Show leadership by passing on your MUN knowledge - like how to tie a tie
Today’s post follows up on the recent release of our free ebook, How Model UN Can Help You Get Into College — check it out!
College admissions officers look for examples of leadership in college applications, essays, and interviews. Model UN offers many opportunities to show leadership — here are 5 ways:
Win Awards
Every moment in committee is an opportunity to show leadership. Whether it’s making speeches, building alliances, or debating resolutions, you are trying to persuade others to follow you. Hopefully, it results in winning awards that you can show on your college application.
But realize that awards are only suggestions of leadership – how you win awards are the actual examples. It’s not enough to list your awards – explain how your leadership skills led to winning them. Draw upon your Model UN experience and find a story that makes this point clear.
Related Link: 5 Skills Every Delegate Should Learn
Chair Committees
Chairing a committee offers another opportunity to show leadership. Whether writing background guides, moderating debate, or answering delegates’ questions, you’re providing guidance and direction to other students.
But similar to winning awards, being a chair is only a suggestion of leadership. You exemplify leadership by helping other students learn about international issues and develop their own leadership skills. Your role is similar to being a teacher – especially if your committee is full of new delegates. Think from this perspective when describing your experience as a chair.
Run Conferences
Winning awards and chairing committees show that you can lead for a weekend, but being a Secretary-General or Secretariat member shows leadership over a longer period of time – the months leading up to a conference.
Running a conference is an opportunity to show project management skills, since you have to take the large task of organizing a conference and break it up into smaller tasks. Training chairs and managing other people also shows organizational leadership. And you have to deal with customers – the schools attending your conference. These are uncommon traits for high school and college students that you can highlight in your applications and interviews.
Start Something
Your leadership experience is not limited to Model UN. If you find an interesting committee topic or learn something that excites you, find other ways to explore it. You can start by bringing a speaker to campus, holding a movie screening, or writing about it in class or campus newspapers. You might even want to start a separate club devoted to you topic.
Leave a Legacy
As you gain more Model UN experience and rise through the ranks in your club, you’re asked to pass on your knowledge to younger members. You have to train them as delegates, give them an idea of what to expect in committee, and explain what to do in certain situations. If you’ve run conferences, you have to advise the next Secretariat, offer insights on what to improve, and be candid about your own performance so your successors can learn from your mistakes. You’re trying to build institutional knowledge so that your club continues to grow long after you graduate.
Related Link: How to Build a Top Travel Team: Developing Talent
Check out the following links for more help, including our free ebook about Model UN and College Admissions:
Free ebook, How Model UN Can Help You Get Into College
How to Write Your College Application Essay and Personal Statement
Original post, How Model UN Can Help You Get Into College
What are your examples of Model UN leadership? Let us know in the comments!
* * *
Are you a high school Model UN student or parent who might be interested in speaking with someone who got into college because of Model UN? Let us know by filling out the form below:
