This article was written by Best Delegate co-founder Ryan Villanueva. It is reproduced here from the Best Delegate website.
Applying to college isn’t just about your SAT, your GPA, or your resume. College admissions officers look for so much more so they can truly get to know you while reading your application. One thing they look for is leadership. You should always try to demonstrate your leadership experience in your college applications, essays, and interviews. Luckily, Model UN offers many opportunities to show leadership — here are 5 ways:
Winning Awards
Every moment in committee is an opportunity to show leadership. Whether it’s making speeches, building alliances, or debating resolutions, you are trying to persuade others to follow you. Hopefully, it results in winning awards that you can show on your college application.
But realize that awards are only suggestions of leadership – how you win awards are the actual examples. It’s not enough to list your awards – explain how your leadership skills led to winning them. Draw upon your Model UN experience and find a story that makes this point clear.
Chairing Committees
Chairing a committee offers another opportunity to show leadership. Whether it’s writing background guides, moderating debate, or answering delegates’ questions, you’re providing guidance and direction to other students.
But similar to winning awards, being a chair is only a suggestion of leadership. You exemplify leadership by helping other students learn about international issues and develop their own leadership skills. Your role is similar to being a teacher – especially if your committee is full of new delegates. Think from this perspective when describing your experience as a chair.
Running Conferences
Winning awards and chairing committees show that you can lead for a weekend, but being a Secretary-General or conference Secretariat member shows leadership over a longer period of time – the months leading up to a conference.
Running a conference is an opportunity to show project management skills, since you have to take the large task of organizing a conference and break it up into smaller tasks. Training chairs and managing other people also shows organizational leadership. And you have to deal with customers – the schools attending your conference. These are uncommon traits for high school and college students that you can highlight in your applications and interviews.
Starting Something
Your leadership experience is not limited to Model UN. If you find an interesting committee topic or learn something that excites you, find other ways to explore it. You can start by bringing a speaker to campus, holding a movie screening, or writing about it in class or campus newspapers. You might even want to start a separate club devoted to you topic. If MUN leads you to another academic or extracurricular passion, discuss it in your application!
Leaving a Legacy
As you gain more Model UN experience and rise through the ranks in your club, you’re asked to pass on your knowledge to younger members. You have to train them as delegates, give them an idea of what to expect in committee, and explain what to do in certain situations. If you’ve run conferences, you have to advise the next Secretariat, offer insights on what to improve, and be candid about your own performance so your successors can learn from your mistakes. You’re trying to build institutional knowledge so that your club continues to grow long after you graduate.
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Want to learn more about how you can use your MUN skills in college applications?
