For Those Of You That Were Accepted ...

[Reastat]

When did you start preparing and practicing for casper?

 

I'm applying this year and going to be purchasing practice casper tests to prepare but wondering when I should do that by?  

[bruh]

What practice tests have you found? I also want to prepare but don't know where to start.

[Ozymandias]

Honestly, probably a few days before the test I brushed up on some ethical situations from books/online journals. It's not what you study but rather how fast you can think within a time limit and give a structured answer to the questions.

 

It's better to know how to format/structure the thought process for what you believe in and to be able to type fast rather than knowing policies etc. for Doing Right scenarios.

 

Make sure to do a few practice questions beforehand to familiarize yourself with the exam structure (3 questions in 5 mins per scenario etc.). I think the CASPer website gives you a practice scenario and there's bound to be some free ones you can find as well. Good luck!

[HappyAndHopeful]

About 2 weeks before the CASPer, I started reading Doing Right.  I got about half-way through by the time I wrote it, and I felt that it gave me a good understanding of the ethical principles and how to go about addressing ethical dilemmas.  I also did the practice questions on the CASPer website, and watched some videos that went over a few sample questions.  That was really helpful, because it gave me a good idea of what to expect for the real thing (format + types of questions).

 

Good luck!

[EthicsForBreakfast]

Don't spend money on CASPer prep. I got an interview by just familiarizing myself with the content and idk. It's not something you can practice for. It's meant to weed out those that don't really think ethically and critically in hard situations. Either you do or you don't.

[Salman93]

While I didn't get an interview at Ottawa, I was accepted to Mac this year, even with a very low GPA and an average CARS. I'm by no means very experienced at CASPER, but I would be happy to offer my approach and guidance if you're interested. Feel free to PM me!

[MacMed2018]

I didn't find Doing Right very helpful for CASPer or my Mac Interview.  Looking back reading it was kind of a waste of time.  Doing Right was more helpful several years ago but having experienced both now on the other side, there's definitely been a shift in what is being assessed.

Unless you have a 4.0 GPA (and a 130 CARS for Mac), I think writing the CASPer without any preparation is probably not the best option ....

 

[MacMed2018]

On 5/28/2017 at 5:25 PM, Bruhhh said:

What practice tests have you found? I also want to prepare but don't know where to start.

Do a search on bing or goggle, but be careful because many of the companies selling practice CASPer tests do not allow you to try out their interface and questions before buying.  I would not recommend buying if you can't try out their testing interface or questions.  Remember, you are PAYING for a service so you want to make sure the quality is as close to the real test as possible.  In my year, many of the people in my class that I've talked to used practice CASPer tests from one company.  *Hint* look at Revolue's comment in this thread.

As to when to start preparing, I dedicated almost 8 weeks for CASPer.

 

[Turk]

I practiced for about a month and a half before my CASPer.

First I read Doing Right to get a basic understanding of ethics. I was reading it thoroughly at first, but then I began skimming it, as I found I was starting to get the hang of answering ethical questions. During this time I did a mock CASPer test that I found online. I didn't time myself, and I ensured to type out everything I wanted to say without worrying about time restrictions.

I then took the BeMo CASPer course. It was pretty expensive (even with the special offer that was going on), but I found it to be very useful. The way I used this course was that I did one of my sessions at the beginning of my prep, and then I noted down all of the feedback I received, and used that to help me improve. I then did my second session about a week before my actual CASPer, and this helped my solidify my strengths.

Throughout all of this, I was doing mock CASPer tests that I found on Google an I ensured to time myself and do my mock tests at the same time my actual test was going to be.

I felt that all of this was really beneficial in prepping me for CASPer. 

Message me if you need any more help! 

[vikym]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.  I checked out Bemo as Turk suggested but based on what I saw from their CASPer demo video, their platform is different from the real CASPer test posted at takecasper.com.  Plus, $1,000 for only 3 practice CASPer test simulations is a lot of money.   

I will start with the book suggested by Revolue and go from there. 

[Turk]

5 minutes ago, vikym said:

Thanks for the feedback everyone.  I checked out Bemo as Turk suggested but based on what I saw from their CASPer demo video, their platform is different from the real CASPer test posted at takecasper.com.  Plus, $1,000 for only 3 practice CASPer test simulations is a lot of money.   

I will start with the book suggested by Revolue and go from there. 

Awesome!

Also, the BeMo course is definitely not required, and I know many people who did great on their CASPer tests without it. I would suggest waiting until ~October to look at the course prices though. I think I paid $500 for 2 tests; so definitely look for some of their deals around CASPer season to make sure you aren't overpaying!

I also forgot to say in my last post that another resource that I found very helpful was CMAJ Bioethics for Clinicians: http://www.cmaj.ca/site/misc/bioethics_e.xhtml 

 

 

[vikym]

$500 for 2 tests is still way, way, way too expensive especially when there's not even a sample test.

[Jess85]

On 5/28/2017 at 5:25 PM, Bruhhh said:

What practice tests have you found? I also want to prepare but don't know where to start.

 

Make sure you take a look at the APE practice tests.  That's what everyone at Mac uses.  I used these before I was a CASPer assessor and they are very representative of the real test.  See below:

 

Takecasper sample test:  http://go.takecasper.com/s3/Sample-CASPer-2015

Vs.

APE sample test: http://caspersim.apetest.org/s3/SampleCASPer

 

 

 

[sandorclegane]

From my experience, I did 4 practice CASPer tests online: 2 from MockCasper (1 scored, 1 not scored) and 2 from Astroff (both unscored)

Do NOT buy any tests from MockCasper. The actual CASPer test is nothing similar to those practice tests.

Astroff was surprisingly very good prep for CASPer...felt almost like the real thing (except I found the Astroff tests had slightly more complex scenarios). Astroff also has some pretty good packages for purchasing practice tests + scoring options (e.g. I found a package for $275 that provides 4 practice tests and you can get 1 of them scored)

[vikym]

It would be nice to get them all scored, but Astroff charges $650 to get all 4 tests scored !!!! 

@Jess85 Thank you.  I agree the tests look/feel identical.  

[justwannabeadoc]

On 5/31/2017 at 3:06 PM, vikym said:

It would be nice to get them all scored, but Astroff charges $650 to get all 4 tests scored !!!! 

@Jess85 Thank you.  I agree the tests look/feel identical.  

You don't need scoring, just talk it over with med students, or friends.

[Curiousaboutapps1]

Just to throw this in. I didnt do anything for the CASPR. I prcticed typing but that is it. I researched it, determined it was a personality test with good test-retest reliability despite preparation. (This is in MacMaster's originial publications regarding the development and implementation of it into medicine admission). 

 

There sre no right or wrong answers. The only prep I would suggest it to think of examples where you have dealt with failure, harship, difficult individuals and when you have worked collaboritvely with others. 

 

Personal opinion: Dont waste your money on prep courses/tests for CASPr, unless it helps you deal with stress and anticipation. 

I interviewed at Mac and Ottawa. I couldnt tell you if I got in to Mac because I declined my interview.

[Donald_Duck]

For french CASPER the prep (what I did) is mainly to ensure you have a good capacity in typing fast and coherent sentences within the given time frame. I practiced on french typing speed tests for a few days before, and followed general concepts on attacking a given problem (evaluate possibilities, name advantages and settle on one, etc....)

If you have the time, it does not hurt to read on ethics and conflict resolution however the minimum for french anyways is to practice the timing and typing aspect since that will be the biggest limitation.

For English however, you are talking roughly 2000 students who make the GPA cutoff and hence are writing the casper for about 500 interview spots, its a lot more competitive. If you got the time, prepare so that you can maximize your casper score when combined with your GPA (last year formula for interview invites was 50/50 on GPA and casper score).

Mr Duck

[OldManLogan]

In addition to what everyone else said, I also made sure to practice my typing. I used sites like keyhero and typeracer daily (sometimes several times a day) and tried to get my typing speed as high as possible while also ensuring that my accuracy did not decrease.

[vikym]

On 6/2/2017 at 0:00 PM, Curiousaboutapps1 said:

Just to throw this in. I didnt do anything for the CASPR. I prcticed typing but that is it. I researched it, determined it was a personality test with good test-retest reliability despite preparation. (This is in MacMaster's originial publications regarding the development and implementation of it into medicine admission). 

 

There sre no right or wrong answers. The only prep I would suggest it to think of examples where you have dealt with failure, harship, difficult individuals and when you have worked collaboritvely with others. 

 

Personal opinion: Dont waste your money on prep courses/tests for CASPr, unless it helps you deal with stress and anticipation. 

I interviewed at Mac and Ottawa. I couldnt tell you if I got in to Mac because I declined my interview.

 

I really hope more applicants take your advice and just go in without preparing for CASPer :).

[m_jacob_45]

I would definitely practice any free tests you can find. I think its really important just for timing since when I started practising I would often not get to the last question in each section. I would also read doing right just to give you an ethical framework to refer to and it helped me to write down significant experiences I had previously so that I was ready for personal questions that ask for examples. Interviewed at Mac and Ottawa (and not anywhere else so I think CASPer likely significantly helped me get interviews).

[throwaway2886]

I met with some friends to practice and discuss some scenarios we found online a couple weeks before my Casper date. I also read the first chapter of doing right and spent an hour or so reflecting on some personal questions (such as those mentioned above), but really that was it as far as prep goes. I was already confident in my typing speed, so I didn't feel any need to practice in that regard. I was accepted to both McMaster and uOttawa so I figure I must have done well enough.

I won't tell you not to buy practice tests, because I'm sure many have found them helpful. But I certainly don't think they're necessary, as several others I know received interviews without doing any practice tests. I think the most valuable experience comes from being able to talk over some prompts in a group, in order to broaden your perspectives with respect to how the various Casper prompts can be approached.

[Donald_Duck]

For someone that is anxious about the format, and is not confident with their time management skills, I would recommend the practice tests that are very good at simulating the environment in which you will write your casper.

Mr Duck