2025-26 Coalition Application Guide

While the Common Application is the most widely used college application, it’s not the only option for students who are getting ready to apply to their best-fit colleges. The Coalition Application is an alternative that now counts more than 160 institutions as member colleges, including highly selective colleges and universities like Columbia, Harvard, and UPenn.   

How can applicants choose between the Common App and the Coalition Application? Before you decide which format is best for you, it’s important to understand exactly how each application works. Although many students are familiar with the Common App, far less have the Coalition Application on their radar. Keep reading to learn more about this application process and the considerations students should prioritize when choosing how they will submit their applications. 

What Is the Coalition Application?  

The Coalition Application is much like the Common App in that it’s a central college application where students can submit one main application to several different colleges that utilize the platform. Colleges can also create school-specific supplements that ask for materials, essays, and more outside of the main Coalition Application. Unlike the Common App, the Coalition Application does not have an established opening date — each member school determines its own opening date for the application. However, students can expect most schools to open the application during the summer.  

The Coalition Application platform also has a number of tools, including the locker, where students can store essays, projects, and other materials for review by counselors and admissions officers, the application itself, and resources for students who may have limited access to college prep materials and guidance. 

History of the Coalition Application 

In September of 2015, it was announced that over 80 colleges, including all the Ivy Leagues and Stanford, would be forming the Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success (CAAS) to “increase college access and revamp the way that students apply to college.” Rumors that elite colleges were searching for a Common App alternative had been swirling for a while, and the announcement of the CAAS was the culmination of many months of speculation.  

The Coalition Application was first released for the 2016-17 application cycle and has gone through several adjustments since then. The number of member colleges has also changed, and most member institutions that use the Coalition Application also accept the Common App. 

The Coalition Application’s vision and mission is to make higher education accessible to all students and support them in a way that positions them for success — especially students from marginalized and underrepresented communities. All member schools must be aligned with this vision and mission.  

Coalition Application Essay Prompts 

Like the Common Application, the Coalition Application includes both the main essay as well as additional, school-specific writing prompts which institutions can choose to add. Here are the current Coalition Application essay prompts, which have not been changed from the last admissions cycle:  

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 obstacle 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.

Here are the 2025-26 Common Application essay prompts for comparison. 

Colleges Using the Coalition Application 

While the Common Application has over 1,000 member colleges, the Coalition App has a smaller member number — more than 160 — and each member college must meet criteria like affordable tuition, need-based aid, and a six-year graduation rate of 70% or higher.  

Over recent years, the Coalition App’s member schools have changed significantly. Students can find a mix of public and private institutions on the Coalition Application, from small liberal arts colleges to large research universities.  

Common App vs. Coalition App: Which Should You Use? 

Given some of the similarities between the Common App and the Coalition Application, students might have a hard time determining which format they should use to submit their applications. Others might wonder if there is one application that colleges will prefer, or if there’s a format that can help them stand out amongst other applicants. 

The truth is that there’s no one platform that colleges will prefer over the other. Just like the SAT and ACT are both accepted equally as standardized tests, there’s no advantage or disadvantage to selecting the Common Application over the Coalition Application (or vice versa). 

Instead of choosing based on what you think the admissions office is looking for, students should consult the list of application requirements for every school on their best-fit list to make an informed decision. Since the Common Application has more than 1,000 member schools versus the Coalition Application’s much smaller number, there’s a chance that some of the schools you’re interested in might not accept this application. If that’s the case, it might be more efficient to prioritize the Common Application so that you can do all your work under one application portal. 

Submit a Competitive Application with IvyWise 

Whether you choose the Coalition Application or the Common Application, it’s important to start your applications early so that you can avoid the stress that comes with working down to the wire. At IvyWise, we recommend that students begin their applications during the summer before their senior year so that they can feel confident and prepared throughout.  

If you’re interested in getting a jumpstart on your applications, our team of college admissions experts can guide you through every step of the process. We will ensure you submit the most compelling and competitive application possible to maximize your chances of college admissions success.  

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