The Choice of Online Application Platforms in 2018
Once colleges received the first online applications in the late 1990’s, web-based technology soon supplanted paper applications. Online applications offer many advantages to students and, even more so, for admissions offices. Among other timesaving efficiencies and conveniences, schools can create a relational database of application components for ease of reference and comparison. They can automate the assessment of the metrics of academic records. Although colleges may still accept paper applications in rare cases where there’s no online alternative, the question for today’s students is now which online application platform is best for applying to the top-tier schools that they aspire to — the ubiquitous Common App or the relatively new Coalition App.
The Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success was launched several years ago by a group of colleges and universities, including several of the most elite institutions in the country. The Coalition set as their mission “To improve the college application process for all students as they search for and apply to the perfect college”.Their goal was to establish a better alternative to the Common App, which was perceived by administrators of these schools to have certain deficiencies. The Coalition founders sought to create a more holistic application that, among other innovations, included digital storage lockers where students could start to build a portfolio in 9th grade.
Since the Coalition eased its member eligibility requirements in early 2017, its membership has grown to 148 institutions. CollegeNET, Inc., a third-party provider of web-based services, provides the Coalition’s technology base and has “no practical limit” to the number of members and applications it can handle.
Recently, events were held on campuses nationwide as part of the first annual “Coalition Day” to raise awareness of the Coalition App among students, parents, school counselors, and educators. They were introduced to the Coalition’s online toolkit called My Coalition, which is designed to engage students in the college application process early and easily. My Coalition includes the storage locker, interactive collaboration space, other useful resources, and the advise our students to apply to 12 or 13 schools, all of which they find desirable and will enable them to attain their educational goals. Because the Common App is accepted by all of the elite institutions that accept the Coalition App plus hundreds of others, we find that it’s generally simpler for our students to just use the Common App. There are no institutions that have indicated that they value one of the applications over the other, so using a particular platform will neither provide an advantage nor place a student at a disadvantage.
IvySelect will assist you in selecting the app that best meets your needs. With IvySelectas your college admissions consulting firm, you’ll benefit from our expertise throughout the entire process of gaining acceptance by Ivy League and other top-tier institutions.
