How to choose a Model UN conference comes down to judging the room before the brand: how many delegates sit in each committee, who chairs it, whether you receive written feedback, how you are supervised, what the fee actually covers and what happens after the last vote. The twelve questions below turn that into a checklist you can put to any organiser.
Key takeaways
- Committee size decides how often you speak; a chamber of about twenty gives a delegate many times the floor time of a committee of two hundred.
- The quality of the chairs and the feedback you receive matter more than the conference's age or the size of its opening ceremony.
- Read the fee as a list of inclusions, not a number, and read the cancellation terms before you pay anything.
- Supervision, travel logistics and who else is in the room are questions for parents and schools as much as for delegates.
- Small-cohort formats and large conferences reward different things; neither is automatically better, but beginners usually learn faster in a smaller room.
- How to choose a Model UN conference: is bigger better?
- Questions 1 to 4: the room
- Questions 5 to 8: care and terms
- Questions 9 to 12: substance and what comes after
- Small vs large MUN conference: a comparison
- Which MUN conference is best for beginners?
- A worked example: The Global 60
- Where to go next
How to choose a Model UN conference: is bigger better?
No, bigger is not better. The best Model UN conferences are the ones where you speak, negotiate and receive feedback, and size often works against all three. Model United Nations (Model UN, MUN) is a simulation in which students represent countries in committees modelled on United Nations bodies; the learning happens when you hold the floor, build a bloc and draft text, not when you watch someone else do it.
The large-conference format, of which NMUN, HMUN and THIMUN are well-known examples, runs many committees in parallel alongside a full ceremonial programme. Small-cohort formats put a few dozen delegates into a handful of chambers. Both are legitimate. The question is which one fits the delegate in front of you, and the checklist below is how you find out.
Questions 1 to 4: the room
The first four questions establish what a committee session will actually feel like from your seat.
1. How many delegates sit in each committee?
Ask for the number per committee, not the number at the conference. In a committee of twenty, a ninety-second speech from every delegate takes half an hour and the chair can run the speakers' list twice in a session. In a committee of a hundred and fifty, the same list takes most of a day, and quieter delegates may not speak on the floor at all.
2. Who chairs, and how were they trained?
A chair (the student or staff member who runs procedure, keeps the speakers' list and rules on points of order) shapes the whole experience. Ask whether chairs are experienced delegates, university students or staff, whether they are briefed on the topics, and whether the organiser holds them to a published chairing standard.
3. Will I receive feedback, and in what form?
Written or spoken feedback on your position paper, your speeches and your conduct in negotiation is the single clearest sign that a conference is designed for learning. Many conferences give none beyond an awards list. Ask directly, and ask who gives it.
4. Who else will be in the room?
A committee of first-timers and a committee of circuit veterans are different events. Ask about the mix of ages, experience levels and countries of origin, and whether the organiser curates that mix or simply accepts registrations until the room is full.
Questions 5 to 8: care and terms
The next four questions are about how you are looked after and what you are agreeing to when you pay.
5. How are delegates supervised?
For under-18s, ask who is on site overnight, whether staff are background-screened, what the curfew is, how alcohol is handled, and how a parent reaches a named person at three in the morning. A serious organiser answers each point in writing; if the answer is "your school's teacher is responsible", make sure your school agrees.
6. What exactly does the fee include?
Fees are only comparable as lists. Registration, accommodation, meals, airport transfers, movement between venues, the social programme, photography and materials may each be inside or outside the headline number. Our guide to how much Model UN costs breaks the components down line by line.
7. What are the cancellation and payment terms?
Read them before paying a deposit. Know whether fees are refundable, whether a credit is offered instead, whether you can pay in instalments and by when the balance is due, and whether travel insurance covering cancellation is required. Vague terms are a reason to ask again, not to assume the best.
8. How much travel does the conference add?
A conference in your city costs a train fare and a lunch. A conference abroad adds flights, visas, insurance, jet lag and a lost school week either side. Ask how long the programme actually runs, whether arrival and departure days are hospitality or dead time, and who meets delegates at the airport.
Questions 9 to 12: substance and what comes after
The last four questions test whether the academic content is real and whether the organiser cares about you once the conference ends.
9. Who approves the topics and the background guides?
Ask whether topics are set and reviewed by an academic team, when background guides are published, and whether they cite primary sources such as UN resolutions and reports. Topics announced late with thin guides usually mean a thin committee.
10. What is the awards philosophy?
Some conferences award a large share of delegates; others award almost none; a few publish clear criteria and give feedback to everyone. Decide what you want from awards before you go, then ask how they are decided and whether anything you pay for can influence them. The honest answer to the second question is always "nothing". Our explainer on Model UN awards goes further.
11. Does the city add to the programme or distract from it?
A conference in New York, Geneva or The Hague can include a visit to a real United Nations building; a conference in a hotel ballroom anywhere may never leave the building. Ask what is planned outside the committee room, what is confirmed, and what is conditional.
12. What happens after the closing session?
Ask whether there is any follow-up at all: a community, a check-in, introductions, further sessions. Most conferences end when the gavel falls. That is not a failing, but you should know it before you compare fees.
Small vs large MUN conference: a comparison
A small-cohort conference trades breadth of committees and ceremony for floor time, feedback and a cohort you can actually get to know; a large conference offers the reverse. The table sets the two formats side by side on the questions above.
| Question | Large conference | Small-cohort format |
|---|---|---|
| Committee size | Often fifty to several hundred per committee, with a General Assembly that can run into the hundreds | Around twenty per chamber; everyone speaks in every session |
| Floor time | A few minutes across the whole conference for many delegates | Several speeches a session, plus moderated and unmoderated caucus |
| Chairs | Large student secretariat; quality varies by committee | A small chairing team that can be briefed and held to one standard |
| Feedback | Usually limited to the awards ceremony | Can be built in for every delegate |
| Choice of committees | Wide: crisis, historical, specialised agencies | Narrow: a few chambers, chosen for the cohort |
| Networking | Broad and shallow; you may never see the same person twice | Narrow and deep; sixty people can learn each other's names |
| Ceremony | Large opening and closing ceremonies, often with guest speakers | Short remarks; formal time kept low on purpose |
| Best suited to | Experienced delegates who want a competitive circuit and specialised committees | Beginners and intermediate delegates who want floor time, and experienced delegates who want depth |
Which MUN conference is best for beginners?
For a first conference, choose the smallest committee you can find with chairs who teach, a preparation session before the first gavel and feedback afterwards. Beginners lose most in a large room: the procedure is unfamiliar, the speakers' list is long, and it is easy to spend three days without making a speech.
Prepare before you arrive whatever you choose. The free Youth Impacts curriculum starts with what Model UN is, moves through rules of procedure and writing a position paper, and our guide to your first Model UN conference walks through each phase of the weekend.
A quick test
Email the organiser the twelve questions. The speed, precision and honesty of the reply tells you most of what you need to know about how the conference will be run.
A worked example: The Global 60
The Global 60 is a small-cohort format, and it answers the checklist in a way you can hold it to. Youth Impacts presents The Global 60 in New York City, Thursday 22 – Sunday 25 April 2027: sixty delegates, three nights in New York and two and a half days of programme, built on the academic history of Youth Impacts Model United Nations (YIMUN), which has run since 2025.
- The room: three small chambers of approximately twenty delegates each, three committee sessions and one Global Plenary, never a single sixty-person General Assembly. Committee topics are announced to admitted delegates.
- Who is in it: high-school and university students worldwide, typically aged 15 to 22, selected by application and a fifteen-minute interview; no Model UN experience is required.
- Care: Youth Impacts staff and chaperones on site throughout, background-screened staff, no alcohol for underage delegates, a nightly curfew and room check for under-18s and a 24-hour parent emergency contact. The parents page sets this out in full.
- Fee and terms: the Delegate tier is $2,999 and includes the shared room, three nights, the full programme, all meals, transfers, the kit, portraits and the Global 60 Network; flights, visas, insurance and personal spending are not. Fees are non-refundable, a delegate who withdraws receives a non-transferable one-year credit voucher, and travel insurance covering cancellation is required. The admission and fees page lists every tier.
- Awards and parity: Best Delegate, Outstanding Delegate, Honourable Mention and Best Position Paper per chamber. No tier affects country assignment, speaking time, committee role, awards or recognition.
- City and afterwards: a visit to United Nations Headquarters is planned, subject to availability and UN security requirements; the Global 60 Network afterwards offers a private community, a ninety-day check-in and one virtual gathering in the following year.
The Global 60 and Youth Impacts are independent programmes and are not affiliated with or endorsed by the United Nations.
Where to go next
If you are weighing whether a conference is worth the fee at all, read our honest answer on whether Model UN is worth it. To see how a small-cohort format is structured hour by hour, the Global 60 programme is published in full, and the FAQ answers the twelve questions above for that event in one place.
Frequently asked questions.
What is the most important factor when choosing a Model UN conference?
Committee size. The number of delegates in your committee decides how often you speak, how much negotiating you do and how much attention the chair can give you. Ask for the number per committee, not the total at the conference.
Are large Model UN conferences better than small ones?
Neither is automatically better. Large conferences offer more committees, a full ceremonial programme and a competitive circuit; small-cohort formats offer more floor time, feedback and a cohort you can get to know. Beginners usually learn faster in a smaller room.
What should a Model UN conference fee include?
Ask for the inclusions as a written list: registration, accommodation, meals, transfers, materials, the social programme and photography may each be inside or outside the headline fee. Flights, visas and insurance are almost never included.
How should I choose a first Model UN conference as a beginner?
Choose the smallest committee you can find with chairs who teach, a preparation session before the first gavel and feedback afterwards. Prepare a position paper and an opening speech before you arrive.
How many delegates are in each committee at The Global 60?
Approximately twenty. The Global 60 places sixty delegates in three small chambers with three committee sessions and one Global Plenary, never a single sixty-person General Assembly.
Youth Impacts is a Model United Nations organisation. Its flagship New York experience is The Global 60: sixty delegates, three small chambers, 22 – 25 April 2027, admission by application and interview. Youth Impacts Model United Nations (YIMUN) has run since 2025. Questions: info@youthimpacts.com. Published 19 September 2026.