What is a Coalition Application Essay?

The coalition application is an application process similar to the common application that strives to provide improved opportunities during the college application process, especially for those from historically underrepresented groups. This was established in the year 2015 and students have been making use of this centralized system for applying to colleges and universities that accept coalition applications. This application will mostly contain the basic details of the candidate including their academic achievements, GPA, test scores, etc. along with other information like their name, address, etc.

At the same time, coalition applications will also have an essay section where 5 or 6 essay prompts will be provided from which candidates will be able to choose one. These essays are supposed to highlight the candidate's strengths and abilities and provide detailed information about them and their interests unlike the objective parts of other applications. Some institutions also allow students to upload video or photo essays instead of written essays as long as the content can provide deep insight into understanding the candidate.

Benefits of Coalition Application

Using the coalition application provides students with the choice of engaging in the application process as early as they are in 9th grade. Students will be able to provide their details and achievements on the go using the locker feature and choose to allow certain colleges to view the same.

• Using the coalition application is ideal for the top scorers in high school who begin amassing their credentials and other achievements in 9th grade.
• Candidates who are applying to colleges that mostly accept coalition applications will be able to do the same since they won’t have to repeat the process for every single university in question.
• The coalition locker will allow candidates to store all their important admission documents from when they are in high school so that it becomes easier during college admissions.
• The universities that accept coalition applications often allow candidates to submit multimedia uploads which provides enough exposure to those who wish to join liberal and fine arts.
• Unlike the common application essay that has to be copy-pasted into a text box, coalition application essays have to be submitted in a pdf format where students can showcase their creativity.
• The coalition app provides students with the opportunity of communicating with mentors who can provide accurate feedback on their application.

Who Can Use Coalition Application?

The coalition application can be used by all college aspirants irrespective of whether they are in high school or if they are transfer students. Adults who wish to continue their education and even return students will be able to make use of this application process. The MyCoalition website also contains a section for parents and mentors to better understand the application process and also to be of help to young students who are new to the process.

Cost of Coalition Application

The coalition application process is free like the common application. Candidates will be able to use the locker, collaboration space, and applications for no cost. This will also include the helpful blogs and other resources that have been made available through the coalition application app. But at the same time, students will have to pay the admission fee for the respective universities they are applying to.

Candidates who have served in the military and those who come from low-income families will be able to apply for a fee waiver and be exempted from paying the college admission fee.

How to Apply Using Coalition Application?

To apply using the coalition application, one will have to create an account on the coalition website. Once the candidate has an official account on the website, they will be able to fill out their basic information including their name and address. Ideally, candidates should have all their necessary documents at hand before planning to apply. They will be able to request official documents like their transcripts and letters of recommendation from their counselor through the application. For this, one should start applying at the earliest since it can take a while for counselors to respond through the platform.

Once candidates have submitted their official documents, they will be able to provide detailed information for 8 of their extracurricular activities. Unlike the common application where one can provide only 150 words per activity, the coalition application provides 255 words per activity which will allow students to give more details regarding their achievements. Until now, the information that has been provided will remain the same for all the colleges one chooses to apply to.

After this, students will be able to enter school-specific information in the application along with their college essays. The essay has to be saved in the virtual locker before it can be sent to specific colleges of one’s choosing.

Virtual Locker

This is a digital space provided within the official account the candidate creates on the coalition application website. Candidates will be able to save their important academic and extracurricular achievement data in this space from 9th grade. It provides students with the opportunity of saving essential aspects of the application way before they have to begin the college admission process.

Collaboration Space

This is also a digital space where students will be able to interact with individuals who are experienced in college admission processes. One will be able to talk to counselors, teachers, and even close family about their college application. Students will easily receive excellent feedback on their work allowing them to either gain confidence or work better on their application. They will also be able to collaborate with others for writing essays and even college lists.

Deadlines for Coalition Application

There are no set deadlines for the coalition application for all the colleges since it is decided by the individual colleges that accept coalition applications. The applications generally open when the admission cycles begin in universities which can be in July and August. The prompts for the application will be released at the beginning of the calendar year. In general, the deadline to accept coalition applications is January for the majority of the colleges.

Colleges Accepting Coalition Application

The coalition application is accepted by over 150 schools out of which many are highly sought-after colleges and 5 are Ivy League colleges where admission is highly selective. The institutions that accept coalition applications generally have high graduation rates and are a mix of both public and private institutions. The public institutions that accept coalition applications provide programs with little to no tuition fee. At the same time, private institutions that accept coalition applications provide financial aid that is loan-free or as required by the candidate.

A few of the institutions that accept coalition applications include-

• Columbia University
• Harvard University
• Amherst College
• John Hopkins University
• University of Florida
• University of Chicago
• Kenyon College
• University of Texas, Austin
• Arizona State University
• Pomona College
• Emory University

Ideal Length of a Coalition Application Essay

The coalition application essay, unlike the common application, is to be submitted as a pdf. While this allows students to be as creative as possible, it also allows students to not bother about word count. They will be able to write as much as they want. But at the end of the day, it is ideal for students to write a coalition essay that is 500 to 650 words long.

Supplement Essay

The coalition essay is one of the most important parts of the application and students will be provided with 5 to 6 prompts for the essay year after year. Students will be able to choose from these prompts and write a personal essay based on the same. But some colleges who accept coalition applications also provide supplemental essay prompts that are specific to the institution. In such cases, students will have to attempt both the coalition essay and the supplemental essay. This can range anywhere between 2 to 4 essays depending on the college. Some colleges may not have supplemental essays. Supplemental essay prompts are generally released between July to September with most of them being released before September 1st.

Coalition Application Essay Prompts for 2022-2023

The essay prompts provided for the academic year of 2022-2023 are-

1. Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.
2. What interests or excites you? How does it shape who you are now or who you might become in the future?
3. Describe a time when you had a positive impact on others. What were the challenges? What were the rewards?
4. Has there been a time when an idea or belief of yours was questioned? How did you respond? What did you learn?
5. What success have you achieved or obstacles have you faced? What advice would you give a sibling or friend going through a similar experience?
6. Submit an essay on a topic of your choice.

Choosing a Coalition Application Essay Prompt

Every year, there are 5 to 6 coalition application essay prompts that are released from which students will be able to choose what suits them best. Since the objective of the essay is to show the personal achievements of the candidate, it will be ideal for candidates to choose a prompt that can be attempted based on one’s past experiences or current interests. Most of the time, there will be an option that allows candidates to choose a topic of their own. Candidates who do not find the prompts that are provided to be appealing will be able to choose this option and write about whatever they want to.

Tips to Write the Best Coalition Application Essay

Writing a coalition application essay is similar to writing college application essays except that the former will allow students to highlight their background and focus on their reasons for pursuing their field of interest while the latter will be focused on the academic achievements the candidate wishes to have. This will allow students from historically underrepresented groups to represent themselves better. If candidates can link their background to their career goals, their essays can be made extraordinary since admission officers will be able to connect both these factors to understanding the candidate.

The tips for writing the best coalition application essay will be mainly focused on the language used by the candidate, the writing ability they possess, their originality, etc. among other factors. A few of these include-

• Originality- While writing the coalition application essay, candidates need to speak about their own stories and experiences along with their personal career goals including the reason behind choosing the set goal. Though borrowing ideas can seem impressive to candidates, admission officers often easily see-through such applications and it can be a reason for not being considered for admission.
• Being Precise- It is ideal for candidates to articulate their ideas flawlessly in perfect language through the essay. This does not imply that one cannot make human errors in the essay. But, candidates will have to remove generic content from their essay and stick to a 500-650 word count with only relevant details.
• Lack of Grammatical Errors- The beauty and charm of any admission essay lie in the perfect rendition of ideas. Candidates will have to ensure that their essay is devoid of grammatical errors and even punctuation errors to make the content more appealing. Editing the essay brutally to include only relevant details will be the best way to stick to the ideal word limit.

Difference Between Coalition Application and Common Application

The coalition application and common application are two platforms through which students will be able to apply to colleges and universities after high school. The most common difference between the two would be the number of participating schools in the latter. The common application includes over 900 different educational institutions in the country whereas the coalition application being relatively new has only over 150 institutions. Other differences include-

• The coalition application contains features like the virtual locker and collaboration space where students will be able to save their documents and interact with others respectively. This feature is absent in the common application.
• The target audience of the coalition application is historically marginalized groups of people, unlike the common application which targets every college aspirant.
• The coalition application only partners with institutions that have little to no tuition fee or offer favorable financial aid since it is for economically backward students as well.
• The common application website is supposed to be technically better since it has been in existence for years compared to the coalition application.
• Candidates will be able to apply to as many universities as they want using the coalition application whereas those using the common application will be limited to only 20 universities that they can apply to.