Clockwise, starting at the top-left: Horace Mann at CMUNC, Stuyvesant at JHUMUNC, Mira Costa at NHSMUN, and Upper Canada College at HMUN.
With the first few conferences of the 2016-2017 school year starting in the next few weeks, we want to review the top 150 High School Model UN Teams that participated at North American conferences in the 2015-2016 school year. Through hard work across the most competitive Model UN conferences in their regions, these schools have demonstrated that they are some of the best Model UN teams in the world!
Methodology and Disclaimer
Recognition as one of the Top 150 North American Model UN teams is based solely on travel team (delegate) performance at the largest or most competitive conferences held in the United States and Canada during the 2015-2016 school year. This list does not capture other definitions of success such as conference organizing or civic engagement, and therefore is not a list of the Top 150 Model UN programs in North America — many programs focus beyond just winning awards at MUN conferences.
The list primarily consists of teams that received a school delegation award (e.g. Best Large, Outstanding Large, Best Small, Outstanding Small, or equivalent) at any multi-day advanced Model UN conference in North America with at least 500 delegates. A few teams that performed in the top five but did not receive delegation awards at large conferences (1,200+ delegates) were also included, and typically the top 10 teams at the largest conferences (2,000+ delegates) were included if data was available.
We can only use data that is provided to us by the conferences. In theory, data from the top 30 or so largest and most competitive conferences would be enough data to create a Top 150 teams list. However, we reached out to the 70+ largest conferences in North America since not every conference responded. Conferences that submitted full or partial awards data or had publicly available delegation award winners included: Arkansas MUN, BMUN, BosMUN, BruinMUN, CCCMUN, CIMUN, CMUNCE, DartMUN, EagleMUNC, Edison MUN, FIMUN, GatorMUN, GauchoMUN, GCIMUN, GTMUN, HAMUN, HMUN, ILMUNC, JHUMUNC, LAIMUN, MICSUN , MSUMUN, MUNSA, MUNUC, NAIMUN, NHSMUN, NUMUN, ODUMUNC, OSUMUN, PMUNC, RHSMUN, SCMUN, SSUNS, Surf City MUN, SWFLMUN, UCIMUN, UTMUN (Toronto), VAMUN, WAMUNC, WIMUN, WMHSMUN, WUMUNS, and YMUN. Special thanks go to Media Associate Richard Zhao for his hard work in sourcing awards data.
If your school is not listed in the Top 150 but won a Best Large Delegation award or Outstanding Large Delegation Award during the 2015-2016 school year at a North American conference of 500+ delegates, feel free to email us a photo of your delegation award and we can retroactively add you to this list. All photos, questions, and comments should be sent to erik@bestdelegate.com.
Teams could attend conferences anywhere in North America, and this list is a Top 150 for North America as a whole. It is not a list of top teams by region. However, we have sorted the Top 150 teams into eight regions for easier viewing as most teams tend to participate in MUN within their local region: New England, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, South, West, Canada, and International. Within the Top 150 North American teams this year, there are 19 New England teams, 25 Northeastern teams, 12 Mid-Atlantic teams, 25 Southern teams, 18 Midwestern teams, 25 Western teams, 12 Canadian teams, and 14 International teams. We have also identified the Top 25 teams based on their performance at the most prestigious North American conferences this year.
The Top 150 North American Model UN Teams
Below are the Top 25 overall teams as well as the Top 150 teams sorted by region. All lists are in alphabetical order.
Top 25 Overall
This alphabetical list is primarily based on top performance at the six largest and most competitive conferences: BMUN, HMUN, ILMUNC, MUNUC, NAIMUN, and NHSMUN. It also includes the Best Large Delegation at the next largest conferences: BruinMUN, BosMUN, CIMUN, JHUMUNC, GCIMUN, PMUNC, WAMUNC, WMHSMUN, and YMUN. All Top 25 teams are also included in the Top 150.
American Heritage School Plantation (FL)
The Beacon School (NY)
Bergen County Academies (NJ)
Burr and Burton Academy (VT)
Cerritos High School (CA)
Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School (MI)
The Dalton School (NY)
Franklin High School (NJ)
Glenbrook South High School (IL)
Gulf Coast High School (FL)
Horace Mann School (NY)
Huntington Beach High School (CA)
John P. Stevens High School (NJ)
Langley High School (VA)
Lyons Township High School (IL)
Mira Costa High School (CA)
Oceanside High School (NY)
Radnor High School (PA)
Richland Northeast High School (SC)
Rochelle Zell Jewish High School (IL)
Stuyvesant High School (NY)
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (VA)
University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (IL)
Upper Canada College (Ontario)
West Windsor Plainsboro High School North (NJ)
West Windsor Plainsboro High School South (NJ)
Analysis by Best Delegate Co-Founder Kevin Felix Chan:
Any debate for Top 25 inclusion is contentious because there is no consensus on the best methodology. Some teams prefer to measure success of their entire team at all conferences throughout the year, but this benefits those who could attend more conferences. Others prefer to measure success via head-to-head matchups, but this is difficult when almost every team has both won and lost against the same teams at different conferences. Last but not least, the large delegation award winners are not necessarily the teams with the highest weighted score at the conference. (Weighted score is the sum of three points for every Best Delegate, two points for every Outstanding, and one point for every Honorable Mention). Most conferences use a Ratio; they divide the weighted score by the number of delegates the team brought. Conferences may also take non-awards criteria into consideration when determining delegation awards. Therefore, the best delegation award winners are not necessarily the teams with the most awards or gavels. The above issues can be seen when trying to compare results across the six largest conferences in North America:
HMUN and ILMUNC took place on the same weekend in late January. Upper Canada College unseated American dominance at HMUN by winning Best Large Delegation there. Dalton was #1 in terms of weighted score and received the Outstanding Large Delegation. At ILMUNC, Langley and rival Thomas Jefferson won the Best and Outstanding Large delegation awards, respectively. MUNUC took place one weekend later in early February. The conference did not give out delegation awards, but Mira Costa and Glenbrook South were the top two teams in terms of weighted score.
NAIMUN took place the following weekend in mid-February. This was by far the most competitive conference in 2015-2016 — it featured 32 teams from the Top 150 — and served as the de facto “championship” for the year. Horace Mann and West Windsor-Plainsboro HS South won the Best Large and Outstanding Large delegation awards, respectively. However, Dalton, Mira Costa, and Thomas Jefferson were #1, #2, and #4 in terms of total weighted score, respectively, showing how different definitions of “best” yield different teams.
NHSMUN and BMUN took place on the same weekend in early March. NHSMUN was the largest conference of the year at 3,800 delegates and gave out 15 delegation awards, but the five highest Awards of Distinction went to (in alphabetical order) Glenbrook South, Mira Costa, Horace Mann, Richland Northeast, and Rochelle Zell Jewish HS. At BMUN, Huntington Beach topped Dalton, Upper Canada, Mira Costa, and Cerritos in terms of weighted score, but all received equal best delegation awards in their respective class or club category. Both Mira Costa and Cerritos sent split teams that won delegation awards at both NHSMUN and BMUN on the same weekend.
American Heritage, Chicago Lab, Dalton, Gulf Coast, Huntington Beach, Horace Mann, Mira Costa, and Stuyvesant were among the frequent large delegation award winners at major conferences. The other teams in the Top 25 either contended for a large delegation award at the conferences above or won a large delegation award at the next largest conferences.
Top 150: New England Region
The New England region consists of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Beaver Country Day School (MA)
Bedford High School (NH)
Burr and Burton Academy (VT)
Cape Elizabeth High School (ME)
Concord Academy (MA)
Dana Hall School (MA)
Deerfield Academy (MA)
Greenwich High School (CT)
The Hotchkiss School (CT)
Inter-American Honor Team (MA)
Lexington High School (MA)
Lincoln School (RI)
Loomis Chaffee School (CT)
Milton Academy (MA)
New Canaan High School (CT)
New Fairfield High School (CT)
Phillips Exeter Academy (NH)
St. John’s High School (MA)
Waynflete School (ME)
Top 150: Northeast Region
The Northeast Region consists of New York and New Jersey.
The Beacon School (NY)
Bergen County Academies (NJ)
Brooklyn Friends School (NY)
The Dalton School (NY)
Dwight-Englewood School (NJ)
East Brunswick High School (NJ)
Elmont Memorial High School (NY)
Fayetteville-Manlius High School (NY)
Floral Park Memorial High School (NY)
Franklin High School (NJ)
Horace Mann School (NY)
Irvington High School (NY)
John P. Stevens High School (NJ)
Lawrenceville School (NJ)
Manlius Pebble Hill School (NY)
The Master’s School (NY)
Oceanside High School (NY)
Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School (NY)
Princeton High School (NJ)
Scarsdale High School (NY)
South Plainfield High School (NJ)
Stuyvesant High School (NY)
United Nations International School (NY)
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North (NJ)
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South (NJ)
Winston Preparatory School (NY)
Top 150: Mid-Atlantic Region
The Mid-Atlantic region consists of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC, and West Virginia.
Bishop Ireton High School (VA)
Douglas S. Freeman High School (VA)
Gar-Field High School (VA)
Langley High School (VA)
Leonardtown High School (MD)
Loudoun Valley High School (VA)
Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School (VA)
McLean High School (VA)
Radnor High School (PA)
School Without Walls (DC)
Tallwood High School (VA)
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (VA)
Top 150: South Region
The South region consists of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
American Heritage School Plantation (FL)
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School (FL)
Canterbury School (Ft. Myers, FL)
Cape Coral High School (FL)
Centennial High School (GA)
Conway High School (AR)
Doral Preparatory Academy (FL)
Florida Virtual School (FL)
Gulf Coast High School (FL)
Haas Hall Academy (AR)
Hialeah Miami Lakes Senior High School (FL)
Hillsborough High School (FL)
Immaculata La Salle High School (FL)
James S. Rickards High School (FL)
John A. Ferguson Senior High School (FL)
Lake Travis High School (TX)
McCallie School (TN)
Oasis High School (FL)
Pine View School (FL)
Ponte Vedra High School (FL)
Port Charlotte High School (FL)
Pulaski Academy (AR)
Richland Northeast High School (SC)
Suncoast Community High School (FL)
White Station High School (TN)
William P. Clements High School (TX)
Top 150: Midwest Region
The Midwest region consists of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Bloomfield Hills High School (MI)
Carl Sandburg High School (IL)
Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School (MI)
Culver Academy (IN)
Dublin Jerome High School (OH)
Edina High School (MN)
Glenbrook South High School (IL)
Highland Park High School (IL)
Lawrence Free State High School (KS)
Liberty High School (MO)
Liberty North High School (MO)
Lyons Township High School (IL)
Rochelle Zell Jewish High School (IL)
St. Ignatius College Prep (IL)
St. Vincent St. Mary’s High School (OH)
University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (IL)
Verona Area High School (WI)
Wyoming High School (OH)
Top 150: West Region
The West region consists of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Bellarmine Preparatory School (WA)
Brentwood School (CA)
California High School (San Ramon, CA)
Cerritos High School (CA)
Chadwick School (CA)
Diamond Bar High School (CA)
Dougherty Valley High School (CA)
Edison High School (Huntington Beach, CA)
Foothill High School (Pleasanton, CA)
Harvard-Westlake School (CA)
Henry M. Gunn High School (CA)
High Tech High School (CA)
Huntington Beach High School (CA)
Laguna Beach High School (CA)
Marymount High School (CA)
Mira Costa High School (CA)
Monta Vista High School (CA)
Pacific Ridge High School (CA)
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (CA)
Regis Jesuit High School (CO)
Santa Margarita Catholic High School (CA)
St. Margaret’s Episcopal School (CA)
Trabuco Hills High School (CA)
University High School (Irvine, CA)
Whitney High School (CA)
Top 150: Canada
Branksome Hall (ON)
Crescent School (ON)
Hillfield Strathallan College (ON)
London Central Secondary School (ON)
Marianopolis College (QC)
Mentor College (ON)
P.A.C.E (ON)
Sir Winston Churchill High School (AB)
St. Theresa of Lisieux Catholic High School (ON)
Upper Canada College (ON)
Ursula Franklin Academy (ON)
Western Canada High School (AB)
Top 150: International
The International Schools listed here are based outside of the United States and Canada but are included based on their performance at major North American conferences this year. This list does not reflect the teams’ performances at conferences that took place outside of North America.
Aitchison College (Pakistan)
The Cathedral and John Connon School (India)
Colegio Episcopal de Panama (Panama)
Colegio San Ignacio, Caracas (Venezuela)
Ecole Jeannine Manuel (France)
Escuela Internacional Sampedrana (Honduras)
Instituto Andes (Venezuela)
Instituto Cumbres de Caracas (Venezuela)
Karachi Grammar School (Pakistan)
The Lyceum School (Pakistan)
San Silvestre School (Peru)
The Skinner’s School (United Kingdom)
United Schools of Peru (Peru)
WELAND (China)
Westminster School (United Kingdom)
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Congratulations to all the teams on the list! Good luck to all of the teams participating at Model UN conferences during the 2016-2017 school year!
