What to Expect on Casper Test Day?
The Casper test, or Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics, is a virtual exam where test-takers must respond to a set of scenarios through text or video responses. The Casper is required by many professional schools for their admissions process, including optometry, dentistry, physician’s assistant, physiotherapy, and medical schools. Due to the structure and nature of the test, it would be a good idea to take some time to adequately prepare – feel free to read our article on How to Prepare for the Casper Test. As your test date nears, nerves will be high and you want to have an idea of what to expect to be as prepared as possible. This way, you can maximize your exam performance and avoid feeling overwhelmed during the exam. In this article, we will be discussing what you should expect on your Casper test day and 5 tips for the big day.
✍️ The Test
The Casper test spans 1 hour and 40 minutes to 2 hours. The test has 2 sections (one for typed text responses, one for recorded video responses) and a total of 15 scenarios (a text passage or 1-2 minute video). When registering for your Casper test, there are typically a few dates and times to choose from. Once that date and time is finalized, you are expected to log onto the Casper website and begin the exam right at your registered time.
As you begin the test, the first section will be the typed response portion. This section involves 9 scenarios in total, with 3 word-based prompts and 6 short video prompts presented in random order. Once you begin, you will be brought to your first word-based or video-based scenario. You will have 1-2 minutes to read the text passage or watch a video, followed by a 30-second reflection period. Once the 30 seconds are over, a 5-minute timer will automatically begin to count down for you to answer 3 corresponding questions following the prompt you just saw. The 3 questions will be related to the situation or theme that was presented, so try to pay attention and reflect as you read or watch the prompt. Note that while you are reading or watching the prompts during this section, your webcam will be on and you will be recorded. Once you get through the first 5 scenarios of the first section, you will be offered an optional 5-minute break. You are free to leave the room during this time, but keep an eye on the time because the test will automatically move to the next step once the break is over. After the break, you will be presented with the remaining 4 word or video scenarios of the first section. Finishing up the questions pertaining to the last 4 scenarios will bring you to the end of the first section, where you will be offered a 10-minute break.
Once the 10-minute break is over, the test will continue on to the second section, which is the video response portion. There are a total of 6 questions in this section, with 2 word-based prompts and 4 video-based prompts. Once you begin, you will be brought to your first scenario. Once again, you will have 1-2 minutes to read the text passage or watch the video, and then you are presented with a question and given 10 seconds to read it. Once you have read the question, a 30-second timer will automatically start to allow you time to reflect and organize your thoughts. Once the reflection period is over, you will be given 1 minute to record your answer to the question through your webcam. There are also 3 questions for each prompt in this section, so you will get 10 seconds to read the question, 30 seconds to organize your thoughts, and 1 minute to record your response for each of the 3 questions following each scenario. Note that you will not be able to re-watch or re-record your video responses. The second section passes by quickly and once you get through it, the Casper test will be officially over. There is an optional survey after the test, which inquires on the quality of your testing experience and any feedback for testing improvements. Take a deep breath of relief, because the test is now over and hopefully you performed to the best of your abilities.
Tips for Test Day
As you can tell, the Casper test is a challenging exam that involves many skills, such as critical thinking and time management. It is easy to start feeling overwhelmed, especially when you are trying to read a text passage or process a video prompt before answering questions, all under a time constraint. To help ease your nerves, here are 5 quick tips for your Casper test day.
1. Read the Questions
After reading the text prompt or watching the video in the first section, you will be presented with 3 questions pertaining to the scenario you just saw. Make sure to read all 3 questions fully and carefully before you start to plan your response, as it can be easy to misinterpret the questions or start addressing multiple questions in one of your answers. Although the 10 seconds of reflection you are given after the prompt is not a lot of time, try your best to formulate some sort of plan before diving into the answer boxes. This will help you better address all the points that you wanted to include, while avoiding having overlapping material across all 3 answers.
2. Quality over Quantity
For the first section, your text responses can be in any form – including point form and complete sentences – as long as your writing is clear and concise. The 3 questions are not marked individually but instead, they are assigned an overall mark for the whole scenario. This means you do not necessarily have to answer all 3 of the questions presented. If you can provide a coherent, well-formulated answer for 1 question, it would be better to do so than writing short, unclear answers for all 3 questions. Use your best judgement in this case, but know that you are not automatically guaranteed a higher score if you answer all 3 questions, and you will not necessarily receive a lower score if you miss a question.
3. Use up Your Time
During the first section, you are provided with 5 minutes to answer 3 questions related to a text- or video-based prompt. It goes without saying that you should use up the full 5 minutes – whether it be to answer the questions, provide more reasoning or support to help express your ideas, or proofread your answers if you are already feeling satisfied with your response. Five minutes is already not a lot of time, so be sure to use it up to answer the questions as best as you can. Similarly, you have 1 minute to video-record yourself for the second section. This is a very short time frame so definitely try to use up the whole minute.
4. Stay Calm
Due to the tight time constraint of this exam, it can start to feel very overwhelming. In the first section, it can feel like you are frantically trying to organize your thoughts and answer the questions while the timers continue to count down, and the whole exam can fly by very fast. However, the best thing you can do during the Casper test is to stay calm. Take deep breaths and try your best to make your reasoning and thought process clear for any questions that you answer, and remind yourself that you have put in the time to adequately prepare and you are doing your best.
5. Take a Break
During the Casper test, you are offered an optional 5-minute break during the first section, and a 10-minute break before the second section. It would be a good idea to take at least one of these breaks, especially if the exam is not going as smoothly. You are free to leave the room or exit the webcam during these breaks, and it would be a good way to calm your nerves and possibly grab a snack before starting on the next question or section with a clear mind.
Conclusion
Although short in length, the Casper test is a challenging, time-constrained exam. It requires adequate preparation and lots of practice. For more in-depth practice, be sure to check out CasperBooster as it offers free Casper Evaluations for all students! There is absolutely no catch!
We hope this article helped you gain some insight on what to expect on your Casper test day and how to best prepare it. Now you just need to get some practice, and you will be good to go. Good luck!
