How to join Model UN: find a conference and apply

Apply on your own from the conference page, or with a group a teacher or student leader signs up.

Say you find one tonight: a weekend conference two hours from home, with a committee you like and three weeks left to apply. The whole way in takes five steps:

1. 1Find a conference on mymun's list that is taking applications, near you or online.
2. 2Choose how you go, on your own or with your school's delegation.
3. 3Apply as a delegate and rank your committee and country preferences.
4. 4Answer the questions and write a short motivation letter if asked.
5. 5Pay the fee if there is one, then wait for your country.

On your own, you apply from the conference page and the organizers decide on you alone. With a delegation, a leader signs up a group from your school or university. That leader is a student head delegate or a faculty advisor, usually a teacher.

If a group from your school is already going, go with it, and tell its leader which committee you want. If you are under 18 and must travel, a school group with a teacher makes it easier for your parents to say yes. And when a conference takes no delegations, friends simply apply on their own.

If your school has no Model UN club

Apply on your own, which most conferences allow, or ask a teacher to take a few of you as a delegation. Find two or three friends who want to come first, and a yes is easier to give. A teacher can also start a club with you.

Pick one that is affordable and friendly to beginners, online or near you.

Your first conference does not need a famous name. Online conferences are the easiest start, because they cost little and need no travel. An in-person one near you makes a good first or second.

Start on mymun's conference list, the largest there is. Narrow it to high school or university, or open the map to see what is near you. To browse by country, open your continent's page: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America or Oceania.

If the fee is all that stands in your way, ask the organizers about a reduced fee before you rule the conference out.

Apply as soon as you have chosen, and months ahead if you need a visa.

Apply early, because many organizers decide as applications arrive and late applicants get the seats that are left. On mymun, applications close about a week before a typical conference, and large in-person ones often open about three months ahead. If applications have closed, ask the organizers whether a delegate seat is still free.

Need a visa? Pick your conference months ahead, and ask for an invitation letter once you are accepted. Applying to two conferences is fine if you withdraw from the one you drop as soon as you decide.

Choose your role, rank your preferences, answer the questions and submit.

Applications look much the same everywhere, on mymun or on a conference's own form. Each conference picks the steps it needs, so yours may be shorter.

1. 1Choose your role. Apply as a delegate on your own, or open the link your group's leader sent you.
2. 2Rank your preferences. Most conferences ask for up to three committees, or committees and countries (how to choose).
3. 3Answer the questions. Most ask about your experience, and some ask for a short motivation letter.
4. 4Check and submit. Organizers only see submitted applications, and after that only they can change yours.

Choose the committee first, then mix one famous country with two that fewer delegates ask for.

Rank first the committee whose topics you would happily read about for three weeks, and look for committees marked Beginner, which are written for first-timers. At high school conferences these are most often UNEP, UNICEF and SOCHUM.

The best country for a first MUN is one you can get and defend, not the most famous. One preference in five on mymun names the same five: the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China and Germany. Mix one of them with two Member States fewer delegates ask for, and your chances improve.

Pick countries with clear statements on your topic, because they are easier to research and to defend. A country the topic affects, such as a coastal state on ocean pollution, has a reason to speak in every debate.

Your preferences guide the organizers but do not bind them. You will very likely get a committee you listed, but your country is less certain. Many conferences call it your portfolio.

List your experience in one fixed format, say plainly if you have none, and write a short letter in three parts.

Expect a question about your Model UN experience, and often one about why you chose your committee or country. Answer the second in two or three sentences: what you know of the topic, why your country interests you, what you will read next.

Your Model UN experience

If this is your first conference, say so, and name what you did instead, such as a debate club. No experience is a normal answer, not a weak one. If you have been before, list conferences newest first, one per line, as in “City Youth MUN 2026, UNICEF, Peru, honourable mention”.

How to answer “Why do you want to join MUN?”

Answer in three parts, 80 to 150 words in all: why the topic matters to you, something you did, and what you want to learn. Name something real, such as a problem you have seen or a club you run, instead of lines any applicant could write.

Open with the topic and one real reason, not with adjectives about you. Write it yourself, because a chatbot's letter sounds like every other one and organizers notice.

The organizers decide, you may pay a fee, then you get your country and start preparing.

An email confirms your application, and what happens after you apply covers the decision, the fee and your country. Once you know your country, read your committee's background guide (some conferences call it a study guide) and research its position. Write a position paper if asked, and get ready for your first conference.