Retrospect: CASper vs ABS Poll

[aqm]

Now that all (most?) eligible applicants have completed the CASper, in retrospect would you rather have the CASPer marked or the ABS?

[repede]

If you're asking what I think offers better judgement as to whether someone should get an interview or not, I say CASPer.

 

However, I am pretty skeptical of my performance on CASPer, so I'm gonna go with the ABS.

[thatonekid]

Hmmm...I'm not sure. I liked my ABS answers and CASPer went fine, but I think I'll hold off answering until interview invites go out.

[Noodle]

hahaha....well, if I had to choose, I would want the admissions committee to look at my abs. My reasons? Casper glitches and also because at one point, there were three telephone's in my boyfriend's family's room, and each phone rings really loud christmas carols (but they are all different christmas carols). Anyhow, it was total chaos and I was straining to hear what was going on in my video and I kept yelling for my boyfriend (who was in the other room) to pick up the phone. he didn't hear me and didn't bother because it was a telemarketer! As a result, I missed the content of the video. I could barely answer the questions to that video. Awful.

 

However, that being said, I kind of like Casper BUT I think they need to offer us a bit more time on the personal questions! I feel like an extra minute so we can have time to think of examples. My personal questions were difficult.

[Daniel]

Casper was definitely better for me. Besides a glitch that prevented me from watching one of the videos it went fine. The personal questions were tough to answer in the time allotted. I probably should have spent a bit more time reviewing my life, haha. I do think they will go ahead with Casper this year, that’s my feeling. If I’m lucky enough to get an interview than I will praise the McMaster and its Casper and if not, I will curse it.

[bj89]

you might need extra options... e.g. CASPer if there were no gitches, or ABS no matter what

[medhopeful64]

Yeah I'd say CASper is better, it was kinda fun, and tested your ability to think on your feet. That being said, I definitely wished I had done more ethics review, and had just a little more time (at least to read the question, then get the timer going). My answers to #3 for almost all of them were like half the length as Question 1, because I hardly had time to formulate them properly.

[irsr]

My understading was that they will consider both ABS and CASPer, but will weight them differently. Am I right?

[EastCoast89]

My understading was that they will consider both ABS and CASPer, but will weight them differently. Am I right?

They will only consider one or the other. The Casper set-up is the preferred but if it is a complete disaster (which it doesn't seem to be) than they may revert back to the ABS as a last option. Check out the mcmaster med admissions page for the weightings.

 

EC89

[Noodle]

They will only consider one or the other. The Casper set-up is the preferred but if it is a complete disaster (which it doesn't seem to be) than they may revert back to the ABS as a last option. Check out the mcmaster med admissions page for the weightings.

 

EC89

 

 

I don't think it was a disaster.....however, there were a lot of glitches. For instance, I was unlucky when it came to some questions because my casper skipped through them (the last 2)...I never got to answer them, nor was I given the survey. I don't really know what that means for me. Also, my vids kept freezing and the timing got weird for some questions.

 

On the positive side for me, there were times when I got extra minutes to answer questions....either I got a question set twice accidentally, or the first time I did the question Casper didn't register it and I got another 5 minutes to answer it a bit better (which is unfair to people who didn't have that advantage). I also got to see videos twice sometimes, so I had more time to think.

 

In short, I'm not sure how they will factor in the glitches to evaluate us appropriately!

[PhD_Candidate_2011]

I'm perplexed as to how CASPer will segregate the applicant pool (especially, when one considers its ~50% weighting factor). I think the vast majority of applicants would have all provided equally "appropriate" answers. Heck, some of the ethical questions even had an obvious "correct" answer that exemplifies one's compassionate character. I think most people's answers would be similar in such cases. Since everyone was limited by time, the literary quality in people's answers isn't going to distinguish applicants too much either. Along the same lines, those few people with super fast typing speeds might have a competitive edge (like how a speed reader would have a competitive edge in a passage reading exam). Unless, Mac believes one's typing speed correlates with success as a physician?!

 

This isn't a rant about CASPer, rather I'm curious as to how they're going to use CASPer to segregate candidates. Because, I feel as though my responses would have been identical had I written it as a 14-year old. I don't see how it can serve as a clear-cut differentiating factor to the admissions committee....

[takashi]

Although I encountered no problems with Casper, I would prefer both to be evaluated. I am sure there are some people who may have done poorly on one but fairly well on the other. I think the "best" applicants would do well on both. Therefore, to eliminate the "flukes", it would be best that both are evaluated.

[LupeFiasco]

I'm perplexed as to how CASPer will segregate the applicant pool (especially, when one considers its ~50% weighting factor). I think the vast majority of applicants would have all provided equally "appropriate" answers. Heck, some of the ethical questions even had an obvious "correct" answer that exemplifies one's compassionate character. I think most people's answers would be similar in such cases. Since everyone was limited by time, the literary quality in people's answers isn't going to distinguish applicants too much either. Along the same lines, those few people with super fast typing speeds might have a competitive edge (like how a speed reader would have a competitive edge in a passage reading exam). Unless, Mac believes one's typing speed correlates with success as a physician?!

 

This isn't a rant about CASPer, rather I'm curious as to how they're going to use CASPer to segregate candidates. Because, I feel as though my responses would have been identical had I written it as a 14-year old. I don't see how it can serve as a clear-cut differentiating factor to the admissions committee....

 

You may feel that way but it's not necessary a "rule."

 

If you feel that you would have provided the same answers as when you were 14, that, presumably, bodes well for you. This shows that you've had a tremendous amount of rewarding experiences that have taught you a lot about life in general. But not everyone has these experiences. I think that's important to keep in mind.

 

Also if you think about it, CASPer will allow those red flags to be spotted easily. In a limited amount of time, most people will try to think of an appropriate answer for all the questions but their "gut" answer will also be in play here, and I think that is really important. This tells the ADCOM how an applicant would TRULY answer the question. That will eliminate a bunch of people right away. I guess that means the the qualities of a good Physician are as much intrinsic as they are extrinsic and I feel CASPer will let the ADCOM measure those intrinsic factors, which are hard to do objectively with the ABS. I'm not saying it is entirely objective because, of course, it isn't seeing as people are marking it. But there probably is a more specific marking scheme than the one for the ABS seeing as there are a far more limited number of answers that applicants can write. But I hope you see what I'm trying to say. (Working on an ABS for 2 and a half months and getting it proofread by 10 people vs. Doing CASPer)

 

I feel like they are going to mark it as they would mark an MMI. They are looking for key words, key responses, or a certain theme in your answers. If you hit all 3, then you get a perfect score for that video or question. If you had some of the key words, but the theme was not what they were looking for, then you would get a lower score, and so on and so forth.

 

That's what I think anyways.

 

- Lupe

[Fatso]

I thought the strangest questions (but also the more interesting ones) had the whole "You are a ____ " and sometimes the scenarios they had you describe were seemingly at odds to what I would expect an empathetic physician would do. I'm not sure if I got a little too much into the role playing, and that it may have affected the score I receive