Written by Kevin33,101Updated Jul 31, 20239 min read
If you are applying to colleges in the United States, you will likely have heard of the Common Application. But you may be unaware of another universal application process that is relatively new–the Coalition Application.
The Coalition Application is a centralized online application that students can complete only once to apply to multiple colleges. This application process helps students save a lot of time if they are planning on applying to multiple schools that accept the Coalition Application. This article details how the Coalition App differs from the Common App and lists colleges that are currently accepting the Coalition App for the 2023-2024 school year.
Launched in 2016, the Coalition Application allows students to apply to multiple colleges through a centralized online hub. Instead of having to fill out numerous different applications for different schools, students can simply fill out a central application and submit it to schools that accept Coalition Applications.
The Coalition Application aims to target students going through financial difficulties and whose demographics are not as well represented. Thus, there are specific criteria for schools to meet in order to use the Coalition Application. The criteria include the following:
Be open to students with different cultural, socio-economic, and geographic backgrounds
Have low or no-debt financial aid
Meet the full demonstrated need
Offer in-state tuition
Have high graduation rates
Differences Between Coalition Application and Common Application
The Coalition Application and Common Application are online platforms that allow students to apply to multiple colleges. Both application systems allow students to fill out important details such as their contact information, extracurricular activities, grades, and essays. Although there may be additional fees for application depending on the colleges, using Coalition App and Common App is free for students.
Despite the similarities of the two application systems, there are significant differences between them. Thus, it is essential for students to compare the two and carefully decide which application to prepare and submit.
Below is a table of comparisons between Coalition App and Common App:
Coalition Application
Common Application
Since 2016
Since 1975
More than 150 schools
More than 800 schools
No limit to the number of applications
Limit of 20 applications
Students can submit the same application for schools that accept Coalition Application
Students have to submit different applications for each school
Free to use but requires additional application fees for each school
Free to use but some schools require additional fees
Students can reduce time spent on writing essays and application forms but there are fewer essay prompts to choose from
There are more essay prompts to choose from and students can struggle less coming up with their own essay topics
A relatively smaller pool of schools to apply to
There is a larger pool of schools to apply to with Common App
Relatively less available information from students in the past due to short term history
There are lots of available information from students who completed Common App previously
Students can list up to 8 extracurricular activities
Students can list up to 10 extracurricular activities
Allows students to upload videos, audio files, spreadsheets, and other documents
Allows students to provide links to their multimedia records
‘Locker’ tool of Coalition Application allows students to store documents from 9th grade (Essays, recommendations, etc.)
Allows students to only list up the recent coursework
Who Uses the Coalition Application?
More than 150 US colleges from 35 states and Washington, DC use the Coalition Application. There is a mix of both public and private schools that use the Coalition Application.
Public schools that accept Coalition Application are likely to offer free or low-cost in-state tuition while private schools offer loan-free financial aid or aid that fully meets the demonstrated need.
Having high graduation rates is a requirement for colleges to use Coalition Application, referring that these schools are not only academically strong but also supportive for their students.
Coalition Application is accepted by highly selective colleges and universities including the following schools:
Five Ivy League schools, including Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, UPenn, and Yale
Many highly selective schools, including Stanford, UChicago, Caltech, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, and Johns Hopkins.
Top liberal arts colleges, including Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Bowdoin, Carleton, Pomona, and Middlebury.
Highly-ranked public schools like the College of William and Mary, University of Florida, UMich (Ann Arbor), and UT Austin.
There are also schools that accept Coalition App but not Common App:
Rutgers University—Camden
Rutgers University—New Brunswick
Rutgers University—Newark
Texas A&M University
Texas State University
The University of New Mexico
The University of Texas at Austin
University of Washington—Bothell
University of Washington—Seattle
Why Should I Apply Using the Coalition App?
Students might choose to apply via the Coalition Application for the same reason they use the Common App: it streamlines the college application process and greatly reduces the amount of time it takes to prepare and send application documents (such as transcripts, test scores, and other elements of your student profile), write the essay, and receive application essay editing services. In fact, the Coalition Essay Prompts are similar to the Common Application Essay prompts, so students who are familiar with these materials might find it somewhat easier to prepare their application essays as well.
Per the Coalition Application website, in order to promote increased access, the Coalition App is designed to engage students in the college process earlier in their high school careers. It also aims to make the application more “holistic and organic” than the Common App. This makes it a strong alternative choice to the Common App when applying to colleges.
Which US Colleges Accept the Coalition Application?
The following is the list of schools in the US that accept the Coalition Application. Currently, more than 150 colleges in the US accept the Coalition Application, and the list is continuously being updated.
The following is the list of schools that accept Coalition applications as of November 2022, listed in alphabetical order. You can also check out the official Coalition Application website for the latest list of schools.
Get Professional Editing Before Applying to Schools
Wordvice provides English editing for all kinds of admissions, research, and business documents. Before submitting your Coalition Essay to schools, be sure to receive essay editing services for your own application documents, and recommendation letter editing services for any referees who might need a bit of help expressing their kind words about you to colleges.
