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Casper Prep

Rachel Fitzgerald

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premed911 Newbie

premed911

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a buddy of mine used this company called bemo consulting (not sure if I got the name right) and he seemed happy. I'll ask him and get back to you. CASPer seems super tough! Thankfully I'm not applying to McMaster! Not sure why so many people apply to McMaster. Too much competition

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thsc Newbie

thsc

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a buddy of mine used this company called bemo consulting (not sure if I got the name right) and he seemed happy. I'll ask him and get back to you. CASPer seems super tough! Thankfully I'm not applying to McMaster! Not sure why so many people apply to McMaster. Too much competition

Too much competition at every school lol...might as well not apply anywhere. 

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Leon Newbie

Leon

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a buddy of mine used this company called bemo consulting (not sure if I got the name right) and he seemed happy. I'll ask him and get back to you. CASPer seems super tough! Thankfully I'm not applying to McMaster! Not sure why so many people apply to McMaster. Too much competition

 

Because your ABS is ignored so you have an easier shot than most schools. If your VR and GPA are good- it comes down to a 90min exam. So if you spent your undergrad studying and doing no ECs, you can get away by scoring well on the test (though you may do badly since the assumption is that CASPer indirectly tests the skills one would have acquired over years of doing ECs). Hence the 4500+ applicants 

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Aetherus Rookie

Aetherus

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Ok thanks!! I found them, they are called BeMo Academic Consulting....you were close lol! I will check them out today

I would save your money, I don't think any of these preps ar necessary, just read doing right and you should be fine. There should also be a practical exam posted in the Casper software. I totally figured out about this practise test 2 min before my Casper time so I had never peeped or anything for Casper and I was accepted to Mac so I don't think this is necessary.

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premed911 Newbie

premed911

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yes, Rachel. Sorry... but i wasn't that off! lol

 

Aetherus, I couldn't disagree more. It's like saying "don't do a practice MCAT or don't study for your courses and you will be fine!" ahahahaha  I would definitely find a way to practice Rachel! paid or not... but doing it right is not practice... although it won't hurt.... 

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Aetherus Rookie

Aetherus

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yes, Rachel. Sorry... but i wasn't that off! lol

 

Aetherus, I couldn't disagree more. It's like saying "don't do a practice MCAT or don't study for your courses and you will be fine!" ahahahaha  I would definitely find a way to practice Rachel! paid or not... but doing it right is not practice... although it won't hurt.... 

Again, premed911, every post you have made so far I have to disagree with. CASPer is not at all like studying for the MCAT, McMaster has designed this test so that studying has no effect on your score. I am curious, have you written CASPer before? 

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Savac Newbie

Savac

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Aetherus, I couldn't disagree more. It's like saying "don't do a practice MCAT or don't study for your courses and you will be fine!" ahahahaha  I would definitely find a way to practice Rachel! paid or not... but doing it right is not practice... although it won't hurt.... 

 

I wouldn't equate CASPer to the MCAT personally. There are definitive answers to every question on the MCAT (although this is debatable for the verbal section), whereas this is certainly not the case for CASPer. You could try and practice with a company if you want, and they may or may not give you valuable feedback. That being said, any feedback that they give should be taken with a grain of salt, since nobody really knows how McMaster actually scores the test. So it could end up being detrimental if they give advice that contradicts the aims of the admissions committee.

 

In general I don't think it's necessary to do any practice specifically targeted at CASPer. Sure, you can read Doing Right to learn about ethical scenarios and to develop a framework if you want, and it might be a bit helpful, but I doubt it. You're not going to have enough time to analyze an ethical scenario fully and completely. You have enough time to type out whatever comes to your mind, and that's exactly what they're trying to learn. They want to see how you think on your feet. That's a skill. In my opinion, the best way to study for it is to build this skill, and that comes from various experiences in life that probably have nothing to do with medicine.

 

But take what I say with a grain of salt as well ;)

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MathToMed Newbie

MathToMed

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Trying to study for CASPer is like trying to study for a vision test - just because you memorize one sequence of letters does not mean it has any effect on the particular letters you will have to read off during your eye exam.

 

Similarly, CASPer differs drastically from year to year and there's very little transfer from one situation to another. Having done CASPer, I would not recommend spending much money on a prep course. Just practice for your MMI, reflect on the CanMEDS roles, buy a decent book or two, become aware of world issues, and you'll prep for CASPer in the process.

 

Here's a great bioethics resource, free of charge:

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/eppp-archive/100/201/300/cdn_medical_association/cmaj/series/bioethic.htm

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ygella Newbie

ygella

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I don't think casper courses are gonna be that useful either. I would recommend doing mock caspers so you get a feel for how the test is set up. These are available online for free. (You don't even need to look for these, just find an ethical question and try writing about it for 5 mins). I did read doing right before my casper, I think it helped me feel better about my prep, I really didn't use it to answer any questions though. 

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km2kenne Newbie

km2kenne

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I agree with everyone saying Casper prep courses probably aren't going to be super helpful. I've written the casper twice now and got interviews both times (GPA 3.27, VR 14), and I'd recommend reading Doing Right and practicing with the sample questions with some friends if you can. That's what I did to prep. Of course it would probably be useful to know what's going on in healthcare in Canada, but it's unlikely to directly come up and the "number needed to treat" (i.e. how much time you'd need to spend in order to have it help you) is really high. 

 

Don't just watch the videos and think through the answers- actually spend the time typing your answers out and evaluating them afterwards! From my understanding of the Casper, it's marked my med students who are pretty much asking "is this person someone I'd want to sit next to in class?"

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Borborygmi Newbie

Borborygmi

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Because your ABS is ignored so you have an easier shot than most schools. If your VR and GPA are good- it comes down to a 90min exam. So if you spent your undergrad studying and doing no ECs, you can get away by scoring well on the test (though you may do badly since the assumption is that CASPer indirectly tests the skills one would have acquired over years of doing ECs). Hence the 4500+ applicants 

 

Precisely this. Which is also why I get very annoyed with everyone that I speak to saying that McMaster is GREAT (for me) because they love non-traditional students! Yea, not really.

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rial2 Newbie

rial2

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I would save your money, I don't think any of these preps ar necessary, just read doing right and you should be fine. There should also be a practical exam posted in the Casper software. I totally figured out about this practise test 2 min before my Casper time so I had never peeped or anything for Casper and I was accepted to Mac so I don't think this is necessary.

 

Are there any free PDFs? I literally can't afford to buy Doing Right :( 

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m_jacob_45 Newbie

m_jacob_45

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Thanks for everyone's advice! But I really feel I need to practice  

 

In terms of practice, read doing right so that you know how to approach ethical issues. Then, go online and do full length practice tests under timed conditions. Its really helpful to get the timing down in advance, especially if you type slowly. Don't want to be doing that on the real test. I would not pay for a company to "mark" any practice tests. It also helps if you list significant experiences in your life that show leadership, a time you solved a problem, etc so that you will have already thought of examples for personal questions in advance. Good luck!

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