Inline is an in-browser software tool that launches automatically when you open the Common Application®. It helps you complete the Common App®, and helps with the questions and essays for the 800+ colleges that use the Common App, including expert recommendations such as what extracurriculars and test scores to report.
Inline also offers support for supplemental, college-specific essays, including our “Inline INTEL,” which analyzes sample essays and provides an inside view on how those essays would be evaluated by a college admissions officer.
Currently Inline works only with the Common App® freshman application. We hope to add the transfer application in the future!
Your Inline subscription will renew automatically month-to-month, and you can cancel anytime whenever you no longer need it by clicking here and entering your license key (which you originally received by email; if you can't find your license key, please contact us and we can resend it).
For those of you who remember college applications only on paper: students today typically submit their college applications online, and most selective colleges in the United States use an online platform called the Common Application to streamline the process.
Inline is not affiliated with the Common Application; we make it easier to use it strategically and put your best foot forward.
The college application process has grown increasingly competitive. While students often can avail themselves of many support services as they apply to schools — counselors, tutoring and test prep services, private college consultants — most of these services are not available on demand, and some of them get very expensive.
There are also very few services that support the most important part of the admissions process: the application itself. Inline was created to provide help when it is most needed: online, in real time, while you are working on your applications.
Also, because applicants access Inline digitally, it is available to students who might not have access to traditional college counseling resources.
Anna Ivey and Alison Cooper Chisolm, both former admissions officers at top U.S. universities, have for many years been working privately with applicants and their families who are navigating the U.S. admissions process, and the Common App in particular. They noticed two big problems:
Inline is a tool to help level the playing field in college admissions by offering real-time college application help that is much more affordable than hiring a private consultant, and that meets applicants where they are: online, struggling with a sometimes tricky application form, and needing help with it in the moment.
Inline is a software extension that works with Google Chrome® on your desktop, laptop, or Chromebook. Once you download it, it launches automatically when you open the Common App and is constantly active to support you while you complete the application — hence the name Inline.
In order to use it, you'll need:
Inline works with the Chrome browser and is simple to install. (It is technically a “browser extension.”) Download and subscribe to Inline here. It takes just one click to install the extension, which will launch the very next time you open the Common App. You do need to have a Common App account to use Inline, and it must be used on a desktop, laptop, or Chromebooke. Once you’re logged into your Common App account, Inline tips and advice will appear, like magic.
A browser extension is simply a piece of software that extends the functionality of your browser in some way. Once you follow the procedure for installing an extension, it will launch automatically in the appropriate environment - in this case, when you open the Common App using Google Chrome.
Many high schools have "firewalls" built into their internet networks that automatically block you from accessing or downloading anything but a few applications and sites that have been pre-approved by your school. (In general that's a good thing, because it keeps out the creepers and the bad guys.)
You might have to talk to your college counselor about having your school's IT administrator or IT department "whitelist" https://www.inline.com, and https://inlinecoach.com from the firewall (i.e. make an exception to the firewall) so that you can access Inline and use it while you're on your school's internet network.
Anytime after January 1 of your Junior year is a good time to create your Common App account and download Inline. Your license is good for two admissions cycles, so you can use the time between January 1 and August 1 (when the Common App officially “opens” for the admissions year) before your Senior year to get a head start on the process.
We do update Inline, all the time! Once you have installed the extension in your Chrome browser, you don’t have to do anything else to get Inline updates — you’ll always have the latest, greatest version appearing in your browser when you open your browser and log into your Common App.
You can deactivate or delete Inline at any time. In Chrome, just navigate to chrome://extensions and either disable or delete the extension.
Please visit our online help desk. If you can’t find an answer to your question in the FAQ, please contact us by email.
If you want to ace your freshman college applications and get the inside scoop from experienced college admissions officers who have been up to their elbows in all the glory and all the quirks of the Common App for years, then Inline is right for you.
Yes, it is possible to gift inline to an applicant. Once you have subscribed to Inline, you'll receive an email with instructions for downloading it and also a license key, and you can forward that email to the recipient with a nice note attached from you.
Yes, we have special pricing for schools. Contact us here.
Yes, we have special pricing for school districts. Contact us here.
Yes! We come from the consulting world of IEC's, and we’d love to work with you and offer discounts for your college counseling students. Visit this page for more information.
