Four years ago, the course of my life changed forever when I received my first college acceptance. Like many people, I wrote about Model United Nations in many of my college essays, and I recommend talking about how this activity helped you grow in and out of committee when you apply to college as well. However, don’t be fooled into thinking your Model UN experience only helps you get into college. Past the common app essay on MUN that we may have written to get into our dream school, the skills we learn in Model United Nations can help us succeed and grow in college as well.
1. Negotiation and collaboration skills: Like in high school, many classes in college require group projects and assignments. Just like organizing a group chat or a breakfast meeting, proactiveness and attention to detail are required when organizing your group project and making sure everyone is doing their part of the work. Collaboration skills will become very important when you are meeting with your group to discuss your visions for the project.
2. Public speaking confidence: Something that many people do not often tell you is that clubs and organizations in college can be extremely difficult to get into. Whether it be a private or public school, the competition can be intense and some clubs require multiple rounds of interviews and applications to be considered for a spot in the club. The public speaking skills required to participate in Model UN can help immensely in the interview process for any club, or internship. During one internship interview, I was even asked how many MUN awards I had.
3. Seeing all sides of an issue: You’ll be doing a lot of writing in college, and the critical thinking skills you practiced from creating new, innovative solutions or crisis arcs will come in handy here. Perhaps it’s a creative writing class, or it’s a political science class on post-Soviet conflicts in Eastern Europe. Being able to critically analyze the issues you learn about, and challenge existing educational structures in the assignments you turn in, is integral to success in your classes. Model UN teaches us to see all sides of an issue, which becomes super helpful when classes ask us to interpret essay prompts in a creative light. Even if you are a STEM major, this can help you in your general education classes or even with science and math projects, since you will still have to think outside the box.
4. Quick research and writing: Sometimes, it feels like professors are purposefully coordinating all their assignments to be due at once. When you have three papers to turn in in the span of two days, those quick research and writing skills from MUN will definitely come in handy. First off, you may already even have some background knowledge on some of the topics you’ll be writing about in your essays because you’ve debated them in committee. Second, you’ll know how to find the best sources from all those position papers you had to write and quickly cite. Lastly, you’ll be able to speed-write from all those times you’ve had to crank out a detailed resolution clause, or a directive, minutes before the turn-in deadline for them.
5. Interpersonal skills: The more committees you compete in, the more friends you will meet and the more connections you will establish. Model UN teaches valuable interpersonal skills that will become very helpful in college. Not only will you be able to branch out and make new friends quickly, but these interpersonal skills will give you a leg up in professional settings. Colleges often host networking nights, where you will speak with many job recruiters and meet people with the same career interests as you. The setup of these events often resemble MUN committees, so you will feel right home as you walk through and introduce yourself to everyone.
6. Advancing to College Model UN: And, of course, if you wish to continue pursuing Model UN in college, having high school experience can help you get into your college MUN club. Model United Nations in college is definitely more competitive than in high school. However, it is also way more fun because you get to travel more with some of your best friends and get to know other schools’ teams more. Having done high school MUN, you’ll already know the foundations of competing and staffing, and will be able to quickly learn from more senior members of your team.
From getting a dream internship, to feeling comfortable in a new environment, to making a class presentation to an audience of 120, Model United Nations has helped me navigate the challenges we face in college. Writing the perfect college essay was the first step in a long journey of utilizing Model UN skills in my everyday life. I firmly believe that this activity is valuable in the long run, no matter whether or not you decide to pursue MUN in college.
