Introduction: The Coalition Application
The Coalition Application is a college application portal that is accepted by over 100 colleges and universities. In 2016, the Coalition Application was launched with the purpose of making the college application process easier for students from underrepresented groups. Students from all backgrounds, however, can apply to a participating institution using the Coalition Application. Coalition provides a resource library as well as capabilities for saving papers and working with others, in addition to allowing students to submit applications.
Who Should Use This Application?
Because of the Coalition’s emphasis on college access and affordability, many students believe that the application is only for students from underrepresented groups or who are experiencing financial challenges. While the Coalition Application strives to provide more assistance for these groups than the Common Application, all college applicants are welcome to apply. Only the Coalition Application is accepted by a few schools. Using the Coalition Application is, in general, a question of personal preference. Choose the Coalition Application if you believe the Locker and Collaboration Space will assist you in putting together a winning application, or if you believe the collaborative approach to essay writing will benefit you.
Key Features
Students who use the Coalition Application should take advantage of Coalition, a suite of tools that assists students in preparing their college applications. Students can begin filling the Coalition workspace with college admissions-related items as early as 9th grade, including grades, essays, projects, artwork, activities, and accomplishments.
Primary Features
- Locker: This tool keeps a record of materials that may be relevant during the college application process. Students can use the Locker to store essays, research projects, artwork, films, and photographs. Students can choose whatever materials in the Locker they want to share with colleges throughout the application process.
- Coalition Counselor: It is an online resource library that can assist students with the application process. Although a live connection with a counsellor is not available, students can access the resource library for expert help on topics such as financing for college, managing the SAT and ACT, and composing application essays.
- Coalition Application: Students use the Coalition Application to consolidate all of the materials they’ve collected on Coalition during high school and to submit their college applications.
- Collaborative Space: Students can invite friends, family members, professors, and counsellors to provide input on application materials in the Collaboration Space. This feature comes in handy when refining your application essay and fine-tuning your list of extracurricular activities to make them stand out.
Pros and Cons of the Coalition Application
PROS
- Locker: It helps you organize your time and material. As soon as they reach high school, students can use the Locker function to upload grades, awards, and extracurriculars. As a result, as students move through high school, they can send their application papers to Coalition. When it comes to senior year, having all of this material recorded before you start putting together your application in earnest will save you time and work. You can also store documents in the Locker throughout your high school career, so you can conveniently keep track of your best writing samples, college essay drafts, grades, and extracurricular activity paperwork.
- Multimedia Uploads: Multimedia uploads in Coalition App allow you to be more creative with your apps. The ability to upload and save multimedia, such as photographs, video, music, spreadsheets, and presentations, is another useful feature of the Coalition Locker. Multimedia uploads are permitted at some Coalition App-accepting schools. This feature is ideal for students who have artistic backgrounds or interests, as well as students who wish to show a facet of their personality and individuality that cannot be represented solely through essays and grades.
- Counselling and Guidance: Students can use the Coalition App to interact and engage with mentors, such as instructors, guidance counsellors, or even classmates, directly through the application site. This is an extremely useful tool that allows you to quickly receive confidential feedback on your work.
CONS
The Coalition Application is only accepted by a few schools: In the larger scheme of things, the Coalition App is accepted by a limited number of schools. However, because the Coalition App is accepted by a large number of major universities and colleges across the United States, there’s a good chance that all or most of the schools you want to apply to will be included.
Cost of the Coalition Application
The Locker, Collaborative Space, Coalition Counselor, and Coalition Application are all free to use. The Coalition’s tools and support are free to all students, regardless of their financial situation.
This does not, however, imply that applying to institutions will be free. Students must pay an application fee for each institution to which they are applying through the Coalition Application. However, students who have served in the military or come from low-income families may be eligible for a fee waiver. Fee waivers are instantly provided to students who match one of the following four criteria:
- At school, they receive free or reduced-cost lunches.
- Participates in a TRIO programme run by the federal government.
- ACT, College Board, or NACAC fee waivers are available.
- Is a U.S. Armed Forces veteran or active member?
Low-income students can get application cost waivers even if they don’t utilize the Coalition Application, but the Coalition Application makes the process especially quick and straightforward for all member schools.
College and Universities Accepting the App
To become a member of the Coalition, a school must achieve three criteria:
- Access: Coalition members must be welcoming to students from all walks of life, and each institution must have a track record of engaging students from underserved communities.
- Affordability: Member institutions must have a history of graduating students with minimum debt, offer reasonable in-state tuition, and/or satisfy the entire demonstrated financial need of applicants.
- Success: The Coalition’s members must have a graduation rate of at least 50% for students from underserved and low-income communities.
According to these few universities/colleges accepting this app are:
PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
GEORGIA TECH
THE OHIO UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES
AMHERST COLLEGE
BOWDOIN COLLEGE
ROLLINS COLLEGE
KENYON COLLEGE
FAQ’S
The fundamental distinction between the Common Application and the Coalition Application is that the latter, as its name implies, aims to assist underrepresented and low-resourced applicants.
Students can start preparing for their applications in any grade of high school and keep resources (such as essays, portfolios, resumes, and recommendations) online in a virtual “locker” with the Coalition application.
As a general rule, students can use both the Common App and the Coalition App at the same time, which means they can create free accounts on both systems. A student, on the other hand, can only apply to one school using one app. Schools that accept both the Common App and the Coalition App have no preference for one over the other.
While the Coalition App is far from flawless, it is progressively establishing itself as a viable alternative to the Common Application. The Coalition platform may be better for students who wish to showcase creative work or get a head start on their applications because it allows them to access it starting in 9th grade, provides multimedia capabilities, and has unique organizing tools.