CASPer, or “Computer-based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristic,” is a test required by certain medical schools used to assess your personal and professional reasoning skills. The test is designed to measure certain core competencies specified by the AAMC including teamwork, cultural competency, ethical responsibility, communication, and resilience. Evaluation formats like CASPer have grown in importance for medical school admissions as schools seek to assess applicants beyond academic metrics and extracurricular achievements—demonstrating strong interpersonal skills and pre-professional competencies has become a new benchmark for pre-meds. This blog is focused to give you CASPer test tips!
In this CASPer medical school blog post, we present:
According to U.S. News, here is a list of medical schools that required the CASPer test. Please note that this list of schools vary year by year, so double check with the medical school for its requirements!
The CASPer test is currently offered for the following allopathic medical schools in the U.S.:
The CASPer test consists of 12 sections, 8 video responses and 4 typed responses, each followed by three questions.
You have 5 minutes to respond to the 3 follow-up questions, and the test runs for a total length of approximately 90 minutes. There is an optional 15-minute break in the middle of the test.
In the CASPer practice questions below, you can practice both a video response and a typed response.
High-yield CASPER test tip: CASPer test questions are not always directed related to medicine, but more generally assess your inter- and intra-personal reasoning. Sample questions can be found on the CASPer official blog. Generally, questions deal with ethical dilemmas, interpersonal conflicts, and/or open-ended scenarios in which the correct answer is ambiguous.
If a medical school you are applying to requires CASPer, then you should register for a CASPer test date at least three days before when you plan to take it. Keep in mind that certain schools will not review your application until all required materials (primary, secondary, MCAT, LORs) are received, which could include your CASPer test score. So do not delay your application timeline with a late CASPer score! According to the official CASper FAQ, your score is made available to programs 3 weeks after taking your test.
Because CASPer is administered online on your personal device, it is important to check your system requirements to ensure no technical difficulties occur during testing. We also recommend students take the official sample test provided by CASPer sometime before taking their real test. Get in the habit of the unique type of question format. There is usually a main
Finally, to maximum your chance of doing well on the exam, you should take additional practice tests and practice questions online and strategize with our 5 CASPer test tips listed below! Make sure to get great quality of sleep and enough rest the night before! The CASPer, similar to a medical school interview day, can be tiring. There is not a lot of time to answer each question and you need to have resilience to go question by question without breaks in between. And, you have to give quality answers!
From our experience, students who do extremely well on the CASPer test are students who have strong interview skills. This means that they are articulate and have strong interview skills. On the video responses, the applicant comes off as personable, approachable, and empathetic. They will have good eye contact, as if there is somebody on the other side of the screen (even though you will be speaking into a blank screen without a live person there). Finally, strong applicants can reason through challenging situations and clearly discuss how they will solve problems.
The CASPer test is similar to Multiple Mini Interviews, especially virtual Multiple Mini Interviews.
Therefore, what we recommend to our students who work with us through our medical school application packages is to take the Mastering the Multiple Mini Interview course BEFORE taking the CASPer.
The Mastering the MMI course was created by Dr. Rachel Rizal. Through the course, she will teach you how to consistently and thoroughly answer your CASPer questions. Because you will have a great approach in answering CASPer questions, the CASPer grader will be impressed with your communication skills and critical thinking skills!
1) Structure – You will have an organized framework for your CASPer answers.
2) Spirit – Sound energetic and approachable while recording your CASPer responses!
3) Story – Learn how to include personal anecdotes and stories. This is a super high-yield CASPer tip we have below, as part of our CASPer test tips.
4) Stamina – Don’t get fatigued by the end of your CASPer exam!
Special Note: If you are a “ Diamond ” or “ Diamond Plus ” medical school application package student, the MMI course is included in your package. Therefore, please ask for Dr. Rizal and Dr. Mediratta for the early access code.
Many CASPer questions have ethical issues from real life. See examples below. CASPer questions may also ask you about challenging situations or difficult situations that you could encounter in real life.
Dr. Rizal’s MMI course will teach you how to address ethical issues, including patient scenarios.
Use the Mastering the Multiple Mini Interview course as a foundation to do well for your CASPer.
Everyone’s personal situation is different. But, our Cracking Med School Admissions team strongly advises students to take their CASPer exam once they have finished at least half of their medical school secondary applications.
Why? Not all medical schools require the CASPer.
And, we think it is much more important to submit QUALITY secondary application essays. Therefore, we have our premed mentees work on their secondary applications first.
Exceptions and other options:
Having a framework prepared helps provide a starting point to structure your answers to open-ended questions characteristic of the CASPer exam. While your response should not be formulaic or rehearsed, introducing structure ensures your point is made in an organized and logical manner. A concrete framework can even help you flesh out your answer!
Remember, these is no wrong answers to CASPer questions. But, having a framework will help you have more organized video responses that are easy to follow. Thus, you will ultimately score higher!
Sample Prompt: You are studying with members of a study group when an argument breaks out between your fellow group members. Karl and Dan are confronting Kayla about her lack of contributions to the group. They feel that she is free loading off the group’s efforts while not doing her fair share of work. Kayla retorts that she has been under a lot of stress and they are being fair to her. It seems like she is about to leave the meeting in frustration. You have not participated in the interaction thus far, and now the group is looking for your advice. What do you do?
High-Yield CASPer Test Tip: One popular framework is PPRDJ, which stands for: problem, perspectives, responsibility, decision, justification. Consider applying this framework to the previous sample prompt:
One particularly important CASPer test tip is to seek nuance and multiple perspectives when evaluating situations. As the above example highlights, there are often multiple conflicting interests and no clear answers to many prompts. If there was, there would be no point testing you on it! The CASPer exam is intentionally designed to force you to confront ambiguity and recognize multiple points of view.
When doing so, be sure to explicitly highlight how you are recognizing multiple perspectives in your answer. Your grader cannot give you credit unless you demonstrate your appreciation of a situation’s complexity. This can be as simple as weighing pros and cons of different options before making your decision or including language that suggests you will gather more information before acting. Having strong communication skills are important – articulate your thought process.
Showing different perspectives can help display empathy, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills.
One common mistake CASPer test-takers make is failing to actually answer the question. Don’t get so caught up in a framework and/or exploring multiple perspectives that you forget to actually answer the question! It is important that your answer ultimately addresses what you will do and how you will do so.
Finally, you should explain your reasoning! Other than the above framework, one helpful way to do so is to cite medical ethics. Make sure you are familiar with the concept of autonomy, justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence, and are comfortable applying them to different ethical situations. Your application should not be abstract or philosophical, but rather connected to the situation at hand.
One CASPer test tip to differentiate yourself by providing a unique answer is to bring in personal anecdotes and experiences. Have you faced a similar dilemma in an extracurricular or personal experience? How did you handle that situation? What would you do differently? The most compelling answers draw upon personal experience to substantiate your reasoning with a degree of humanity and substance.
List out all of your extracurricular activities and brainstorm relate anecdotes to bring up during your CASPer. What was the situation and what did you learn? This exercise can also help you strengthen your interview answers later on in the application cycle!
Above all, it is important that you remain calm. Your demeanor can say a lot about your personal characteristics. For example, if you seem flustered, your interviewer might think that you are an anxious individual who cannot think or communicate under pressure. As a physician, you will be asked several questions and be in stressful situations. Therefore, you should stay calm during your CASPer exam.
With only 5 minutes to answer questions, CASPer moves at a pace that can fluster many test-takers. Keep a level head and do your best to get your thoughts down on the computer. Don’t spend all your time on one question! If you do badly on one section, shake it off and move on. Remember: CASPer responses are not graded on grammar or correct spelling! The substance and reasoning behind your answers is more important than your prose (though effective prose can certain elevate the overall strength of your response).
Now that you know the CASPer tips, it’s time to apply it to CASPer practice questions!