In the process of applying to medical school, you’ve likely spent countless hours studying for the MCAT, volunteering, shadowing physicians, and practicing to keep your skills sharp; but have you heard of this newer assessment that some med schools are including as part of their admissions process?
Unlike the more knowledge-based MCAT, the Casper (Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics) and PREview professional readiness exam are designed to examine how you might respond to the different scenarios you’ll encounter as a medical professional.
These situational judgement tests are designed to evaluate personal and professional characteristics that traditional academic metrics aren’t able to measure. The Casper and PREview tests provide admissions committees insights into your levels of empathy, ethical reasoning, professionalism, and communication skills– all important qualities for success in medicine.
What Are the Casper and PREview Tests?
Both the Casper and PREview are tests designed to be taken on your personal computer, but beyond that, they were created to judge your situational response and judgement. Despite this common goal, the two exams are quite different from one another.
The Casper exam is a 65-85 minute test containing two main sections: video responses and typed responses. With each section, your relationship to the nine core values that the test is centered around (collaboration, communication, empathy, fairness, ethics, motivation, problem solving, resilience, self-awareness) will be assessed alongside your ability to understand multiple perspectives on complex issues. Your responses will be rated by human evaluators and you won’t receive your exact score, the med schools that require this exam will receive your quartile ranking rather than an exact number.
On the other hand, the PREview test, which runs between 90-115 minutes, presents 30 situational scenarios for you to analyze through 186 multiple-choice questions. The test is looking for you to demonstrate your mastery of professional competencies such as interpersonal skills, cultural awareness, cultural humility, empathy and compassion, teamwork and collaboration, ethical responsibility to self and others, resilience and adaptability, reliability and dependability, commitment to learning and growth. It uses a four-point scale from least effective to most, and unlike the CASPer, the Preview test is scored numerically and is not evaluated by humans.
What Are Medical Schools Looking For?
The honest answer is: no one is completely sure how medical schools interpret Casper or PREview results. Since these tests are relatively new additions to the admissions process, and many schools don’t require them (learn more about those who do: here), there’s limited transparency about how they factor into admissions decisions. The key is that these assessments aren’t just trying to identify “good people” with “good personalities.” Rather, they’re looking at your ability to consider multiple perspectives, demonstrate your professional values and ethics, respond thoughtfully to challenging situations, and communicate effectively under pressure.
The clearest trend is that low scores will hurt your application. As a result, it’s important to take these exams seriously and remember to prepare ahead of time.
How to Prepare?
Despite what some applicants might assume, taking the time to prepare for these tests is just as important as any other part of your application. Even candidates who consider themselves excellent communicators or highly ethical individuals can struggle if they haven’t familiarized themselves with the format or expectations of these exams. With the Casper exam specifically, you’re only granted one sitting per application cycle. This means, if you fail to achieve the results you’re hoping for, you have to wait for an entire year before you can take it again.
Our MCAT tutoring team focuses on getting you familiar with the types of scenarios in both exams, as well as building comfort answering in both oral and written formats so that you aren’t blindsided on test day. To prepare for Casper, we recommend that you practice evaluating situations from multiple perspectives. The goal often isn’t to identify the single “correct” answer, but to demonstrate your ability to think about issues from many different angles and articulate several reasonable resolutions. For PREview, the preparation strategy involves taking practice tests to understand the manner in which the AAMC applies its professional values.
Looking for Some Tutor Recommended Resources?
Casper
- Acuity registration site with additional useful information and a practice test
- *Free Question bank: All students should register for PrepMatch to practice responding to scenarios
PREview
- AAMC site with information and 2 free practice tests:
General
- Background and strategy information for these exams: Check out this Med School Insiders blog to learn more about the differences between these tests. They also have a bunch of other useful pages about PREview and Casper with practical information for students, so it’s worth clicking around!
Conclusion
Considering Casper or PREview help? Our Med School/MCAT tutors are here to help! Our team specializes in custom and private prep. Check out our blog on what to expect in an MCAT tutoring session to learn more about our process & contact us for a FREE consultation!
