Casper Test (2026-27): Format, Scoring, and How to Prepare

Casper format for 2026-27

Acuity says the test “includes 11 scenarios”: 4 video response scenarios, then 7 typed response scenarios (Acuity Insights).

Acuity estimates the whole test at 65 to 85 minutes. Each scenario starts with a short video or a written prompt, then “an optional 30-second reflection period.” Video answers start after “A 10-second countdown.” You must answer the way the screen asks: “Switching between formats is not allowed,” and speech-to-text is not allowed unless it is an approved accommodation (Acuity Insights).

You take it at home on a desktop or laptop: “Phones, tablets, iPads, Chromebooks, or Linux systems are not supported,” and “Webcam and mic must stay on the entire time” (Acuity Insights).

What Casper measures

“The Casper test is a situational judgment assessment that measures interpersonal and professional competencies, such as communication, ethical judgment, empathy, problem-solving, and collaboration, that are not captured by academic records alone.”Acuity Insights

Acuity’s Casper page lists collaboration, communication, empathy, ethics, fairness, motivation, problem solving, resilience, and self-awareness (Acuity Insights). There are no facts to memorize. Each question asks what you would do in a situation and why.

How Casper is scored

• People, not software. Acuity says Casper is “Scored by human raters, not AI” (Acuity Insights).
• Every question counts on its own. “Scores are assigned at the individual question level, not as one score for the whole scenario,” and “no rater scores an applicant more than once” (Acuity Insights).
• Anonymous. “Your responses are anonymized before being evaluated.”
• Ideas over grammar. Raters focus “on the substance and quality of your response rather than” grammar or spelling.
• Relative, not absolute. Scores “are standardized to represent the relative rankings of each applicant compared to the applicant pool.” Typed and video answers are “combined into a single overall score.”

You don’t see your score. “Currently, applicants do not receive their Casper score” (Acuity Insights). You get a quartile instead, “usually” about “4 to 5 weeks after the date of your test.” Acuity says “Most programs consider all quartiles and use Casper as one data point among many” (Acuity Insights), but some set a floor. Boston University’s PA program says “the minimum required CASPer score will be the 3rd quartile (50+ percentile)” for 2026-27 (Boston University).

Acuity says applicants in higher quartiles tend to show effort (for example, they “used the full amount of time before moving on”), empathy, impartiality, communication, and familiarity with the format (Acuity Insights).

Which test type you need, and who requires it

Acuity renamed several test types for 2026-27. In the U.S., “If you are applying to Graduate Business or Professional Health Sciences, you must now select United States Casper 2.” Undergraduate health sciences and undergraduate business use United States Casper 1. For U.S. medicine (MD or DO), “Your test type has not changed for the 26/27 cycle” (Acuity Insights). If all your programs use the same test type, you take Casper once and send it to all of them.

Programs use the score at different points. Acuity lists three: “To filter applicants early on,” “To help decide who gets invited for an interview,” and “To prioritize candidates when making final rankings or offers” (Acuity Insights). Some use it “in place of interviews or MMIs (Multiple Mini Interviews)” (Acuity Insights). Check each program’s page for its test type and last test date, because the last date can come well before the application deadline.

Medical schools may instead use the AAMC’s PREview exam, a different situational judgment test in which you rate given responses rather than write your own. See our PREview guide for the list of schools.

Official Casper sample questions

Acuity publishes sample scenarios on its Casper page (Acuity Insights). These are three of its sample questions:

• You are the store manager. “As the store manager, would you give this customer a refund? Why or why not?” Then: “Imagine that you decide to refuse to give a refund. How would you communicate your decision to the customer?”
• “One of your group members, Paul, has stopped contributing to your group assignment due to a medical condition. How should you and your group members handle this situation?”
• “Think of a time when you had to make a sacrifice in order to accomplish a goal.” Then: “Briefly describe the situation and the sacrifice you made to accomplish the goal.”

Notice the pattern. The first question asks for a decision, and the second changes the facts or asks how you would carry it out. Acuity’s advice: “Make sure you explain why you would do something and not just what you would do” (Acuity Insights).

Retakes, validity, and fees

• One try per cycle. “Applicants can only take one Casper test per test type per admissions cycle.” Retakes are considered only for verified technical issues reported within a week (Acuity Insights).
• One cycle only. “Your Casper score is only valid for one admissions cycle and one test type” (Acuity Insights). Reapplicants retake it.
• No redos on video. Once you record a video answer, you can’t redo it unless there was a technical problem.
• Fees. You pay a base fee plus a fee for each program you send scores to, and “All fees for Acuity Insights Assessments are final and non-refundable” (Acuity Insights). UW-Madison’s PA page lists $50 with a $20 distribution fee for its test type (UW-Madison).

How to prepare for Casper

Acuity is blunt about shortcuts: “surface-level coaching strategies (i.e., learning how to game the test, be ‘test-wise’ or ‘fake good’) will not improve your Casper score.” It also says “applicants who are familiar with the test format and platform tend to perform slightly higher on average” (Acuity Insights). So prepare for the format, and practice saying what you think, clearly, under time pressure.

1. Take the official practice test, more than once. It is in your Acuity account after you reserve a test, and “You can complete the practice test as many times as you’d like” (Acuity Insights). Treat at least one run like test day.
2. Answer what and why. For each question, give your decision, your reason, and the other person’s point of view. Acuity says “Strong responses explain both: What you would do Why you would do it.”
3. Use all the time. Each question is scored separately, so split your 3.5 typed minutes across both questions. “Feel free to use bullets when writing typed responses.”
4. Practice one-minute spoken answers. One minute goes fast. Practice a decision, a reason, and one acknowledgment of the other side, out loud, with a timer.
5. Get used to the camera. Acuity suggests you “practice recording yourself using apps like Camera (PC) or Photo Booth (Mac),” and to “Speak as clearly as possible.”
6. Build typing speed if you need it. Seven scenarios at 3.5 minutes each is a lot of typing.

Casper is one piece of your application. Acuity lists deciding who gets an interview as one way programs use it, so your personal statement and your interview still matter. See our personal statement examples by program, the MMI guide, and the Kira Talent video interview guide.

Acuity also offers separate Video Interviews that some programs add. Acuity says “Casper’s video response section is built-in as part of a standardized situational judgment test” while “Video Interviews is separate and programs choose what you need to respond to” (Acuity Insights).

Frequently asked questions

Every format detail and quotation on this page comes from Acuity Insights or the program’s own admissions page, linked where it appears. Last checked October 28, 2026.