What is the Coalition Application?

If you are applying to colleges in the US for your undergraduate studies, you have probably heard about the Common Application form. However, in the past few years, the Coalition Application is becoming a popular application platform.

What exactly is the Coalition Application?

A relatively new way to apply to colleges, the Coalition Application debuted in 2016 with 48 colleges, intending to “increase students’ access to higher education.” In a year, this figure more than doubled to 116 and in 2018 over 140 universities were on the platform. To be listed on the Coalition platform, colleges must prove that they provide substantial support through financial aid, scholarships or other means to low-income, first-generation or underrepresented students. There are both public and private colleges listed on the Coalition Application platform. Some of these are the Ivy League colleges, Stanford University, Caltech, Georgia Institute of Technology, Pomona College, Purdue University and Tufts University.

What are the benefits of using the Coalition Application?

To aid applicants with the admission process, the Coalition application offers many free resources that will help you during the application process.

The Locker:

A private digital space for students, The Locker can be used by students from grade 9 onwards to upload documents, photos, videos and other useful material. This is beneficial as having all your documents saved in one place will help you stay organised and track all your achievements from grade 9. You can then share this material directly with the colleges that require it.

The Collaboration Space:

The Collaboration Space allows you to share and request inputs for your essays, resume, college lists and other application-related material from parents, counsellors or even trusted mentors. None of the work-in-progress or draft versions here will be visible to your colleges unless you decide to share them. Apart from these, there are many videos and templates that you can review to help you during this process.

What does the Coalition Application form contain?

In terms of the form, the sections of the Coalition Application are consistent with other application platforms. These include an academic section, experiences/activities section as well as some space for students to input their grades. The Coalition Application also features a main essay, which may or may not be required or viewed by all colleges to which you are applying. You can find the essay topics on the Coalition Application website or once you log into your account.  

Are there any fees associated with the Coalition Application form?

There is no fee to create a Coalition Application account. However, when you submit your application to colleges, you will have to pay an application fee for each university. The amount of this fee will vary depending on the college to which you are applying.

Completing the personal and academic information requested on the form as early as possible is recommended.  This information is a critical part of the final application and rushing through it can result in activities being missed or errors being made.

Keep in mind that some universities, such as the University of Florida, the University of Washington and the University of Maryland, only use the Coalition Application and some, such as the University of California colleges, have their own application platform. Make sure that you check your college list and choose the appropriate platforms to ensure that you have to fill out the least number of forms.

If you do need to fill out the Common Application, read our blog post before you begin. For any other help regarding applications, or selecting which colleges to include in your college list, get in touch with us.