CASPer? WTF?

[salemstein]

Cheers to another hurdle placed upon us premeds by the almighty Med Gate Guardians (if you get the reference). I discovered this fresh new hoop while looking at Tulane med. From my understanding, it is a personality test meant to see how you deal with ethical problems in a short span of 5 minutes. I also looked at how it is scored and holy cow its subjective AF. Thankfully theres only around 5-6 schools in the US that are using it this cycle, but I have a weird feeling its gonna spread like wildfire. Heres why: there is a trend for med admissions to get tougher. We have a harder MCAT, more people applying, and higher metrics to obtain for admissions. This is just another piece that fits the puzzle perfectly. Now I don't have anything against med schools wanting to have more tools to sift out applicants, but I'd feel uneasy if our fate were to be decided by a test as whimsical as CASPer. As BS as the MCAT was, it was heavily standardized. Heck, I'd be more happy even if you added another section on the MCAT called "situational judgement" or something like that. /end secondary app-induced rant

Now Tulane says applicants are "highly encouraged" to take the test, though it is not explicitly required. Does that mean its basically a hidden requirement?

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[NotASerialKiller]

If you think CASPer is tough, I don't know how you're handling the rest. It's just an online MMI where you have to respond quickly. The only other part of your application that allows anyone to assess who you are (not your grades or logged volunteer hours) is the interview, and that is incredibly subjective.

 

[salemstein]

If you think CASPer is tough, I don't know how you're handling the rest. It's just an online MMI where you have to respond quickly. The only other part of your application that allows anyone to assess who you are (not your grades or logged volunteer hours) is the interview, and that is incredibly subjective.

The test itself is not tough. Now, I assume most premeds are socially competent people with high critical thinking skills. It the competition that makes it tough. The test, which is scored on a scale from 1-12, serves like another MCAT, to differentiate applicants apart. I'm not saying that I can't score high. What I am saying is this: say you put a bunch of smart premeds in 5th grade math. Easy right? Now grade the class on a standard pre-med curve, where only 25% of the people end up with As. Now you begin to see truly arbitrary things contribute to grading. Tom forgot his decimal point. He gets a B. Suzy didn't write her name, but got all the other problems correct. She gets a B. Relating back to CASPer, assuming most premeds are highly socially competent, what differentiates people really comes down to the subjectivity of the grader/situational variables. Its just another headache to deal with, but such is the path I choose.

 

[NotASerialKiller]

The test itself is not tough. Now, I assume most premeds are socially competent people with high critical thinking skills. It the competition that makes it tough. The test, which is scored on a scale from 1-12, serves like another MCAT, to differentiate applicants apart. I'm not saying that I can't score high. What I am saying is this: say you put a bunch of smart premeds in 5th grade math. Easy right? Now grade the class on a standard pre-med curve, where only 25% of the people end up with As. Now you begin to see truly arbitrary things contribute to grading. Tom forgot his decimal point. He gets a B. Suzy didn't write her name, but got all the other problems correct. She gets a B. Relating back to CASPer, assuming most premeds are highly socially competent, what differentiates people really comes down to the subjectivity of the grader/situational variables. Its just another headache to deal with, but such is the path I choose.

Massive assumption, and one that I don't agree with at all. Have you tried to answer any MMI questions? It's not a matter of saying "Well Sally should be nice to Jimmy because being nice is nice and makes Jimmy feel nice". There are a lot of people (premeds and normies alike!) that struggle to see things from multiple perspectives. I'm kind of surprised that you'd think that all premeds are equivalently empathetic. That's definitely not the case.

There are plenty of fair criticisms of the test (and MMIs in general) but overall schools are moving in that direction because regular panel interviews are extremely subjective and when tested have very low repeatability. You're never going to get a perfectly impartial assessment of someone's character, but these new tests are an attempt to improve the current system. I'm much more on board with MMIs than CASPer, but it's not the literal nonsense that you described.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

I also looked at how it is scored and holy cow its subjective AF.

And secondary essays aren't?

 

[bananafish94]

Now, I assume most premeds are socially competent people with high critical thinking skills.

You and I have had markedly different experiences.

 

[NewHorizons]

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[Goro]

Am I the only one here who's getting a whiff of entitlement from someone who thinks that they have a right to a seat in med school???????

When there are > 50000 applicants vying for < 25000 med school seats, what are we supposed to do? Give you swords, maces and shields and let y'all duke it out?

Given that unethical doctors start out by being unethical students, the nerve of us to start the weeding out earlier.

A career in Medicine is a privilege, not a right.

Cheers to another hurdle placed upon us premeds by the almighty Med Gate Guardians (if you get the reference). I discovered this fresh new hoop while looking at Tulane med. From my understanding, it is a personality test meant to see how you deal with ethical problems in a short span of 5 minutes. I also looked at how it is scored and holy cow its subjective AF. Thankfully theres only around 5-6 schools in the US that are using it this cycle, but I have a weird feeling its gonna spread like wildfire. Heres why: there is a trend for med admissions to get tougher. We have a harder MCAT, more people applying, and higher metrics to obtain for admissions. This is just another piece that fits the puzzle perfectly. Now I don't have anything against med schools wanting to have more tools to sift out applicants, but I'd feel uneasy if our fate were to be decided by a test as whimsical as CASPer. As BS as the MCAT was, it was heavily standardized. Heck, I'd be more happy even if you added another section on the MCAT called "situational judgement" or something like that. /end secondary app-induced rant

Now Tulane says applicants are "highly encouraged" to take the test, though it is not explicitly required. Does that mean its basically a hidden requirement?

 

[NewHorizons]

Am I the only one here who's getting a whiff of entitlement from someone who thinks that they have a right to a seat in med school???????

When there are > 50000 applicants vying for < 25000 med school seats, what are we supposed to do? Give you swords, maces and shields and let y'all duke it out?

Given that unethical doctors start out by being unethical students, the nerve of us to start the weeding out earlier.

A career in Medicine is a privilege, not a right.

Not even a bad idea, at least they'd have survival and coping skills unlike the OP

 

[Crito]

#dukeitout2016

 

[piii]

Complaing about competition and hoops means you probably don't understand much about the field you're trying to get in to, or that you're not ready for it.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

When there are > 50000 applicants vying for < 25000 med school seats, what are we supposed to do? Give you swords, maces and shields and let y'all duke it out?

Why don't we just go purely off grades and scores. Anyone below a 3.75 sGPA and 33MCAT (whatever that's equal to on the new one) is automatically eliminated. I mean, screw anything about personality or life experiences that may make them a competent physician. Just weed out the dummies.

 

[wizzed101]

Am I the only one here who's getting a whiff of entitlement from someone who thinks that they have a right to a seat in med school???????

When there are > 50000 applicants vying for < 25000 med school seats, what are we supposed to do? Give you swords, maces and shields and let y'all duke it out?

Given that unethical doctors start out by being unethical students, the nerve of us to start the weeding out earlier.

A career in Medicine is a privilege, not a right.

My main beef with the test is the fact that it was designed to be a pure aptitude test but with a small fee of 50$ you can perform significant better, enroll nao!!!!!

I will not complain if they have a list of 200 aptitude tests that can be assigned randomly to each individual at a specific time so no preparation is possible. As it is now, the test is pure BS. And if a school thinks it is a good idea to use such thing, it says a lot about the school. Ha, in that sense, it actually helps me screen!

 

[salemstein]

Am I the only one here who's getting a whiff of entitlement from someone who thinks that they have a right to a seat in med school???????

Not even a bad idea, at least they'd have survival and coping skills unlike the OP

Ahh... the typical sdn-style bashing. I'll state my position: I do believe medicine is a privilege; I am simply questioning the process to attain such a privilege. Does being frustrated mean I don't have coping skills? But lets refrain from personal attacks and focus on the issues at hand: does placing more hurdles really accomplish what adcoms want to accomplish?

 

[piii]

Ahh... the typical sdn-style bashing. I'll state my position: I do believe medicine is a privilege; I am simply questioning the process to attain such a privilege. Does being frustrated mean I don't have coping skills? But lets refrain from personal attacks and focus on the issues at hand: does placing more hurdles really accomplish what adcoms want to accomplish?

Jeez dude, they aren't placing more hurdles just because they want to test you, or make things hard. The schools believe the Casper results will help them select better applicants. It's really just that simple, get over it.

 

[NotASerialKiller]

My main beef with the test is the fact that it was designed to be a pure aptitude test but with a small fee of 50$ you can perform significant better, enroll nao!!!!!

Aren't those external companies? Astroff didn't create the test. I'm also not sure what those courses do except boost your confidence. I took it without any preparation (except for practicing quick typing for 10 minutes) and did very well. People spend thousands of dollars on intense MCAT prep courses, doesn't mean it's necessary to do well.

Ahh... the typical sdn-style bashing. I'll state my position: I do believe medicine is a privilege; I am simply questioning the process to attain such a privilege. Does being frustrated mean I don't have coping skills? But lets refrain from personal attacks and focus on the issues at hand: does placing more hurdles really accomplish what adcoms want to accomplish?

Respond to my comments then, I didn't attack you, I just disagree with you. What you see as a hurdle I'm saying is actually better than the current "hurdles" in terms of a school getting to know who you are.

Secondary essays, for example, can be handed in weeks later. Plenty of time for you to BS opinions that you don't actually have because they sound admirable, pay someone to write one, half-ass one and then get your mom to edit it, etc. etc. Surely a test that gives you 3 minutes to respond to an ethical dilemma would be a better assessment of an applicant, would it not? I get that you're frustrated that you have to do an additional thing, but this is a far cry from the swimsuit competition that you're making it out to be. People who are genuinely clueless when it comes to ethical dilemmas and empathy will struggle with CASPer, which is the point.

 

[wizzed101]

Aren't those external companies? Astroff didn't create the test. I'm also not sure what those courses do except boost your confidence. I took it without any preparation (except for practicing quick typing for 10 minutes) and did very well.

How well? It's all relative your performance is relative to others. But that is not the point. The point is that people who otherwise do badly can significantly improve with preparation. That is BS for an aptitude test.

 

[NotASerialKiller]

How well? It's all relative your performance is relative to others. But that is not the point. The point is that people who otherwise do badly can significantly improve with preparation. That is BS for an aptitude test.

Well you don't get a score so I can't be certain, but I received interviews at the Canadian schools that weigh CASPer heavily, at one school in particular where I was below average in a couple other things. Doesn't guarantee I did very well I suppose, but let's say at least well. I also did well in my MMIs, which are very similar, so I'm pretty confident in that type of assessment.

Maybe you can improve with preparation, teach yourself (or have someone else teach you) what an empathetic person would say, but that's definitely a lot easier to do for a secondary essay or even a panel interview than for CASPer/MMIs. I don't understand why the fact that maybe you can improve with practice means that it's terrible. Every other attempt to assess character is even easier to BS, they're just trying to get more honest responses. Also the claims of companies that charge you $200 for CASPer training are obviously going to be exaggerated. Since they don't release CASPer scores there's no way to find out if they actually help at all. If they do, as I said, it might just be that people were more confident going in and didn't get flustered.

 

[wizzed101]

If empathy can be trained, that would be wonderful. But testing empathy for such coveted positions can only lead to people training for the test. I don't even want to start with cheating. You underestimate how far people would go. Based on what I've read, you can take the test at home. Really? Nothing can go wrong!

I understand the schools' aim but the execution, for me, is questionable. If schools are sincere about a standardized empathy/whatever test, why don't they pool resources to make them? Something like a test bank with like 200 different kinds of test etc... How about just asking doctors/professors/volunteers around the country/world to submit situational questions?

Edit: just looked at the sample. So one of the word-based scenario is:

Consider this statement: From time to time, we deal with conflict in some form.

What would be your strategy if you were faced with a conflict that was extremely difficult to resolve?

Really? What do you expect me to answer?
A: deal with it
B: give up

Give me an answer and I'll give a scenario where your answer is objectively wrong.
And b4 you say that my scenario is impossible/unlikely, do you really think you will face with "extremely difficult" conflicts often?

And if you can reliably resolve them, they are not really difficult to begin with.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

If empathy can be trained, that would be wonderful. But testing empathy for such coveted positions can only lead to people training for the test. I don't even want to start with cheating. You underestimate how far people would go. Based on what I've read, you can take the test at home. Really? Nothing can go wrong!

I understand the schools' aim but the execution, for me, is questionable. If schools are sincere about a standardized empathy/whatever test, why don't they pool resources to make them? Something like a test bank with like 200 different kinds of test etc... How about just asking doctors/professors/volunteers around the country/world to submit situational questions?

Edit: just looked at the sample. So one of the word-based scenario is:





Really? What do you expect me to answer?
A: deal with it
B: give up

Give me an answer and I'll give a scenario where your answer is objectively wrong.
And b4 you say that my scenario is impossible/unlikely, do you really think you will face with "extremely difficult" conflicts often?

And if you can reliably resolve them, they are not really difficult to begin with.

Look, I understand that application season is stressful. Trust me, I went through it twice. Venting on SDN is great to get some of that tension out, but it's not going to solve the problem. CASPer is in a handful of the 120+ medical school applications and I have yet to see it in a so-called "Tier 1" school. This is the exception more than the rule. Until there is concrete evidence that this produces a better quality of student, most schools won't willingly adopt it. IF this is causing such an issue for you, then I suggest not applying to those schools that administer CASPer. I applied to one my second time around that didn't have it the year prior. I decided it wasn't worth my time or money so I didn't do it - end of story. Life went on.

 

[NotASerialKiller]

Edit: just looked at the sample. So one of the word-based scenario is:





Really? What do you expect me to answer?
A: deal with it
B: give up

Give me an answer and I'll give a scenario where your answer is objectively wrong.
And b4 you say that my scenario is impossible/unlikely, do you really think you will face with "extremely difficult" conflicts often?

And if you can reliably resolve them, they are not really difficult to begin with.

I think you're misunderstanding the point of questions like these (although this is very different and more abstract than what I've seen). They just want to know how you view conflict resolution. There is no objectively correct answer, they don't want that.

Also an interviewer could easily ask you how you deal with conflict in your life, are you going to tell them that it's a stupid question because it's subjective? Of course it's subjective, that's the point. And because it's CASPer and you have absolutely no time to think about it and ask yourself, "Hm, what answer do they really want? How do I game this?". You'll end up with a blank page unless you immediately start typing, meaning that the only coherent response you'll be able to give is the honest one. I actually like that question more than the more common ethical scenarios. In 3 minutes you just have to walk them through what you genuinely do in your life when conflict arises.

 

[Lawpy]

But I thought CASPer is supposed to be a friendly and helpful assessment just like...

 

[wizzed101]

@CyrilFiggis I'm not applying this circle and yes, I will definitely NOT apply to the schools that require it even if they are tier 1 or what not. I just want to voice my opposition to the test so hopefully some people with influences may rethink it. Let say I have been in an environment where testings were used asset everything, most noticeably aptitude.. As a result, people may be lead to believe they liked something or even good at something because they did so well on those tests. And that practice is incredible harmful, in my opinion.

@NotASerialKiller if I were in an interview, I would immediately ask the interviewer to be more specific. You and I both know that the question is too general and thus nonsensical. Making a sensible answer to such question is what I call gaming the system: you know that they expect it.

If a reporter asks a senator: "Sir, have you stopped beating your wife?" The honest and correct answer would be: "You are a piece of ????." Being diplomatic is gaming the system.

 

[NotASerialKiller]

@NotASerialKiller if I were in an interview, I would immediately ask the interviewer to be more specific. You and I both know that the question is too general and thus nonsensical. Making a sensible answer to such question is what I call gaming the system: you know that they expect it.

You might be in for some rough interviews if you demand clear, direct questions from your interviewers before giving an answer. I remember @Goro especially liking the question "What do you believe in?". From what you've said, I'm guessing that question would make your brain explode. I think that the more vague the question is, the more revealing an applicant's response can be.

One thing you definitely have to let go of, for any interview, is the idea that there is a correct answer. There really isn't, and trying to tell them what they want to hear at every turn is a bad idea.

 

[wizzed101]

"What you believe in" is a specific question. I'll happily talk about what I believe.

The question I quoted is more equivalent to "How do you deal with this?" Am I not allowed to ask "what is this?"

Or do you expect me to act like Frasier? "Dashing and yet understated.. and.."



Call me judgmental if you want, but for a test so praised to be able asset such aptitude to use such questions as representative.... lol

 

[CyrilFiggis]

@CyrilFiggis I'm not applying this circle and yes, I will definitely NOT apply to the schools that require it even if they are tier 1 or what not. I just want to voice my opposition to the test so hopefully some people with influences may rethink it. Let say I have been in an environment where testings were used asset everything, most noticeably aptitude.. As a result, people may be lead to believe they liked something or even good at something because they did so well on those tests. And that practice is incredible harmful, in my opinion.

Your voice has no say in the matter. You're an anonymous pre-med on a web forum... I'm not trying to be rude, just practical. Your criticism of tested aptitude is equally challenged by students who criticize subjective factors like essays. Until one proves better or worse statistically, there's no use discussing it anymore.

 

[deleted731525]

Am I the only one here who's getting a whiff of entitlement from someone who thinks that they have a right to a seat in med school???????

When there are > 50000 applicants vying for < 25000 med school seats, what are we supposed to do? Give you swords, maces and shields and let y'all duke it out?

Given that unethical doctors start out by being unethical students, the nerve of us to start the weeding out earlier.

A career in Medicine is a privilege, not a right.

Yes.

 

[Monkey.King]

Give you swords, maces and shields and let y'all duke it out?

Time to stock up on RPG games because that sounds awesome

 

[wizzed101]

Your voice has no say in the matter. You're an anonymous pre-med on a web forum... I'm not trying to be rude, just practical. Your criticism of tested aptitude is equally challenged by students who criticize subjective factors like essays. Until one proves better or worse statistically, there's no use discussing it anymore.

That battle has already been lost. The one isn't. Plus, the essays do not test aptitude.

And yes, I know that the chance of me influencing someone is like the chance of winning the powerball. Still, people do win the powerball!

 

[NewHorizons]

-

 

[wizzed101]

So if I oppose the friendly ghost, I must also oppose all forms of testing. And if I dare to hope for anything with a small chance of success, Caribbean schools off I go!

Good to know! I have been so blind!

Point is I hope the disease doesn't spread when I apply next year (highly doubt it). But if it does spread, I will cheese the test. It's unpleasant but I can do it and I'm good at it, cheesing that is. I have a track record of doing well in stuffs I absolutely despised.

 

[Advisor Prep]

The test itself is not tough. Now, I assume most premeds are socially competent people with high critical thinking skills. It the competition that makes it tough. The test, which is scored on a scale from 1-12, serves like another MCAT, to differentiate applicants apart. I'm not saying that I can't score high. What I am saying is this: say you put a bunch of smart premeds in 5th grade math. Easy right? Now grade the class on a standard pre-med curve, where only 25% of the people end up with As. Now you begin to see truly arbitrary things contribute to grading. Tom forgot his decimal point. He gets a B. Suzy didn't write her name, but got all the other problems correct. She gets a B. Relating back to CASPer, assuming most premeds are highly socially competent, what differentiates people really comes down to the subjectivity of the grader/situational variables. Its just another headache to deal with, but such is the path I choose.

This is a very valid point. CASPer in theory is not a pass/fail test but a way to rank a very large number of applicants, in this case based on personal and professional characteristics.

As the test becomes more prevalent in the US, applicants here are slowly starting to grasp why Canadians spend so much time and energy studying for the CASPer test.

 

[freak7]

This is a very valid point. CASPer in theory is not a pass/fail test but a way to rank a very large number of applicants, in this case based on personal and professional characteristics.

Maybe I haven't done enough research into CASPer, but I thought the whole idea was to present you with situations that were difficult and force you to think of a solution. In that case it wouldn't seem like a one-dimensional numerical ranking would be appropriate. I feel like it should create a personality profile. Am I way off base?

 

[PossibleDOC?]

All I will say is this much, the profession is highly regarded and because of that premeds and med students get put through the meat grinder. Is it true that it's harder to get in now than ever before maybe (I personally think so but I have my own anecdote about that) but what do I know. One thing I will say is this, these requirements remind me of student loans in a way. The previous generation defaulted on government student loans and declared bankruptcy and basically found any way to get our of paying. So now current students suffer with astronomical interest rates (compared to 2-3% in the 80s and 90s). Now you may ask how this relates, well at that time you could have a high mcat or gpa (one or the other) and get into medical school. I know plenty of good doctors who had high gpas and low mcats and vice versa. I also know several doctors that are horrible and I wouldn't trust my worst enemy with their care. Its trial and error and now with so many people trying to become doctors its easy to see what works and doesn't.

Do I think the system is broke in some way? Yes I do, but I can't change it so I go through the paces and hope to become a doctor.

Also that thing about premeds being social and all.....go to your local MD school I guarantee you they're all staring at their feet when approached or in a book because outside of a textbook or grades they can't function thats why residency and clinical rotations are good it forces them to be social something a lot of them desperately need (I call out MD schools because usually those are the 4.0, 520 MCAT students that can't talk to a stranger/patient lol)

 

[PossibleDOC?]

Why don't we just go purely off grades and scores. Anyone below a 3.75 sGPA and 33MCAT (whatever that's equal to on the new one) is automatically eliminated. I mean, screw anything about personality or life experiences that may make them a competent physician. Just weed out the dummies.

Ummmm they pretty much do that now lol maybe a little lower on the stats but thats what auto screening is for 😉

 

[doctorleospaceman]

I agree that MMIs, when done right, allow for better assesment of candidates. CASPer however is just a $10 "words per minute" test that then doesn't actually tell you how fast you type. The biggest problem is the time limit. I believe the important thing in decision making is thought process, not end result. I found CASPer to either have black and white senarios or ones where there is just not enough time to properly go through one's thought process. That's my problem with it.

 

[Medstart108]

As someone who wrote the test to get in and also marked the test, I actually think CASPer is a useful tool, you can definitely distinguish good, average and bad answers. The majority of answers for me went in the average category, and I think it does select for people who typically are more verbally skilled and good communicators.

 

[DocMcMommy]

I mean, I would dance in a clown costume on one foot for four hours straight outside on the coldest day in winter if they told me it would help them decide if I could handle the rigor of the profession and would get me closer to an acceptance.

I'm sure there's a line with my dignity somewhere that I wouldn't step over for an admission... but it's pretty far down there.

That is unless med schools say they want someone with a strong sense of dignity, of course. Then I can move that line up a little.

😉

 

[Petrichor1]

Honestly, it's only a few schools that are currently requiring it and this is fairly common at some hospitals that employ people. Forget about hospitals, I'm also talking grocery store jobs that pay minimum wage. The only problem I have with CASPer is that you have to pay for it. It's not that costly but it certainly made me question why I would want to take it after having filled out and paid for many applications.

Easy enough, you don't have to complete the file on these schools if you don't want to. There are plenty of medical schools that don't employ it. It could very well be the school that offers you a chance at admissions so there is that.

 

[salemstein]

Its been awhile since I posted this thread; good to see people are still curious about this damn thing.
Anyways, I took it quite recently and... do you guys remember playing QWERTY Warriors from 5th grade computer class? (you know, that game where they give you a bunch of random words and you have to type it out) Well, Casper is basically an adult version of that. Instead of random words, they give you ethical issues. I'm sorta pissed because I think/speak about 3x faster than I type, and many of their scenarios have really specific nuances that is totally impossible to cover given 1:40 per question. Huge confounding variable.
Oh and you know how they say "we're an accurate test because you can't study for it?" Don't fall for that BULLSH-T. Following free tips posted here and there helped me tremendously. Its not about how ethical or socially competent you are. Sure it is standardized, but its to the standards of some random human grader. You can be Mother Theresa and not do well because you didn't answer in the way they want you to answer.

 

[aldol16]

Oh and you know how they say "we're an accurate test because you can't study for it?" Don't fall for that BULLSH-T. Following free tips posted here and there helped me tremendously. Its not about how ethical or socially competent you are. Sure it is standardized, but its to the standards of some random human grader. You can be Mother Theresa and not do well because you didn't answer in the way they want you to answer.

There's no "way they want you to answer." It's graded on a spectrum (quantized, but still a spectrum) and there's no black or white here. It's not like they'll mark "socially incompetent" because you weren't able to come up with an answer to one of the questions or even if you came up with a bad one. The point is to answer as you would answer, not what they want you to say. To thine own self be true.

 

[HL8208]

@salemstein for what it's worth, I didn't even complete 2 questions and I got an interview from a CASPer school. I don't think they put too much stock into it.

 

[HalfManHalfBirdman]

"What you believe in" is a specific question. I'll happily talk about what I believe.

The question I quoted is more equivalent to "How do you deal with this?" Am I not allowed to ask "what is this?"

Or do you expect me to act like Frasier? "Dashing and yet understated.. and.."



Call me judgmental if you want, but for a test so praised to be able asset such aptitude to use such questions as representative.... lol

I don't see how what essentially boils down to "How do you handle conflict" is less specific to you than "what do you believe in."

I'm taking CASPer tomorrow and I'm a little excited about it. As an applicant with slightly below average stats (66 LM) but great interpersonal skills I'm hoping it'll give me an opportunity to set myself apart at a couple of the schools I applied to.

 

[salemstein]

I don't see how what essentially boils down to "How do you handle conflict" is less specific to you than "what do you believe in."

I'm taking CASPer tomorrow and I'm a little excited about it. As an applicant with slightly below average stats (66 LM) but great interpersonal skills I'm hoping it'll give me an opportunity to set myself apart at a couple of the schools I applied to.

Good luck, grasshopper! You WILL successfully jump thru this hoop! A few things remember:
-Consider all sides of a scenario, no matter how much the actors/actresses swing one way (its a common trap I noticed). If actors A, B, and C all want to punch someone because they weren't cooperating and give really good reasons to do so, do NOT simply go with flow. I know it sounds obvious, but stringent time limits + nervous energy has the ability to warp minds.
-Take that 15 min break they give you! It really helped.
-Timing is too important. Give yourself 1:40 per question. Practice sample Qs found online using those limits. Learn to think under a 1:40 framework.

Pro Tip: Are you a gamer? A mechanical gaming keyboard actually improved my typing speed by 5-10 wpm. You might not think its a lot, but given 1:40 per question, EVERY word matters! I recall gettin cut off 3-4x by the timer.

 

[medbunny56]

I don't see how what essentially boils down to "How do you handle conflict" is less specific to you than "what do you believe in."

I'm taking CASPer tomorrow and I'm a little excited about it. As an applicant with slightly below average stats (66 LM) but great interpersonal skills I'm hoping it'll give me an opportunity to set myself apart at a couple of the schools I applied to.

same boat! taking casper tomorrow with a 64 LizzyM

 

[mistafab]

Luckily there are other schools you can apply to OP.

 

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