John P. Stevens High School (New Jersey) made our Top 25
Which high schools have the best Model UN team in America? The Best Delegate team decided to answer this question and devised a methodology to come up with our Top 25 Standings. The standings are based on results as of March 21, 2011 which allowed us to capture results from NHSMUN. The standings reflect only team performance at conferences and not the overall quality of a high school program (i.e. it does not measure if a program has a class or hosts a conference).
Here is the list of the top 16-25 high school Model UN teams. Most of these schools either won a Best Large Delegation award at a “Large” conference or won many awards at a “Most Competitive” conference. Check out which schools made the list!
America’s Best High School Model UN Teams: Top 16-25 Standings (as of 3/21/11)
16. John P. Stevens High School (New Jersey)
Powerhouse J.P. Stevens is one of several New Jersey schools to make our list. The team performed well this year — they tied for 6th place with Scarsdale High School at Harvard HMUN, had 28 out of 38 delegates win awards at Georgetown NAIMUN, and won Best Large Delegation at Virginia VAMUN. While it does not factor into the standings, it’s worth noting that their alumni go on to leadership roles in the college Model UN circuit — 2011 Georgetown NAIMUN Secretary-General Jagmeet Singh and 2012 Columbia CMUNCE Secretary-General Monica Landrove are among its alumni.
17. The Hotchkiss School (Connecticut)
Hotchkiss has won 1st or 2nd place at Yale YMUN for the past six years and continued their streak this year against tough competition from elite private prep schools in the Northeast and beyond — they had to beat White Station High School from Tennessee to win Best Large Delegation at YMUN this year.
18. Scarsdale High School (New York)
Scarsdale has one of the top Model UN programs in New York. They tied with John P. Stevens High School for 6th place at Harvard HMUN this year.
19. The Canterbury School (Florida)
The Canterbury School had somewhat mixed results this year but won big when it really counted: the team took home Best Small Delegation at Harvard HMUN.
20. Thomas Jefferson High School of Science & Technology (Virginia)
TJ has long been known as one of the best teams from Virginia and reinforced that by winning Best Large Delegation at William & Mary WMHSMUN this year. The team tends to stay in-state for most of its conferences, but when it does travel out-of-state, it wins its fair share of awards. TJ edged out Virginia rivals Langley High School and Bishop Ireton High School to make it into the Top 25.
21. Eastern Regional High School (New Jersey)
Eastern Regional is another successful team from New Jersey and has a track record of traveling up and down the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to compete at some of the largest conferences available. The team captured Best Large Delegation at Johns Hopkins JHUMUNC this year.
22. St. Ignatius College Prep (Illinois)
St. Ignatius splits its conference schedule between Chicago and the East Coast. This year’s East Coast trip was to New York City and the team won Best Large Delegation at Columbia CMUNCE.
23. Adlai E. Stevenson High School (Illinois)
Stevenson attends rival St. Ignatius’ Model UN conference to kick off its season, then loads up on tough competition with a schedule that includes Brown BUSUN, Illinois-Chicago CIMUN, Harvard HMUN , and Northwestern NUMUN. The team placed 9th at Harvard HMUN but was right behind the Canterbury School in terms of total awards won.
24. Milken Community High School (California)
Milken is not among the most well-known teams in the hypercompetitive California circuit, but they have certainly improved over the years and their results show they can now hold their own. The team performed well at the two Most Competitive conferences it attended this year — it won Best Small Delegation at U.Penn ILMUNC and saw 16 of 36 delegates win awards at Berkeley BMUN. This placed them in the Top 25 and slightly ahead of several California high schools with more well-known Model UN teams.
25. Franklin High School (New Jersey)
Franklin High School made the Top 25 on the strength of its consistent performance at some of the Most Competitive conferences it attended including Nationals NHSMUN, U.Penn ILMUNC, and Rutgers RUMUN. While they do not have a Best Delegation award to show for it, we valued their consistent winnings against tough competition over several teams whose highlight on their resumes was winning a delegation award at a smaller conference.
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What do you think about the schools that made our Top 25? Make sure to check back on March 28th for the top 11-15!
