than a country, and a crisis staff sends in updates that change the situation throughout the conference. You act through directives voted on by the committee and through private crisis notes that pursue your own character's goals. In a joint crisis committee (JCC), two or more rooms represent opposing sides of the same scenario, and one room's actions reach the other.
Key Points
- Research your character's actual powers and resources: who reports to them, what they control, what they can plausibly do.
- Write short, specific directives and crisis notes: who does what, with which resources, by when.
- Crisis rewards clear thinking under pressure more than long prepared speeches.
- Historical committees freeze knowledge at the start date. Do not use what happened next.
Press corps and other non-delegate roles
Some conferences run a press corps where students report on committees as journalists, often writing for a named outlet with its own editorial perspective. It suits strong writers and is a good way to see many committees in one weekend. Expect deadlines during the conference and to be judged on reporting, accuracy and writing, not on resolutions.
Key Points
- Read the outlet you are assigned. Tone and editorial line matter.
- Quote delegates accurately and attribute every claim.
- Ask your chair or press director how articles are published and judged at that conference.
Preparing
Research the committee's background guide first
Every serious conference publishes a background guide for each committee, written by its chairs. It tells you the topics, the history, what the UN has already done, and the questions the chairs want answered. It is the single most important document you will read, because the dais wrote it and will judge you against it. Read it before you open any other source.
Key Points
- Read it twice: once for the story, once with a pen, turning every section into a research question.
- Note the 'questions to consider' or 'questions a resolution should answer'. Your position paper and resolution clauses should answer them directly.
- List every UN resolution, treaty and organization the guide mentions, and look up each one's primary text.
- Look for the chairs' letter: it often says what they value (collaboration, creativity, realism) and how awards are decided.
- Read the conference's own rules of procedure too. Details vary between conferences.
Examples
Turning a guide section into research questions
The guide is the starting point, not the research. Questions send you to primary sources about your country's position, which is what the chairs cannot give you.
A four-week prep timeline
Most students start too late and spend the time reading about the topic instead of finding their country's position. A simple timeline, starting about four weeks before the position paper deadline, fixes both problems.
Week 1: committee and country
- •Read the background guide and the conference's rules of procedure.
- •Build a short country profile: government, region, alliances, economy, and interests relevant to the topic.
Week 2: your country's position
- •Find your country's voting record on related UN resolutions and its statements in UN meetings.
- •Identify likely allies and opponents, and why.
Week 3: position paper
- •Write the paper in the format and length the conference specifies, and cite real sources.
- •Draft three or four concrete solutions you could turn into operative clauses.
Week 4: speeches and binder
- •Write and practise a one-minute opening speech.
- •Build a one-page cheat sheet: position, key facts, allies, clause ideas, rebuttals to expected arguments.
Strategy for large committees
In a large GA committee at a big US conference, you cannot rely on the speakers' list to be noticed. You win influence by becoming useful to a bloc early and staying visible in every unmoderated caucus. The chairs are watching who organizes, who writes, and who brings people together.
Key Points
- Speak early: motion for or volunteer in the first moderated caucuses, when most delegates are still quiet.
- Find your bloc in the first unmoderated caucus. Arrive with two or three concrete ideas, not just general agreement.
- Take a real job in the bloc: drafting clauses, merging papers, or negotiating with another bloc. Visible work beats dominating the laptop.
- Keep your speeches short and specific. In a large room, one clear idea is remembered; five vague ones are not.
- Make sure the chairs connect your name with the ideas you contribute. Introduce yourself and your clauses, and present when you can.
Examples
Getting noticed in a crowded unmod
The first delegate offers a specific problem and a specific solution, and moves the room forward. That is exactly the leadership chairs describe when they explain their award decisions.
Travel and logistics checklist
Big conferences are multi-day trips, and small logistics problems cost committee time. Your advisor handles registration and the hotel, but every delegate should run through this list before leaving.
Documents and research
- •Printed copies of your position paper and your one-page cheat sheet (Wi-Fi in hotel ballrooms is often unreliable).
- •Background guide, rules of procedure, and your key source documents, saved offline.
- •Any forms your school and the conference require: permission slips, code-of-conduct forms, medical information.
- •A photo ID and your conference badge or registration confirmation.
What to wear and bring
- •Western business attire for every committee session, the usual dress code at US conferences; confirm it in the handbook.
- •Comfortable shoes: you will stand in unmoderated caucuses for hours.
- •Laptop and phone chargers, an extension cord or power bank, notepads and pens.
- •Water bottle and snacks; committee sessions can run late into the evening.
On arrival
- •Find your committee room the night before or well before the first session.
- •Confirm meal plans and meeting points with your advisor.
- •Save your advisor's and the conference's contact information in your phone.
At the Conference
The first session
The first session sets how the chairs and other delegates see you for the rest of the weekend. It opens with roll call, a motion to set the agenda if the committee has more than one topic, and then the speakers' list. Your opening speech states your position and a plan. After that, the first unmoderated caucus is where blocs form, and it matters more than any single speech.
Key Points
- Answer roll call with 'present and voting' only if you are sure you will not abstain on substantive votes.
- Add yourself to the speakers' list early.
- Have your one-minute opening speech ready, but adapt the first line to what others have already said.
- In the first unmod, talk to the delegates whose speeches matched your position before they form a closed group.
Managing a four-day conference
Multi-day conferences are long. The delegates who do well are consistent across every session, not only brilliant in the first. Plan your energy and treat everyone in the room with respect, including the delegates who are not in your bloc.
Key Points
- Sleep. Late-night social events are optional; the morning session is not.
- Review your notes briefly each evening: what passed, which blocs formed, what you need to do next session.
- Stay diplomatic. Chairs notice who excludes other delegates or takes credit for their work.
- Follow the conference code of conduct and your school's rules in the hotel and in the city.
After the conference
The best time to improve is the week after a conference, while you still remember what happened. Debrief as a team and write down what to change before the next one.
Key Points
- Each delegate writes three things that worked and three to change.
- Collect the chairs' feedback and any position paper feedback the conference returns.
- Update your team's shared research and procedure notes for next year's delegates.
- Pick next season's conferences using what you learned about committee size, level and cost.
FAQ
What is the best first Model UN conference?
Usually a local or regional conference, not a famous travel conference. A smaller committee near home gives you more speeches and more chances to write, costs much less, and lets you learn procedure without pressure. Go to a big conference once your team has some experience.
Can I attend a US Model UN conference without my school?
For most major high school conferences, no: they register schools and require an adult faculty advisor. The practical option is to start a small club with a teacher sponsor, or ask the conference whether it accepts independent or small delegations.
When should we register?
As early as possible, often at the start of the school year for winter conferences. Some conferences fill on a first-come, first-served basis, others review applications, and many ask for a deposit soon after registration. Check each conference's dates and deadlines page.
Do I need a position paper?
At most major conferences, yes. Some conferences also return feedback on it before the conference. Some conferences make a submitted position paper a condition for individual awards. Follow the format, length and deadline in the conference's instructions exactly.
What is the difference between HMUN and HNMUN?
Both are run at Harvard, but HMUN is the high school conference and HNMUN is the college conference. Register for the one that matches your level.
Should a new delegate do a crisis committee?
Usually not at a large conference. Crisis moves fast and assumes you already know procedure. Try crisis first at a smaller conference, or at a conference that says its crisis committees welcome new delegates, and do a GA or specialized committee at your first big conference.
Continue learning
Explore related MUN guides to deepen your skills.
How to Research for Model UN
Decode the background guide, find your country's votes and statements, and map the blocs.
Model UN Rules of Procedure
Motions, points, caucuses and voting, so procedure works for you in committee.
How to Win Best Delegate
What chairs look for across speeches, caucuses and resolution writing.
Position Papers Guide
A practical framework for the paper most US conferences require.
Model UN Beginner's Guide
The whole activity from scratch, before your first conference.
Congressional Debate Guide
The NSDA's mock legislature, a natural next event for Model UN delegates.
