College Application Platforms: Common Application or Coalition

After years of hard work in high school, seniors are tasked with assembling all their achievements into an organized college application for submission. There are two primary online platforms that students can use for colleges around the country: the Common Application and Coalition. So which one should applicants choose? That depends.

The Common Application is the most well-know college application platform. It has the most extensive number of member colleges, totaling more than 800. This is the primary benefit of the system. Students have a wide variety of choices and almost any college they want to apply to will be on it.

Coalition is a newer platform created to help make college available for all students regardless of income. That is why all the member colleges must be able to demonstrate that they make college affordable for low-income students through financial aid. This is the primary benefit of the platform; however, many colleges on the Common Application offer great financial aid for students, but not all of them. Another benefit of Coalition is it provides more space than the Common Application for information about activities in the activity section.

Both platforms are very similar when it comes to the organization of student information. They have a section for family and student profile information, activities, test scores (SAT/ACT, AP, IB, etc.), personal statement essay, letters of recommendation, and supplemental applications and essays. Regarding the personal statement essay that will be sent to every college, the Common Application and Coalition have different prompts so students should look at both sets to see if one prompt works best for them.

Overall, both applications are very similar and provide great ways for students to apply to colleges. There are other application platforms, such as one for University of California public schools. Some colleges have applicants apply directly through their website, such as Georgetown University. Otherwise, it is up to the student to choose between the Common Application or Coalition.