Medical schools that don’t require CASPer

Want to know all the medical school that don’t require CASPer in the US and Canada? You’ve come to the right place. Many students worry about how to complete and perform well in the CASPer test, which is a part of the multi-level Altus Suite assessment tool. As part of the med school admissions process, it is used by some medical school admissions committees to assess applicants’ soft skills.

Due to the subjective nature of the CASPer assessment, there’s a lot of confusion and anxiety amongst applicants about how to do well in this test. Does that sound like you? Lucky for you, not all med schools require CASPer! In this blog, we’ll provide a complete list of all medical schools in the US and Canada that don’t ask for CASPer.

Disclaimer: BeMo does not recommend, endorse nor affiliate with Altus Suite, Altus or McMaster and vice versa. The following provides our opinion about Altus Suite and its components. To take the tests provided by Altus, contact Altus directly.

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What is CASPer?

While CASPer is growing in popularity as an assessment tool in the admissions process of professional programs, there are still plenty of schools that don’t require CASPer. CASPer, which stands for Computer Based Sampling of Personal Characteristics, is one of the components of the Altus Suite along with the Duet compatibility assessment. It is an online situational judgement test or personality test, designed to evaluate an applicant's non-cognitive skills, such as ethics, empathy, communication, and motivation.

Interested in learning more about Altus Suite? Check out this video!

Medical schools use the CASPer score for different purposes. Some may use it to screen applicants before inviting them for an interview while others may use it to evaluate applicants before issuing offers of acceptance. Many students wonder how to prepare for CASPer since there isn’t any expected or common list of set CASPer questions that applicants can refer to. In this test, applicants are presented with a scenario and asked a series of scenario-based questions, often centered around ethics, and they have to write down or video record their answers to all follow-up questions in a specific amount for time: for typed answers, you are given 5 minutes to answer all 3 questions; and for the video-recorded answers, you are given 1 minute to record your responses to each of the 2 open-ended questions. Your answers are scored by trained evaluators. The final CASPer score results are shared with the medical schools.

Would you like to test yourself with some CASPer Scenario Questions and compare your response to expert responses? See the video below!

There’s some doubt around the effectiveness of the CASPer test as an assessment tool. Though it claims to fairly evaluate the soft skills that are most essential for future doctors, studies show that situational judgement tests are inherently subjective and hence prone to biased results. It’s no wonder then that despite this being a relatively simple 90-110 minute test, students worry about it a lot! Getting a good MCAT score or successfully tackling MMI questions might seem like tougher challenges; but due to the subjective nature of the test, the CASPer test could actually be trickier to prep for.

The good news is there are a lot of medical schools that DON’T require CASPer results. Read on to find the complete list.

Allopathic Medical Schools in the US That Don’t Require CASPer

While many medical schools offering MD programs don’t require CASPer results, remember that many of these schools may still list CASPer as an optional or recommended admissions requirement.

The following tabs list the American medical schools that don’t require CASPer for admission to their MD programs, organized alphabetically by state.

Use the arrow to scroll to the right and view more tabs.

Check out this infographic for why some schools require CASPer while others do not:

Osteopathic Medical Schools in the US That Don’t Require CASPer

The following tabs list American medical schools that don’t require CASPer for admission to their DO programs, organized alphabetically by state.

Note: Many DO schools in the US don’t require CASPer but may still ask for it as an optional submission.

Use the arrow to scroll to the right and view more tabs.

Medical Schools in Canada That Don’t Require CASPer

The following tabs list the Canadian medical schools that don’t require CASPer, organized by province.

Use the arrow to scroll to the right and view more tabs.

FAQs

1. What is the CASPer test?

The Computer Based Sampling of Personal Characteristic or CASPer test is part of the multi-level Altus Suite assessment along with Snapshot and Duet. This is a situational judgment test conducted completely online. It consists of 15 scenarios with 3 follow-up questions each that seek to evaluate your personality and soft skills. Your answers are judged based on your how you tackle the presented problem, your ethical reasoning, and how well you explain yourself.

2. What qualities does the CASPer test evaluate?

The CASPer test claims to evaluate applicants’ non-academic, non-cognitive traits or “soft” skills, such as communication, ethics, empathy, and motivation, which are all desirable skills for future medical professionals. The CASPer scores claim to give medical schools some idea about students’ personal suitability for medicine.

3. How long is the CASPer test?

The CASPer test will take you 90-110 minutes to complete.

4. Is CASPer mandatory for all MD/DO programs in the US and Canada?

No! Many medical schools, both MD and DO, do not require CASPer at all or list it as optional. You can check out the detailed list of medical schools that don’t require CASPer in the previous sections of this blog.

5. Who scores the CASPer test?

Your CASPer test is scored by trained evaluators. Each answer is scored by a different evaluator. These evaluators cannot access personal information about you such as your name, gender, race, age etc. to ensure they judge you solely based on your recorded answer.

6. How do med school admissions committees use the CASPer test scores?

CASPer scores are directly shared with the medical schools that ask for them. The importance of the CASPer score, as well as how it is used in the admissions process, varies from program to program. Some schools may use these scores as a screening tool to help determine which applicants will receive an interview invitation, while others may use them to assess offers of admissions. To find out more about how CASPer scores are used at the schools you’re applying to, check their admissions website.

7. Do medical schools always ask for the complete Altus Suite?

Some medical schools ask for specific components of the Altus Suite as mandatory requirements and leave the other components as optional. Some may not require any of the Altus Suite components, including CASPer.

8. Is CASPer a tough test?

In some ways, CASPer might be considered less challenging than other medical school requirements such as the MCAT, personal statements for medical school, etc. However, some students do find it difficult to prepare for the CASPer as it involves scenario-based questions and tests soft skills. When practicing, it’s difficult to judge what is the “right” answer” and often, with CASPer questions, there is no right answer. Your communication style and eloquence are as important as the actual content of your answer, and it can be difficult to improve that overnight. So, if you do need to prepare for CASPer, make sure you start prepping well in advance. If you’re apprehensive about your performance, try to get expert feedback and guidance so you can know exactly how to give a good performance in the final test.

To your success,

Your friends at BeMo

BeMo Academic Consulting

Disclaimer: CASPer stands for computer-based assessment for sampling personal characteristics and is claimed to be a trademark of McMaster & Altus. BeMo does not recommend, endorse nor affiliate with CASPer, Altus or McMaster and vice versa. BeMo only provides preparation services and practice tests. To take CASPer, contact Altus directly.