Shut out of medical school, he blames controversial admissions test which experts say lacks evidence
Erik Soby, a hopeful medical school applicant from Toronto, thought he had a shot at getting into medical school last year. With a high score on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and an impressive grade point average, he believed he was a strong candidate. However, Soby’s dreams were shattered when he was required to take the Casper test, a new admissions hurdle that he believes ultimately led to his rejection.
The Casper test, which stands for Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics, is used by many medical schools in Canada to assess applicants’ “soft skills” such as empathy, ethics, judgment, and communication. The test presents video and typed scenario-based questions that require applicants to weigh in on moral dilemmas. However, Soby, like many other applicants, found the test to be shrouded in mystery. Test takers are never given their actual score, do not receive feedback on areas for improvement, and are unaware of who is rating the test that holds significant weight in the admissions process.
Criticism of the Casper test stems from concerns about its lack of transparency and the validity of its claims. Despite the company behind the test, Acuity Insights, asserting that the Casper can predict future career success, renowned researchers in the field of medical school admissions have found the evidence supporting this claim to be weak and unconvincing. Critics argue that the research behind the test is lacking in scholarship, rigor, and credibility, with some studies potentially being conflicted due to ties to the company.
Furthermore, applicants have raised concerns about the training of individuals who rate the Casper exams, as well as the test’s opaque scoring system. Test takers are only informed of which tier they fall into relative to other test takers, rather than receiving an exact percentile score. This lack of transparency has led to frustration among applicants who feel they deserve more information given the significant impact the test has on their future.
Despite these concerns, the use of the Casper test is spreading beyond medical school admissions to other programs in Canada, including nursing, dentistry, physical therapy, and undergraduate programs. The test was originally developed by McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and has since been licensed to Acuity Insights, which has received government funding to support its research and development.
As medical school applicants continue to navigate the complexities of the admissions process, the controversy surrounding the Casper test raises important questions about fairness, transparency, and the validity of admissions assessments. With the future of aspiring physicians hanging in the balance, calls for greater accountability and scrutiny of the Casper test are growing louder.
