Competing
A competitive simulation is one your students travel to. Another institution hosts it, an association sets the rules, and someone keeps score. Every program below was checked against the association’s own page. Where a fee or a date is not published, the entry says so rather than guessing.
| Activity | High school | College |
|---|---|---|
| Model United Nations | NHSMUN $145-185 a delegate Harvard MUN $115-210 NAIMUN Georgetown, four days Berkeley MUN Mar 5-7, 2027 | National MUN Mar 2027, hotel required American MUN Nov 21-24, cheapest of the majors Harvard National MUN Feb 11-14, 2027 National Collegiate Security Conference Nov 5-8, crisis UPMUNC Oct 15-18 ChoMUN Mar 25-28, largest crisis conference SRMUN Atlanta Nov, Charlotte Apr |
| Model European Union | Pittsburgh High School Model EU each fall Virginia Tech EU Debate page last updated 2024 EU Delegation conference list plus free classroom modules | Mid-Atlantic European Union Simulation Washington DC each November, with embassy briefings; running since 1993 Pittsburgh Undergraduate Model EU Midwest Model EU Apr 9-11, 2027, Indiana SUNY Model EU no advisor or minimum size required West Coast Model EU Mar 5-6, 2027 Global Model EU Jan 2027 EuroSIM oldest; page is stale, write first |
| Model Arab League | Regional conferences about $25 a delegate National High School conference Mar 5-6, 2027, Maryland | Regional conferences $45 a delegate, flat; min. five students National University conference $55 a delegate |
| Mock trial | National High School Mock Trial Championship state ladder; $200 state fee, $750 a team Empire Mock Trial open enrollment, no qualifying needed | American Mock Trial Association new schools $225 and first team free; regionals Feb, nationals Apr |
| Moot court | National Association of Moot Court one annual case, regionals feed nationals High School Moot Court Association online qualifiers Jan-Apr | American Moot Court Association $200 a two-student team; authorization letter due August |
| Other regional bodies | Model Organization of American States Dec 2026; confirm fee with the OAS | International Model NATO Feb 11-14, $500 a delegation, min. six International Model African Union Feb 18-21, 25th annual Washington Model OAS no 2027 date posted yet |
| Legislatures | Harvard Model Congress $140 a delegate YMCA Youth and Government run by each state program Junior State of America Boys State and Boys Nation · Girls State and Girls Nation selected through local posts, not schools | No national body exists. The intercollegiate Model Congress circuit is a loose set of host-run conferences, so ask nearby institutions directly. Harvard and Yale Model Congress are high school conferences staffed by undergraduates, not college competitions. |
| Civics and hearings | We the People students testify as expert witnesses in a simulated hearing Congressional Debate cheapest entry if you already have speech and debate | Nothing equivalent at the college level. |
| Policy and crisis | Euro Challenge grades 9-10; a presentation contest, not a negotiation | The Schuman Challenge no fee, and travel paid for semi-finalists NASPAA simulation Mar 6 and 13, entirely virtual Cyber 9/12 2027 schedule not posted |
Three things to know before you search
- Moot court has three national bodies with nearly identical names. The American Moot Court Association is intercollegiate. The National Association of Moot Court is high school. The High School Moot Court Association is a third, separate body. The first two differ by one letter.
- The college mock trial body is at collegemocktrial.org, not the similar address with “collegiate” in it. The high school championship answers at two domains, nhsmtc.org and nationalmocktrial.org, and both are genuine.
- A page still headlining an event from two years ago usually means the program paused, not that the next date is coming. Those are flagged above. Write to a person before building a season around one.
What it actually costs
Entry fees are rarely the problem. Lodging is. Built only from published figures, before travel and meals:
- New college mock trial program, one team of eight, one regional: about $225, roughly $28 a student.
- Model Arab League delegation at a regional university conference: $45 a student, flat.
- Model UN delegation of twelve plus an advisor at American MUN: about $1,080 in fees and $557 in rooms, roughly $136 a student.
- The same delegation at National MUN in New York: about $2,150 in fees and $4,440 in rooms, roughly $549 a student. The mandatory conference hotel, not the fee, is the difference.
- Four two-student moot court teams at one regional: about $875, roughly $109 a student, nonrefundable.
If budget is the constraint, the cheapest real options are the Schuman Challenge, which charges nothing and pays for semi-finalists to travel, the NASPAA competition, which is virtual, and Model Arab League, which is flat-rate. A first mock trial season is also close to free.
If you want to start a team
Forming a Team sets out what each of these actually asks of you, with the high school path and the college path side by side: which body to join and in what order, what a season really costs, and the season calendar. Two printable handouts sit at the bottom of that page, one on starting a team and one on hosting a competition of your own.
Fees and dates change every year, and a few associations contradict themselves across their own pages. If something here is wrong, or an opportunity is missing, please say so.
