Conference Directory · New York & the Northeast
New York is the center of gravity for Model UN. The real United Nations sits on the East River, NHSMUN fills a Midtown hotel with delegates from over 70 countries every March, and the city circuit runs deep enough that a motivated delegate could compete most months of the school year without leaving the metro area.
This list covers New York City plus the New Jersey and Connecticut conferences that NYC teams treat as home turf: Ivy League spring flagships upstate at Cornell, fall staples at Princeton and Rutgers, and the school-hosted one-day conferences where most city delegates get their start.
11 conferences listed · Last verified July 2026
IMUNA (International Model United Nations Association) · New York, NY
The largest high school Model UN conference in the world, run across two Midtown sessions with delegates from more than 70 countries. Education-first philosophy, traditional GA and ECOSOC committees, and closing ceremonies historically held at UN Headquarters.
Columbia University (CIRCA) · New York, NY
The premier crisis-focused conference on the East Coast circuit. Small, fast-paced committees, most under 25 delegates, held on Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus. Best suited to delegates with committee experience.
New York University · New York, NY
NYU’s flagship high school conference in Manhattan, a short ride from UN Headquarters, with a mix of General Assembly and crisis committees.
Princeton University (International Relations Council) · Princeton, NJ
One of the premier fall conferences on the East Coast, staffed by more than 100 Princeton undergraduates, with a full GA, specialized, and crisis slate.
Rutgers University (IDIA) · New Brunswick, NJ
A four-day Thursday-to-Sunday conference at the Hyatt Regency New Brunswick, running since 1992 with GA and specialized committees and a strongly educational bent.
Yale University (Yale International Relations Association) · New Haven, CT
Fifty-plus committees held in actual Yale classrooms, most capped around 30 delegates, spanning GA, specialized, and crisis, plus a campus-experience day. New Haven is a common trip for NYC-area teams.
Cornell University (International Affairs Society) · Ithaca, NY
A spring-season conference on Cornell’s campus with historically and topically wide-ranging GA and crisis committees.
Horace Mann School · Bronx, NY
One of the largest single-day conferences in the country, running since 1985 with GA and crisis committees for over 40 schools. Its sister event, HoMMUNC Jr. in the spring, is dedicated to middle schoolers.
Stuyvesant High School · New York, NY
A crisis-heavy one-day conference for Greater NYC delegations with small, intimate committees. StuyMUN also runs MiniMUNC each fall, a good low-stakes season opener.
The Dalton School · New York, NY
An Upper East Side school-hosted conference with roughly nine committees ranging from General Assemblies to crisis rooms.
National Collegiate Conference Association · New York, NY
The world’s largest and oldest collegiate Model UN, culminating at UN Headquarters. Listed here for context: high school delegates sometimes search for it, but it is a university conference.
NHSMUN, the National High School Model United Nations, run by IMUNA each March across two sessions in Midtown Manhattan. It draws several thousand delegates from more than 70 countries and has historically held its closing ceremonies inside the UN General Assembly Hall. At the college level, NMUN-NY holds the equivalent title.
Start with the school-hosted one-day events rather than the travel flagships. MiniMUNC in the fall and the one-day conferences at Horace Mann, Dalton, and Stuyvesant give new delegates a full committee experience without the cost or intensity of a four-day hotel conference. NHSMUN is also friendlier to newer delegates than its size suggests, since it deliberately emphasizes education over awards.
Yes. HoMMUNC Jr., run by Horace Mann in the spring, is dedicated entirely to middle schoolers, and the main November HoMMUNC seats both age groups. Several other school-hosted conferences in the metro area open committees to grades 6 to 8 in some years, so check each conference’s invitation letter.
It runs nearly all school year. The fall block goes from HoMMUNC and EmpireMUNC in November through PMUNC and RUMUN before Thanksgiving; January brings CMUNCE and YMUN; NHSMUN anchors March; and the season closes with the April one-days plus CMUNC upstate.
Start with the two-week first-conference prep plan, print the first-conference checklist, and draft your paper with the position paper template. The guide to how awards actually work explains what chairs score once you get there.