Conquer the College Application
With Less Stress & More Success

College Application Help Anytime Students Need it

Inline provides real-time, expert help for the 900+ college applications that use the Common Application® platform. Created by former admissions officers, Inline works with the Common App® general questions, as well as with individual college supplements.

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.

Decodes

Strategic advice from former admissions officers for every part of the Common Application®, including application essays and school supplements. Downloadable worksheets, checklists, timelines, and more

Specializes

Tailored advice for “Why School X” and other school-specific essays. Special add-ons for international students, homeschool students, and U.S. military veterans

Essay Intel

Access our library of sample college application essays, all annotated to show you exactly how an admissions officer evaluates an essay… what’s effective (style, content, tone) and why

Test Score Reporting

Get the inside scoop on test score reporting, including whether to submit multiple scores, which scores are most important, and which scores NOT to submit

Convenient & Private

One download and they're good to go. Tips magically show up inline in students' browsers as they’re logged into their own Common App® accounts. Inline does not track or store their information. Start as early as Junior year

Affordable

Students can download Inline for individual, non-commercial use, while schools can take advantage of affordable license bundles. Schools use Inline to round out your existing suite of college counseling tools to maximize admissions outcomes

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Features

Strategic Application Advice When students Need it Most

Once students install Inline, it opens automatically whenever they launch your Common App® account in their browsers.

Strategic advice appears in context right on their screen above each question while they're filling out your application, just when they need it most. Clicking on live links open up new browser windows that contain even more detailed advice if they want to take a deeper dive.

Insider Information at Every Step

Created by actual college admissions officers, Inline shows students how to present themselves in the best light for this audience — how to highlight their extracurriculars, report test scores (or not), brainstorm and customize essays, navigate required disclosures, and understand how seemingly basic questions can affect the admissions outcome.

Inline distills years of experience from reviewing actual college applications into practical help that makes students shine.

Know When to go the Extra Mile
... And When to Hold Back

“Should I submit an optional essay?” “Should I submit my scores to this test-optional school?”

Sometimes it's a good idea to submit non-required components, and other times it's not. Inline shows students when to submit those extras, and when to hold back. Inline also helps keep students from making mistakes that might have a negative impact on the admissions outcome.

Make the Forms Work for them

Squeezing your whole life into an application form is daunting. Inline shows students how to cherrypick the most impressive parts of their backgrounds and showcase them best in a very limited amount of space and pre-determined format.

Life Isn't Always a Straight Line

When students have to disclose a disciplinary or criminal history, or their education was interrupted for some reason, Inline has plenty of advice and even encouragement for them.

Those histories don't have to be deal-breakers, but they do have to disclose when required, and they have explain the situation in a way that is both truthful and least damaging. Inline shows them how.

Treat the Application as a Whole

Inline offers worksheets, tips, and samples to help students submit their very best application essays. Inline won't try to jam them into a box or a type.

For example, Inline will never tell someone that, as a student-athlete, they have to write their essay about that winning goal. In fact, if they've properly showcased their athletic successes elsewhere in the application (Activities section, recommendations, resume, etc.), they're better off picking a different topic for the essay.
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No admissions officer reads an essay in a vacuum. Inline shows students how to make the essays fit into the larger whole of each application and to reflect the whole student.

Special Add-Ons for Homeschooled, Veteran, and International Applicants

How do you produce the most useful recommendations if you've been homeschooled? How do you select the right start date if you're still on active military duty? When is it a good idea to report test scores for English proficiency if you're an international student? Inline has special advice just for non-traditional applicants.

Inline gives you an insider look
at how college admissions officers evaluate application essays.

Inline is brought to you by the authors of the college application bible How to Prepare a Standout College Application

Anna Ivey is the former Dean of Admissions at the University of Chicago Law School and a longtime college admissions consultant who has been featured by CNN, Fox News, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, US News and World Report, the Harvard Crimson, Forbes, Fortune, Bloomberg/BusinessWeek, and SmartMoney. She holds a BA from Columbia University and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School.

Alison Chisolm has worked in admissions at three of the most selective universities in the United States: Southern Methodist University, the University of Chicago, and Dartmouth. In 2009, she joined forces with Anna’s college admissions consulting practice and is a sought-after speaker for parents’ groups and professional organizations. She has also served in a leadership role at the Young Women’s Leadership Charter School of Chicago. She holds a BA from Yale University and a JD from the University of Virginia.

"Here’s the secret to college admissions success: Your credentials are only half the battle. Preparing your application in the most strategic way gets you to the win. The application forms are designed for the benefit of the colleges, so Inline shows you how to make the forms work for you. That’s your secret weapon.”

Anna Ivey

Co-Founder of inline and Co-Author of
"How To Prepare a Standout College Application"

Who Uses Inline?

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Students

Using Inline is like having an expert admissions coach sitting right next to you, giving you strategic advice and insights as you work your way through every section of your applications and essays. Can we make it fun? That's a toughie. Can we make it less stressful? YES.

Still stuck with an application question? Message us, and we’ll get on it! We’re constantly updating and expanding the Inline library of hints.

Parents

You’re the world’s best expert on your child, not necessarily an expert on the college application process. (How much has changed since you applied to college? A lot!) You don’t have to tear your hair out trying to be the 24/7 in-house application expert.

Inline empowers your child take ownership of the college application with the benefit of the best application advice … and frees you up to be a productive conversation partner and chime in when appropriate.
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Counselors

No piece of software will ever replace the most important role of a college counselor — having those important and sometimes life-altering 1:1 conversations — so let Inline leverage your limited time by providing a structured process for your students to bring you their best application and essay drafts for your feedback and guidance. Adjacent tools like Naviance® don't show students how the application needs to work as a whole. Inline fills those gaps in the counseling toolkit. Contact us for more info.

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Hear What Our Users Have To Say About Inline

Lily is having a great experience and a positive response to her applications. She was accepted EA at the University of Michigan which was her running first choice until she was notified last week that she was chosen for the Alumni Distinguished Scholarship at Michigan State University (a four-year full ride with some other perks!)... so unless lightning strikes twice it looks like she is going to be a Spartan. She is so excited. I think a lot of her success was attributable to Inline’s advice on how to tell her story. Thanks again for all you do!

James D

I am a low-income first-generation student from a rural school in eastern Washington. As the firstborn to a young single mother, I grew up very aware of our financial situation and carried the burden of expecting a similar future. Even in grade school, I thought that I’d end up working in a job I didn’t like with barely enough to live on. But because of the factors mentioned above, the application process, and even just envisioning a college experience, was strenuous and seemed impossible. Luckily, my high school’s guidance counselor, Mrs. Goetz, got our principal to approve Inline for all seniors to use. Without anybody to walk me through the application process, explain certain prompts, or give me vital tips, Inline was my sole lifeline. By expanding on the questions asked in applications, tailoring feedback to specific schools, and lightening the overall experience, Inline truly made the process more pleasant and simple. I am beyond impressed with the resources I was provided and was able to apply to some of the world's most prestigious universities! In great part due to Inline, I was accepted to the University of Chicago on a full-ride scholarship, where I will be attending shortly. Coming from a kid who formerly thought that I wasn’t going to make it far in life, Inline has helped me exceed my goals, and will likely do the same for many other students.

Hailey Troupe

College applications have gone amazingly well…in large part due to the support my students received from Inline. We had a QuestBridge finalist, an Ivy League acceptance, and a student who is a finalist for two full-ride scholarships to major universities...all in large part due to the support they received in their application process from Inline. This is simply unheard of in our rural community, and I am so thankful to you and to Inline for helping to break down the rural access barriers to higher education!

Amy Robinette

School Counselor

North East Carolina Prep School

Inline motivated me to do my college applications earlier than I would have because I knew there would be help along the way.

Anonymous

Inline was extremely helpful - personally, as the oldest child in my family, I had so many questions about the Common Application and the entire college process that were answered perfectly with Inline. I'm happy to say that I will be attending Tufts University. Thanks again!

Sophie P.

The stakes are high when completing the application. And, frankly, as a high school senior myself, the Common App can be a bit confusing. Help has arrived! A tool has launched that offers in-browser, on-demand help with the Common App, to support students while they are completing the application. I have found this really helpful and user friendly!

CeCe Jane

HS Insider blogger

Los Angeles Times