Casper Test for Medical School: Pre-Med Prep (2026)

Do medical schools require the Casper test?

Many medical schools require the Casper test as part of admissions. It is the most common single use of Casper, spanning MD and DO programs in the United States and a large share of medical schools in Canada, Australia and beyond. Admissions committees use it to assess the professional and interpersonal qualities that predict good doctors, the parts of an applicant that grades and the MCAT cannot capture.

Whether a particular school requires Casper, and by when, depends on the school and the cycle. Medical applicants usually apply through a centralised service such as AMCAS (allopathic), AACOMAS (osteopathic) or TMDSAS (Texas) in the US, or OMSAS in Ontario, and your schools tell you whether a Casper result is required and the deadline for it to arrive. Always confirm the current requirement on each medical school admissions page before you book.

The Casper test format for pre-meds

The medical-school Casper test is the standard two-section format: four video-response scenarios and seven typed-response scenarios, in roughly 65 to 85 minutes. You watch or read a short, everyday dilemma and either record a one-minute answer or type your response to two questions in 3.5 minutes. The scenarios are deliberately non-clinical, so a strong pre-med background gives no head start on the content itself.

Each scenario is scored by a different trained rater, and you are reported to schools as a quartile against everyone who sat the same test type in your cycle. There is no pass mark. Our complete Casper test guide breaks down the format and scoring in detail.

When should pre-meds take Casper, and what is a good score?

Take Casper early enough that your result reaches every school before its deadline; many applicants sit it around the time they submit their primary application. You can only take Casper once per admissions cycle, so prepare before you book rather than planning to retake. On scoring, there is no fixed cut-off: Casper is reported as a quartile, and competitive medical applicants generally aim for the 3rd or 4th quartile so the result strengthens their file. The Q4 vs Q2 answer comparison shows exactly what separates a top answer from an average one.

How to prepare for the medical school Casper test

1. Learn the format cold so the timing and structure are second nature on test day
2. Lead with empathy in every response, acknowledging the people involved before reasoning toward a decision
3. Rehearse the 3.5-minute typed clock and raise your typing speed if it is costing you with a free typing speed test
4. Practise the video section on camera, watching it back for pacing, tone and eye contact
5. Sit full, timed mock tests with specific feedback on every answer, which builds judgement faster than reading tips

The skill that most separates strong pre-med answers is showing genuine empathy and balanced ethical reasoning, not reciting a framework. Our 9 Casper competencies breakdown details what raters reward, and the 3.5-minute typed response strategy shows how to structure an answer that lands a high quartile.