InitialView vs Vericant: Interview and Writing Sample

InitialView vs Vericant: Interview and Writing Sample

Neither interview is required on its own at any of the 11 US colleges we checked. At Yale and Swarthmore, one of them can be one option among several for meeting a requirement. The services differ in three ways that matter: InitialView's writing sample is 20 minutes and ungraded, Vericant's is 30 minutes and sent with a score; InitialView sends only your latest interview, Vericant keeps every one; and at BU, Penn and Berkeley an interview cannot replace your English test.

Our view: a third-party interview is not an English test you pass. It is a sample of your unedited voice that sits in the same file as your essay. Book one only if your essay already sounds like you on a normal day. If someone else polished your essay, the interview shows the reader a different writer.

Every college and company page quoted below was checked on October 30, 2026. Deadlines are for the 2026–27 application round where the page gives them. Check each college's page before you book, because policies change.

Contents: the two services · what 11 colleges say · required for China? · writing sample vs essay · questions to prepare · which to book

The two services, side by side

Both services record a video interview and a short timed writing sample, then send them to the colleges you choose. The details differ.

Sources: InitialView FAQ and For Applicants; Vericant Undergraduate & Graduate Applicants, Undergraduate Institutions and Portal FAQ. InitialView's site loads by script, so we read it through a text renderer. Both charge a fee and both mention fee waivers. We do not list prices because they change and depend on the package.

One more difference: InitialView's FAQ says that for undergraduate interviews "we do not use any outside materials for the interview." The interviewer has not read your essay.

What 11 colleges say, in their own words

A company's list of "accepting institutions" tells you a college receives videos. It does not tell you what the college does with them.

The rule diff that changes your plan: at Yale and Swarthmore an interview can meet a requirement. At BU, Penn and Berkeley it cannot replace your English test. Read the row for every college on your list before you book.

Two colleges we checked do not mention either service on their international pages. Harvard says "The absence of an interview will not adversely affect your candidacy." Stanford's international page names neither company.

Is InitialView required for students from China?

Not at any college in the table. "Recommended" (BU) and "encourages" (Oberlin) are not "required". Swarthmore's requirement applies to all applicants at schools outside the US, not only to students from China, and its own video response is free.

InitialView's FAQ goes further than the colleges do. It says admissions officers tell it "off the record that they typically will not admit a student unless they see an InitialView interview." No college page we checked says anything like that, and Grinnell's page says the opposite: an interview "does not weigh heavily on the ultimate decision; largely due to fairness issues, because the vast majority of our international applicants are unable to have interviews."

Does the writing sample get compared to your essay?

No college we checked publishes a procedure for comparing the two. That part is unknown.

If an agent already rewrote your draft, take it back before you book: see what to do if an agent wrote your essay.

What is published is why the companies offer the sample. InitialView says admissions officers "just want to make sure that your application hasn't been made up" and that "For most applicants, the writing sample simply validates the other parts of your application." Vericant says its writing sample "aims to verify an applicant's ability to write in English."

Our recommendation: assume the reader can open both. If your essay and your 20-minute sample read like the same person on two different days, the sample helps. If the essay reads like a professional editor and the sample reads like you, nothing in the file explains the gap. That is why the essay should be yours before you book. If an agent edited your draft, read what an agent may and may not do on your application first.

Constructed example: a 30-minute writing sample, annotated

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant's writing sample. The prompt is one of the examples Vericant publishes: "Do you agree with smoking bans in public places?" The response is 140 words.

I mostly agree, but not for the reason people give first. In my city, restaurants already have a no-smoking sign, and many uncles still smoke near the door. So the problem is not the rule. It is who has to say something. My mother runs a small noodle shop. When a customer smokes, she loses money if she asks him to stop and she loses other customers if she does not. A ban helps her because now she can point at the sign and it is not her opinion, it is the city's. I think that is the real use of a ban. It moves the hard conversation from a small business owner to the government. I am less sure bans work in parks, where nobody is responsible for the space. There, I would rather see more signs than fines.

What it shows a reader:

• A position with a limit. "I mostly agree" and "I am less sure... in parks" is thinking, not a memorized answer.
• One concrete case. The noodle shop does the work. A polished essay with no case like this would read thinner than this sample.
• Plain English with small slips left in. "Many uncles still smoke" is natural, not textbook. That is fine. InitialView's sample "is not graded", Vericant's is timed at 30 minutes, and neither asks for an edited essay. Your Common App essay does not need to be more polished than you are.

Questions to prepare for

InitialView says each interview is unscripted and advises you to "think about a few things that make you unique... with a particular emphasis on academic experiences". Vericant publishes its interview parts. Use both to prepare stories, not scripts.

Constructed practice questions, written by us, grouped by Vericant's published parts:

• Picture question: describe a photo of a busy street and what you notice first.
• In-depth question: a class or project you would choose to study for a whole year, and why.
• Spotlight question: one thing you did that took longer than you planned.
• Study abroad question: what you will miss from home, and what you will do about it.
• Free speech (two minutes): Vericant suggests topics such as "Why you want to study in a different country" and "A time when things didn't go well, and what you learned."

Answer in three steps: the direct answer, one example with a place and a time, and what it changed. Practise with new questions each time. If you rehearse one answer until it is perfect, you lose the unscripted quality the interview exists to show.

Which to book

The countercase: if your test score is lower than your real speaking ability, an interview at a college that welcomes one can show what the score hides. That is a good reason to book. A bad reason is hoping the interview makes up for an essay that is not yours.

For the test side of the same decision, see TOEFL and Duolingo requirements at US colleges. For college-run interviews, see whether alumni interviews matter.

Questions about InitialView and Vericant

Which is better, InitialView or Vericant?

Neither is better everywhere. InitialView counts toward Yale's English requirement and sends no score. Vericant allows unlimited undergraduate retakes and sends SEE and WSE scores. Choose by your college list, using the table above.

Can I choose which interview to send?

At Vericant, yes: "every interview remains on the dashboard." At InitialView, no: "The most recent interview... becomes the interview" sent to colleges.

Does the interviewer read my application first?

Not at InitialView for undergraduate applicants: "we do not use any outside materials for the interview." Vericant's pages do not say.

Do Virtual Stars or Vericant hearts count as demonstrated interest?

The companies offer them as signals. None of the 11 college pages above mention them. Our guide to demonstrated interest for international students covers what colleges say they track. For alumni interviews run by the college itself, see college interview questions and how to answer.

Get a free review of your Common App essay

Your essay and your interview should sound like the same person. Get a free Quick Review of your Common App essay against GradPilot's narrative craft rubric. It reads your own draft for one main moment, concrete detail and an ending that grows from the story. For a why-us supplement, use the why-us rubric.

More guides for international applicants:

• Education agents and US college applications: what an agent may do.
• When your college essay sounds too formal: keeping your own English.

Sources

Retrieved October 30, 2026, except where noted.

• InitialView, FAQ and For Applicants (no year stated; script-rendered, read through a text renderer): format, writing sample, retakes, no rating, Virtual Stars, the "off the record" claim.
• Vericant, Undergraduate & Graduate Applicants, Undergraduate Institutions, Writing Sample and Portal FAQ (no year stated): interview parts, writing sample, scores, retakes, hearts, example prompts.
• Yale Undergraduate Admissions, International Applicants (no year stated).
• Swarthmore College, International Students (no year stated).
• Boston University Admissions, International Applicants (no year stated).
• Ask Penn Admissions, Can I submit an InitialView interview? (no year stated).
• UC Berkeley Admissions, Requirements for International Students (no year stated).
• Columbia Undergraduate Admissions, International Applicants (no year stated).
• Georgia Tech Undergraduate Admission, Interview for International Students (no year stated).
• Brown Admission, Video Introduction (no year stated).
• Union College, Interviews (no year stated).
• Oberlin College, Interviews, College of Arts and Sciences (no year stated).
• Grinnell College, International Applicants (no year stated).
• Harvard College, International Applicants and Stanford, International Applicants (no year stated): no mention of either service.