InitialView vs TartanConnect
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
InitialView
This platform provides live, unscripted interviews for academic program admissions. It helps assess applicants' English ability and interpersonal skills for boarding schools, undergraduate, and graduate programs worldwide. The service offers admission officers assurance through its proprietary interview technology.
- Live, unscripted interviews
- English ability assessment
- Interpersonal skills evaluation
- Proprietary interview platform
- Global admissions support
- Admission officer assurance
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For InitialView Students and Schools' Admission Officers' Use. InitialView was founded in Beijing, China in 2009, and in a short time it has become a world leader in interview services, having provided interviews to thousands of applicants to top academic programs. We provide live, unscripted interviews which are then uploaded to our proprietary interview platform. Our proprietary platform allows viewers to, within seconds, determine the interviewee’s English ability and interpersonal skills. Our technology is currently patent-pending in both the U.S. and China. Our interviews have been a part of more than 40,000 applications reviewed by over 200 boarding school, undergraduate, and graduate programs. We have interviewed applicants in over 50 countries. We are able to provide admission officers a level of assurance about our interviews, processes and operations in China in a way that is unmatched by others in international education.
TartanConnect
Discover and engage with over 400 campus groups and events at Carnegie Mellon University. Connect with peers, manage organizations, and stay informed about campus activities and resources through system notifications.
- View events from 400+ campus groups
- Connect with fellow students
- Check-in for campus events
- Create group discussions
- Manage organizations
- Receive system notifications
- Find campus resources and links
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TartanConnect is now available as an app! Tartans are able to view upcoming events from over 400 groups on campus at Carnegie Mellon University. You can connect with fellow Tartans, check-in for campus events, create group discussions, manage their organizations, and receive system notifications. Users can find up-to-date programs, campus groups, links, resources, and more! Get immersed in: ● Student Government-Recognized Organizations ● Fraternity & Sorority Chapters ● Tepper Graduate Organizations ● Department Sponsored Organizations ● Student Governance ● Offices & Departments ● Events & Programs ● & more! Take advantage of these amazing opportunities happening on your campus!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: InitialView at 100% against TartanConnect's 0%. InitialView also leads on ratings volume (14 vs 3) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.4). TartanConnect's advantage is rating (4.0 vs 2.7) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
TartanConnect holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 3 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of InitialView's written reviews are positive against 0% of TartanConnect's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
InitialView ships an update monthly, TartanConnect every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | InitialView | TartanConnect |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.7 (14 ratings) | 4.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 77 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Terry Crawford | Carnegie Mellon University |
Customer experience
InitialView
TartanConnect
In-app purchases
InitialView
No in-app purchases
TartanConnect
No in-app purchases
