What's the Coalition College Application & Which Schools Use It
Many students have already heard of the Common Application prior to applying to various colleges and universities, but not all students might be familiar with the Coalition Application.
The Coalition Application, also known as the Coalition App, or the Coalition for College, serves a similar purpose to the Common App in that it allows students to complete one application to apply to several colleges at once, rather than writing a different essay and submitting different versions of an application to each school.
These one-size-fits-all application platforms help to streamline the admissions and applications process for admissions officers and applicants alike. Since many students apply to seven to ten different colleges, using one application for the bulk of each school’s process really lessens the potential for overwhelm.
However, even if you already knew that you could apply to school through the Coalition App, you might not have realized that the Coalition App, like the Common App, also offers learning and planning tools for students, teachers, counselors, and parents to help them prepare for the college application process.
What is the Coalition Application?
The Coalition Application or Coalition for College is a newer college application platform, founded in 2015. The Coalition App serves as a competitor to the Common App platform, which has been around since 1975 (but has evolved since then).
Creators of the Coalition App, a group of college leaders, have stated their goal of increasing transparency in the process of applying to college, thus eliminating some of the barriers to entry.
This offering, known as the Coalition for College, offers college planning tools for students to help them learn about, prepare for, and apply to college through a set of free online college-planning tools called MyCoalition. By creating a MyCoalition account, students can take some of the stress out of preparing for and applying to college.
The MyCoalition section of the Coalition for College website does not only help students, though. The website suggests that teachers, counselors, and parents can get a great deal out of the learning and planning tools as well.
Which schools use the Coalition App?
Over 150 colleges and universities are Coalition App members. These schools have committed not only to increasing students’ ability to get admitted by making the process more transparent but have also committed to helping students graduate and succeed once they get to college.
Thus, each prospective member school must meet certain graduation requirements that the Coalition App sets before they can become a member.
Moreover, the Coalition for College website notes member schools “are united in their mission to support lower-income, under-resourced, and/or first-generation students; to provide responsible financial aid; and to bolster students’ success in college--and beyond.”
Notable Coalition App member schools include:
- Harvard University
- Princeton University
- Yale University
- Penn State
- Texas A&M University
- Cornell College
- Barnard College
- Boston University
- Columbia University
- Emory University
- Northwestern University
- Rice University
- University of Georgia
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
However, there are over 150 schools on the list, so you can search within and view the full list on the Coalition for College website.
When should students use the Coalition App?
On the Coalition for College frequently-asked-questions page, students can find more information about the Coalition App process and what to expect. Importantly, the site expresses that students should use whatever application format works best for them.
The benefit of using the Coalition App is that students can streamline the process through an easy-to-use platform that helps them organize their content for essays, upload important documents, and provide an easy way for teachers and others to upload letters of recommendation and the like.
Though students still need to pay an application fee for each college or university to which they apply, the Coalition App also offers students who qualify for application fee waivers to fill out one form to waive their fee to all member colleges. The Coalition App will simply skip the application payment page of any school that offers a waiver for students who qualify.
Finally, of course, students will only have the option to use the Coalition App for colleges and universities that are members of the Coalition for College. For other schools, students will have to either fill out the Common App or the school’s specific application form.