Let’s talk about CASPer.
CASPer
Casper is an online test offered by Altus Assessments that assesses for the personal and professional characteristics believed to be important for successful students and graduates of our medical program. It is a complement to the other tools that we use for applicant screening.
- McMaster University
Recently, a graduate student Sarah and I were chatting about the challenges associated with CASPer, the Computer-based Assessment for Sampling Personal characteristics. More and more Canadian (and international) medical schools are requiring exceptional scores on this situational judgement test as part of a (ultimately successful) application package. CASPer is meant to evaluate professionalism and non-cognitive skills such as collaboration, motivation, ethics, and empathy.
As with many other undergraduate and graduate students I have coached in the past, Sarah and I discussed possible strategies with which to approach this test. Typing skills aside, and recognizing that there are really “no right or wrong answers”, it is worth weighing certain considerations:
What might the reviewers be looking for in your answer / response that stands out from your competitors?
What does your answer / response say about you as a person of your community and your society?
How might you be able to show “competitive fitness” for medical school in your answers / responses?
Sarah shared with me several sample CASPer scenarios, all of which I could readily see were aimed at gaining a greater understanding of who the applicant is – under ordinary and extraordinary situations.
I proposed to Sarah that she give me a scenario and see how my response might be similar or dissimilar to the one that she would have given. As I gave my response over our face-to-face zoom chat, I could see in her expression that my approach and answer to the challenging scenario was, in fact, quite different from the one she was prepared to give. After I gave my response, we discussed why I had taken my approach. I also shared with her that I framed my answer with the idea of highlighting a competency that I felt showed my readiness and competitiveness for medical school.
I would be happy to arrange a CASPer coaching session with you. Hearing another person’s answers / responses may help you better frame your own answers / responses during the test session. Let’s chat and determine how best I can assist you in preparing for this (in some cases) all-important component of your medical school application here in Canada or aboard.
I am sure that many of you are far too young to be familiar with Casper the friendly ghost, a comic book character that certainly dates me! Let me work with you to prepare you for a “lively” CASPer experience that is as pleasant and as successful as possible.
