Alex's profile80% complete
Sample- Unweighted GPA
- 3.8
- SAT
- 1420
- AP courses
- 8
AI college admissions mentor
Know where you stand. Apply with confidence.
Build a real profile, see honest chance estimates, get rubric-based essay feedback, and keep every application on track. All in one place, free to start.
1,000+ students are planning their applications with Arlo.
Target
Your target school
50–65%Estimated range
78/100Essay review
- students using Arlo
- 1,000+
- U.S. colleges to research
- 4,000+
- dimensions in every essay review
- 5
- to get started
- $0
Everything in one workspace
Six tools. One clear plan.
From your first college search to your final essay revision, every step lives in the same student workspace.
Essay grader
Review your college application essay with Arlo's AI essay grader. Get weighted scores, passage-specific feedback, and concrete revision priorities.
Learn more about the College Essay GraderChances calculator
Explore college admission chances using your GPA, testing, courses, activities, and a saved essay. Understand Arlo's estimates and their limitations.
Learn more about the College Admission Chances CalculatorCollege search
Find U.S. colleges with Arlo's college search. Explore College Scorecard information, compare schools, and save colleges to your application plan.
Learn more about the College Search and ComparisonActivity review
Review extracurricular activities with Arlo. Organize up to ten entries and examine commitment, leadership, impact, distinction, and clarity.
Learn more about the Extracurricular Activity ReviewTranscript analyzer
Upload a PDF transcript during Arlo onboarding to extract academic details and help fill your student profile. Review and correct the extracted information.
Learn more about the High School Transcript AnalyzerApplication tracker
Organize college applications with Arlo's application tracker. Keep schools, deadlines, statuses, and next steps together in your student workspace.
Learn more about the College Application TrackerCollege research
Research 4,000+ U.S. colleges.
Search schools using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard data, then save the ones you like to your list, alongside your applications, essays, and transcript.
Arlo is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by any college shown.
How it works
From sign-up to a real plan in three steps.
Create your profile
Sign up with email or Google and add your grades, test scores, and intended major.
Add your context
Upload a PDF transcript to fill in courses, then add activities and essay drafts.
Plan with clarity
Save colleges, explore chance estimates, get essay feedback, and track every deadline.
Behind the numbers
How Arlo calculates your scores.
Five writing dimensions. Fixed weights. Feedback grounded in your draft. Here is how an essay review becomes a score, and how that score contributes to your college estimate.
01 / Weight distribution
What shapes the total?
Share of the essay score assigned to each dimension.
- Clarity20%
- Structure20%
- Voice20%
- Impact25%
- Originality15%
A 10-point increase in Impact adds 2.5 points to the total before rounding. The same increase in Originality adds 1.5.
02 / Score contribution
How the points add up
Illustrative example. Colored bars show earned points; outlines show the maximum for each category.
77.5 points before rounding. 78/100 final score.
What matters in an essay
Each dimension receives a score from 0 to 100. The bars show its share of the overall score, not student results.
- Clarity20%
Readable sentences, precise meaning, and enough context to follow your story.
- Structure20%
A purposeful opening, logical progression, considered pacing, and an effective ending.
- Voice20%
Your own perspective, expressed specifically and consistently.
- Impact25%
Reflection, insight, growth, and what the reader learns about you.
- Originality15%
Distinctive details and framing that move beyond generic claims.
Worked example
From five scores to one total
Illustrative scores only. These are not results from a student study.
| Dimension | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clarity | 80 | 20% | 16.0 |
| Structure | 75 | 20% | 15.0 |
| Voice | 85 | 20% | 17.0 |
| Impact | 70 | 25% | 17.5 |
| Originality | 80 | 15% | 12.0 |
| Rounded total | 78/100 | ||
Total = sum of (dimension score × its weight), rounded to the nearest whole number.
A score of 78 means 78 out of 100 on this writing rubric. It is neither an admissions probability nor a percentile among other applicants.
How does the AI support its feedback?
The reviewer is instructed to evaluate the writing you submit and return strengths and revision priorities with short, exact excerpts. Each revision should explain a specific issue and an editing action. The overall total is calculated from the dimension scores using the weights above.
The rubric tells the reviewer not to reward prestige, wealth, trauma, or a particular cultural background. AI judgments can still vary or miss context; the quoted evidence and revision advice matter more than small score differences.
How does this affect a college chance estimate?
The current profile index combines academics (34%), course rigor (19%), testing (13%), activities (14%), your selected essay (12%), and college fit (8%). The calculator then adjusts the college's acceptance-rate baseline using this index and a selectivity adjustment.
The formula is: acceptance rate + (profile index − 50) × 0.72 − selectivity score × 0.18 + 18. The result is rounded and limited to 3–94%. Missing acceptance rates use a 35% baseline and a selectivity score of 58. Otherwise, selectivity is 100 minus the acceptance rate, rounded and limited to 5–98.
Missing GPA, testing, essay, or activity scores contribute zero; missing college fit defaults to 70. Missing data can therefore lower the estimate. The confidence label measures profile completeness, not statistical certainty.
Have these scores been statistically validated?
Arlo's current calculation is a planning heuristic, not a model calibrated against verified admissions outcomes. The weights are product choices, not measured admissions-office priorities. We do not currently publish a benchmark sample, accuracy rate, AUC, confidence interval, or accepted-student percentile.
A displayed college percentage should not be interpreted as a validated personal probability. Admissions decisions also depend on factors this calculation does not model. Use the estimate to inform a balanced college list, alongside school information and counselor guidance.
For students and schools
College planning without distractions.
Designed to be appropriate for school networks and family review.
Education-first purpose
Built for college planning, transcript review, essay feedback, and application tracking.
No open-ended browsing
Every feature stays focused on college research and structured admissions feedback.
Student privacy focus
Profile details power protected planning features, with public privacy and legal documents.
From the blog
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Applications / 2 min read
Turn application deadlines into a workable weekly plan
Track the tasks behind each deadline so a college application becomes manageable work instead of one looming date.
College planning / 2 min read
Research a college by asking better questions
Use program pages, campus visits, and student conversations to explore what daily life and learning might look like.
Your future, a little clearer.
Join 1,000+ students building a balanced college list with Arlo.
Questions? We're here to help.
Students, families, and counselors can reach us about accounts, feedback, or anything else at arloadmit@gmail.com.