MUN Institute Alumni Accepted to Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Georgetown, Oxford & More!

by Conna Walsh on April 20, 2017

In the past few years, hundreds of MUN Institute alumni have been accepted to top schools including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford, Stanford, Georgetown, and more! We at the MUN Institute are incredibly proud of all of our alumni. Many alumni have discussed their experiences at the MUN Institute during the college application process, and it seems to be working – our Alumni continue to be accepted to and excel at the world’s best universities.

As colleges continue looking for students who will become the next generation of global leaders, it’s no surprise that those with MUN experience are sought after by many schools. MUNers have the leadership experience, the communication skills, and the confidence necessary to excel in the competitive sphere of higher education.

Many alumni have discussed their experiences at the MUN Institute during the college application process, and it seems to be working – more of our Alumni going to the world’s best Universities than ever before! In the past few years, more than 100 MUN Institute alumni have been accepted to top schools including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford, Stanford, Georgetown, and more! We at the MUN Institute are incredibly proud of all of our alumni.

Many MUN Institute alumni are embarking on uniquely international college experiences. Rose Jacobs (right), who attended the Ambassador program in 2015, is one such student. This fall, she will be undertaking a dual degree program at Columbia University and Sciences Po in Paris. “The MUN Institute helped instill in me a passion for international relations and an appreciation for diplomacy that inspired me to apply to a program uniquely focused on IR. I will spend two years in France studying North American and European relations before returning to Columbia in New York City. I would not have opted for such a non-traditional, international route if not for the influence of the MUN Institute and the Best Delegate community!” Rose will also be serving as an MUN Mentor at this summer’s MUN Institute.

Ayush Saxena (left) attended the MUN Institute Diplomat program in 2014, and has been serving as a Media Associate for Best Delegate during this school year. Ayush is a student at John P. Stevens High School, which has an extremely successful high school MUN team, and he will be attending U.C. Berkeley this fall. Ayush credits the MUN Institute with a lot of his college admissions success. “Firstly, the MUN Institute gave me social skills that helped me ace all of my interviews,” he said. Ayush said that connecting to the MUN community through the Institute was important as well. “It helped me develop a network of connections that came in useful at conferences such as ILMUNC and WAMUNC; I was able to win Best Delegate in the Ad-Hoc Committee at both of these conferences. Awards such as these were a major part of my college applications.”

Punn Siwabutr (right), who attended the Crisis and Secretary-General MUN Institute programs during the summer of 2016, will be attending New York University (NYU) this fall. Punn is from Thailand, and says that, “The MUN Institute gave me an insight into the way American MUN committees – particularly Crisis committees – are structured. I learned a lot about MUN culture in the US as well. This helped develop my answers to the various college essay questions by giving a new perspective on the activity I already love.” Punn was also accepted to the University of Edinburgh and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London.

A number of MUN Institute alumni also factored in Model UN in their decisions about where to apply to college. John Salchak (left), who attended the Ambassador program in 2015 and the Secretary-General program in 2016, did exactly this. “After four years of having MUN be a big part of my life, I didn’t want to give it up. When looking at schools, I looked for teams that Best Delegate had said were competitive teams and hosted conferences.”

John eventually settled on George Washington University (GWU), where he’ll be a freshman this fall. “During my time at the MUN Institute, I also fell in love with Washington, D.C. and realized it’s where I wanted to be for the next four years. I decided to go to GWU in large part because of its MUN program!” John has also served as a Media Associate for Best Delegate this past school year, and he’ll be joining over a dozen MUN Institute alumni at GWU.

Overall, we at the MUN Institute and Best Delegate are so proud of our incredible alumni. We know that they will all continue to shine throughout their college years, and will use their leadership skills and knowledge of diplomacy to work hard to make the world a better place. We offer our sincerest congratulations to these students and the rest of the incoming class of 2021!

Read on to see even more MUN Institute alumni college acceptances from 2016 and 2017. Are you an MUN Institute alumni and want to be added to the list? Email conna@bestdelegate.com!

University of Pennsylvania

Daniel Gordon – Diplomat Program, Crisis Program, Secretary-General Program
Alan Wang – Diplomat Program
Eliza Hoang – Ambassador Program, Crisis Program (2016)
Dylan Zuniga – Diplomat Program (2016)
Hannah Nasseri – Secretary-General Program (2016)

University of Oxford

Khalil Mair – Diplomat Program (2016)

Harvard University

Liz Manero – Diplomat Program (2016)

Cornell University

Timothy Farrow – Secretary-General Program
Ariana Kim – Ambassador Program (2016)
Pablo Fiori – Diplomat Program (2016)

Brown University

Jamie Flynn – Diplomat Program (2016)

Duke University

Annie Hsu – Secretary-General Program
Rodrigo Ferreira – Diplomat Program (2016)

Washington & Lee University

Phuong Mai – Ambassador Program

Emory University

Cleopatra Myrianthopoulos – Ambassador Program

Dartmouth College

Alice Bennet – Secretary-General Program (2016)
Rushil Shukla – Diplomat Program, Crisis Program (2016)

New York University (NYU)

Punn Siwabutr – Crisis Program, Secretary-General Program
Rodrigo Ferreira – Diplomat Program (2016)
Ariana Kim – Ambassador Program (2016)
Danielle Susa – Diplomat Program (2016)
Gordon Ryoo – Diplomat Program (2016)

U.C.L.A.

Ariana Kim – Ambassador Program (2016)
David Yang – Diplomat Program (2016)
Hannah Nasseri – Secretary-General Program (2016)
Annica Denktas – Diplomat Program (2016)

University of Michigan

Nithya Ramesh – Diplomat Program (2016)
Jack Mahon – Diplomat Program (2016)

U.C. Berkeley

Ayush Saxena – Diplomat Program
Danielle Susa – Diplomat Program (2016)
Madeleine Valdez – Secretary-General Program (2016)
Hannah Nasseri – Secretary-General Program (2016)
William Kim – Crisis Program (2016)