West Point is a familiar name on the college circuit
What are the best college Model UN teams in the world? The Best Delegate team decided to answer this question with our Top 25 Standings. We had to separate the college circuit into two divisions and devised methodologies for both divisions. We recommend reading the two links before jumping into the standings.
The standings are based on results as of March 21, 2011 which allowed us to capture results from WorldMUN. The standings reflect only team performances at conferences and not the overall quality of the program (i.e. it does not measure if a program hosts conferences or have any other special activities).
Here is the list of the top 6-10 college Model UN teams. All these teams have the results to distinguish themselves above the programs that placed below it — they have either won or been in contention for a large delegation award at one of the most competitive conferences or they have won multiple small delegation awards this year. Check out which colleges made our Top 25!
The Best College Model UN Teams – World Division: North America Top 6-10 Standings (as of 3/21/11)
6. United States Military Academy at West Point
West Point won more delegation awards this year than any other team
West Point is one of the best teams in the world. They are having a down year by West Point standards — their winning percentages are not as high as in previous years — but you wouldn’t be able to tell by all the awards they have won this year: Best Small Delegation at Harvard HNMUN, Best Small Delegation at U.Penn UPMUNC, Secretary-General’s Award at McGill McMUN, Best Small Delegation at Yale SCSY, and Outstanding Small Delegation at Georgetown NCSC. In addition, the team had multiple award winners at WorldMUN, Berkeley UCBMUN, Princeton PicSIM, and Oxford OxiMUN. West Point won the most delegation awards among any college team this year and that helped it overcome its head-to-head results at HNMUN (where it won two awards). George LeMeur, Andrew Swick, and Warren Geary are only a few of their many star delegates.
7. Florida International University
FIU contended for the championship at HNMUN and will try for another championship at NMUN
The secret’s been out for a few years now: FIU is really good. The team had won an Outstanding Delegation Award (the top award category) at NMUN New York in the National Division five years in a row and surprised the World Division schools by winning several Best Small Delegations at Harvard HNMUN in the past few years. The team stepped up to the large schools division at HNMUN this year and placed 5th in terms of overall awards won by North American college teams (six awards total with five of them being double delegation) to challenge some of the traditional powerhouses. The team will end its season with championship aspirations when it puts its five-year winning streak on the line at NMUN New York later in April.
8. Michigan State University
Michigan State won Outstanding Large Delegation at McMUN
Former Michigan State star delegate Hayes Brown suggested MSU as a darkhorse candidate to make it into muncircuit.com’s Pre-Season Power Rankings if they had expanded it to the Top 10. They’re darkhorse no more — the team can claim to be among the best large delegations on the circuit after winning Outstanding Large Delegation at McGill McMUN. The team also took home numerous awards at Boston University’s BarMUN. Their head delegate is Tom Nally. Michigan State still has another chance to impress when they compete at U.Chicago ChoMUN later in April.
9. Columbia University
Columbia enjoyed Singapore before winning awards at WorldMUN
Columbia is perhaps the strongest challenger to West Point this year for best small delegation. Columbia won Best Small Delegation at McGill McMUN (West Point won the Secretary-General’s Award) and won Outstanding Small Delegation at Yale SCSY (West Point won Best Small). Columbia was also one of the top award-winning teams at WorldMUN and U.Penn UPMUNC. The team holds a head-to-head advantage over Rutgers from the McMUN results which allowed it to break into the Top 10. Their head delegates are Chuck Roberts and Taimur Malik. Columbia will be participating in the inaugural West Point WPSC this weekend.
10. Clark University
Clark has made a name for itself at HNMUN
Clark is an up-and-coming team that has rapidly established itself as one of the stronger programs on the college circuit. The team placed 4th in terms of overall number of awards won at Harvard HNMUN (seven awards total) to give it a head-to-head advantage over FIU as well as any team that placed below it. We placed Clark slightly below FIU though because FIU won more valuable awards — FIU had 1 Best, 3 Outstanding, and 2 Honorable Mentions compared to Clark’s 1 Outstanding and 6 Honorable Mentions. The team also won awards at Yale SCSY and will close out its season in-state at Mt. Holyoke FCMUN this weekend.
Check out the rest of the standings: top 11-15 and top 16-25!
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What do you think about the colleges that made our Top 25? Make sure to check back on April 6th for the World Division – International Top 20 and on April 7th for the World Division – North America Top 1-5!
