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3 Practice CASPer Questions

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MOST READ
and-best-responses) ARTICLES
Ryan Kelly (/savvy-pre-med?
author=56a14a2fd82d5efbf1a80aad) · Secondaries (/savvy-
pre-med/category/Secondaries), CASPer (/savvy-pre-
med/category/CASPer)

(/savvy-pre-med/2017/7/17/3-
practice-casper-questions-
and-best-responses)

3 PRACTICE CASPER
QUESTIONS AND BEST
RESPONSES (/SAVVY-PRE-
MED/2017/7/17/3-
PRACTICE-CASPER-
QUESTIONS-AND-BEST-
RESPONSES)
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6/2/2019 3 Practice CASPer Questions and Best Responses — Savvy Pre-Med

By: Ryan Kelly (/savvy-pre-

med/2016/5/30/the-hardest-

CASPER SCENARIO 1 - VIDEO secondary-how-to-conquer-

the-10-secondary-essays-
(My written account of the video) for-ucla-geffen-school-of-
medicine)
One member of your student group, Sue, is showing up
unprepared and not contributing. She blames this shortcoming THE HARDEST
SECONDARY? HOW TO
on a paper she had to write, but the other members argue that CONQUER THE 10
SECONDARY ESSAYS FOR
they were responsible for the same paper yet still managed to UCLA (GEFFEN) SCHOOL
OF MEDICINE (/SAVVY-
show up prepared. Two other members begin confronting Sue PRE-MED/2016/5/30/THE-
about the problem. HARDEST-SECONDARY-
HOW-TO-CONQUER-THE-
10-SECONDARY-ESSAYS-
Question 1: You are a member of the study group and have not FOR-UCLA-GEFFEN-
SCHOOL-OF-MEDICINE)
participated in the interaction so far, but now the group is
looking to you. How would you defuse this situation?

OUR TIPS:
(/savvy-pre-
ALWAYS BE SEARCHING…
med/2016/2/15/every-
Part of what makes ethical dilemma questions tricky is their question-you-have-about-
missing information. They don’t usually give you everything you letters-of-recommendation-
need to know to make a clear decision. for-medical-school-1)

EVERY QUESTION YOU

In this case, you don’t know anything about Sue’s life or HAVE ABOUT LETTERS OF
responsibilities beyond her apparent lack of group work and RECOMMENDATION FOR
MEDICAL SCHOOL
her questionable excuse. That’s why you should always be (/SAVVY-PRE-
MED/2016/2/15/EVERY-
searching. QUESTION-YOU-HAVE-
ABOUT-LETTERS-OF-
RECOMMENDATION-FOR-
At first, you need to give her the benefit of the doubt and ask MEDICAL-SCHOOL-1)
tactful, non-accusatory questions that might reveal whether
she’s withholding important information from the group. Maybe
something like, “Is there anything going on outside of class RESOURCES
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that’s causing a distraction? Is there any way we could help?”
 that s causing a distraction? Is there any way we could help?
6/2/2019 3 Practice CASPer Questions and Best Responses — Savvy Pre-Med
Keep your questions general, and voice them from a position of
concern.

Perhaps one of Sue’s close family members passed away, or

maybe she’s stuck in an abusive relationship. Those might
sound like extreme scenarios, but you can’t make any (/resources-
assumptions. For all you know, there’s a deep, terrible root to 2/2019/5/28/2018-2019-
the much smaller problem in front of you. medical-schools-by-index-
score)
 
2018-2019 MEDICAL
SCHOOLS BY INDEX
USE IF/THEN CONDITIONAL SCORE (/RESOURCES-
STATEMENTS... 2/2019/5/28/2018-2019-
MEDICAL-SCHOOLS-BY-
INDEX-SCORE)
It’s good to use conditional statements in your CASPer answers.
For example:

“If the group discovered a serious personal issue in Sue’s life, I

would offer to help Sue find support on campus and suggest
talking to the professor as a group to explain the situation.”
(http://www.savvypremed.com
“If Sue hesitated to give us a valid excuse, but seemed
30-DAY NO COMPLAINTS
troubled, I would try to talk to her in private after the group CHALLENGE
(HTTP://WWW.SAVVYPREME
meeting in case she was too embarrassed or afraid to speak in
front of the group.”

“If it appears that Sue is simply neglecting her duties, I would

try to re-establish a set of expectations for the group and have
everyone sign off on them.”
(/resources-2/2018/10/8/the-
“If Sue didn’t correct her actions over the next few meetings, I
essential-medical-school-
would inform the professor about the situation and ask for his
interview-travel-checklist)
or her guidance.”
THE ESSENTIAL MEDICAL
SCHOOL INTERVIEW
These conditional statements are like a cheat code for ethical TRAVEL CHECKLIST
dilemmas, because they let you create your own criteria for (/RESOURCES-
2/2018/10/8/THE-
answering the question, while also showing yourself as ESSENTIAL-MEDICAL-
SCHOOL-INTERVIEW-
someone who can think ahead and anticipate different TRAVEL-CHECKLIST)
outcomes.

  MUST WATCH
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 APPEAL TO A HIGHER AUTHORITY…
6/2/2019 3 Practice CASPer Questions and Best Responses — Savvy Pre-Med

In some ethical dilemmas, you can escape or skirt the decision-

making process by calling upon some higher authority. There’s
a reason why we have laws as a society and why we have
bosses in the workplace. We need strict rules and arbiters of
(/videos/2019/4/1/5-
the system so that we can navigate these grey ethical areas
questions-for-choosing-the-
that present themselves.
best-pre-med-college-for-
Sure, you want to explore all other options first. But in some you)
cases, you won’t be left with that many choices. It’s important to 5 QUESTIONS FOR
know about the legal issues that apply to you as a student, a CHOOSING THE BEST
PRE-MED COLLEGE FOR
potential doctor, or a resident of your city/state. In some YOU (/VIDEOS/2019/4/1/5-
QUESTIONS-FOR-
situations, you’ll be limited by confidentiality, or oppositely, CHOOSING-THE-BEST-
PRE-MED-COLLEGE-FOR-
you’ll be obligated to report a serious safety concern. YOU)
Apr 1, 2019
Don’t use these higher authorities as a cop-out, but definitely
call upon them when appropriate.

CASPER SCENARIO 2 - WORD-BASED

(/videos/2019/4/18/yes-you-
(Excerpt from the test) can-prepare-for-the-casper)

From time to time, we are all faced with conflict in some form. YES, YOU CAN PREPARE
FOR THE CASPER
With experience, we learn to deal with different forms of (/VIDEOS/2019/4/18/YES-
YOU-CAN-PREPARE-FOR-
conflict. THE-CASPER)
Jul 1, 2018
Question 1: Describe a time when you had to deal with conflict
and how you coped with it?

Question 2: How might you handle a similar situation differently

should it arise again?

Question 3: What would be your strategy if you were faced with (/videos/2018/5/29/the-real-
a conflict that cannot be resolved? deadlines-for-medical-
school)
 
THE REAL DEADLINES
FOR MEDICAL SCHOOL
OUR TIPS: (/VIDEOS/2018/5/29/THE-
REAL-DEADLINES-FOR-
www.savvypremed.com/savvy-pre-med/2017/7/17/3-practice-casper-questions-and-best-responses MEDICAL-SCHOOL) 4/13
BE PREPARED TO SHARE PERSONAL
 BE PREPARED TO SHARE
6/2/2019 PERSONAL
3 Practice May 29, 2018
CASPer Questions and Best Responses — Savvy Pre-Med
STORIES…
Before the CASPer, re-read your primary and secondary essays.
CATEGORIES
Take a mental note of the different “genres” of questions you
might be asked:
AACOMAS (9) (/savvy-pre-
• A time you failed med/category/AACOMAS)
AMCAS (12) (/savvy-pre-
• A time you had a serious disagreement
med/category/AMCAS)
• A time you worked with others unlike yourself Application Timeline (20)
• A time you navigated a personal crisis (yours or someone (/savvy-pre-
else’s) med/category/Application+Timelin
BS/MD (3) (/savvy-pre-
• A time you received unfair treatment or criticism
med/category/BS%2FMD)
You might not have a pre-written answer for all of these, or you CASPer (5) (/savvy-pre-
might have one example that works for all of them. Either way, med/category/CASPer)
it’s good to take inventory of your word bank of answers, so Capstone Project (2) (/savvy-
that you can quickly recall and utilize those stories when pre-
needed. You can’t copy/paste, so make sure to learn them well med/category/Capstone+Project)
enough to paraphrase. Choosing Med Schools (40)
(/savvy-pre-
  med/category/Choosing+Med+Sc
Coursework (3) (/savvy-pre-
FOCUS MOSTLY ON THE LESSONS
INVOLVED… med/category/Coursework)
DO (4) (/savvy-pre-
Since you have limited time, try to move through your med/category/DO)
presentation of the problem as quickly as possible. If you want Financial Aid (5) (/savvy-pre-
to include a few extenuating circumstances, that’s fine, but med/category/Financial+Aid)
don’t editorialize things too much. Just state what happened Interviewing (32) (/savvy-
and own up to any mistakes you made along the way. The pre-
schools care more about how you processed the event and med/category/Interviewing)
learned from it moving forward. Letters of Rec (8) (/savvy-
pre-
The prompt uses hypothetical language (What would be your
med/category/Letters+of+Rec)
strategy if…), but that doesn’t mean you can’t answer it with real
MCAT (14) (/savvy-pre-
events and evidence. If you’ve already applied the lessons from
med/category/MCAT)
your conflict/failure to other facets of your life, then sharing
Miscellaneous (77) (/savvy-
those examples is probably your most compelling answer.
pre-
www.savvypremed.com/savvy-pre-med/2017/7/17/3-practice-casper-questions-and-best-responses med/category/Miscellaneous)
5/13
  
6/2/2019 3 Practice CASPer Questions and Best Responses — Savvy Pre-Med
g y )
Personal Statement (50)
AVOID RED FLAGS… (/savvy-pre-
med/category/Personal+Statemen
Medical schools want candidates who seem stable, level-
Prerequisites (16) (/savvy-
headed, and objective enough to own up to their shortcomings.
pre-
Oppositely, they do not want students who seem volatile,
med/category/Prerequisites)
resentful, or clouded by bias.
Reapplicants (3) (/savvy-pre-
Please please please do not choose stories about dealing with med/category/Reapplicants)
anxiety, or stories about your inability to handle stress. Also Residency (1) (/savvy-pre-
avoid anything that’s too fresh, like a recent fight with a med/category/Residency)
roommate or a recent unfair policy at work. You need distance Secondaries (30) (/savvy-
from the event to write about it properly. Don’t choose pre-
something if you’re still harboring any negativity about the med/category/Secondaries)
situation, since that’s likely to come out in your essays. Self-care (14) (/savvy-pre-
med/category/Self-care)
When possible, avoid focusing on internal conflicts (doubt, Start Here (6) (/savvy-pre-
depression, fear, etc.) and instead utilize stories that primarily med/category/Start+Here)
hinge on external conflicts (deadlines, unexpected obstacles, TMDSAS (2) (/savvy-pre-
etc.). You want to show yourself navigating your environment med/category/TMDSAS)
and circumstances, rather than navigating your own neurotic Videos (1) (/savvy-pre-
hang-ups. med/category/Videos)
Work & Activities (24)
(/savvy-pre-

CASPER SCENARIO 3 - VIDEO med/category/Work+%26+Activitie

(My written account of the video) GET THE BEST

MEDICAL
You work at a retail store. A customer wants to return an item
SCHOOL
for an $80.00 cash refund without a receipt, which is against STRATEGIES IN
the store policy. She pleads her case, explaining that she needs YOUR INBOX
the money for her child’s prescription. Your manager is
unavailable, so as the most experienced employee, you must * indicates required
Email Address *
advise a younger salesperson and make the final decision.
First Name
Question 1: What do you tell the other employee – go ahead
and give the refund or abide by store policy? Justify your
Last Name
answer.

Question 2: Assume you advise the newer employee not to

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Subscribe
 give the refund, but she does anyway.
6/2/2019 Do you
3 Practice CASPer report
Questions andthis to
Best Responses — Savvy Pre-Med

your supervisor? Why or why not?

Question 3: If you were asked to establish a policy for a new

store around refunds, what aspects would you take into
consideration?

OUR TIPS:
(http://www.passportadmissio
DON’T BE THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE…
listing/2019/2/5/choosing-
As tempting as it is to make an exception for this poor mother the-right-medical-schools-
who needs quick cash, it’s not your place in this situation to online)
override store policy.

You have already offered the customer store credit and NEW ON THE
BLOG
explained that she cannot get a refund without a receipt. Your
hands are tied. The customer’s story about her child might be
compelling, but that doesn’t make it true, and it’s not a sufficient
enough reason to break an established rule.

Also, it could potentially be unwise to bend the rules in front of

the younger employee, since it might set a bad example or
(/savvy-pre-
precedent. There’s always the small chance that the younger
med/2019/5/27/how-to-
employee will report YOU to your boss.
prepare-for-tcu-and-unthsc-
Moral of the story: there’s not enough information here for you medical-schools-audio-
to safely break the rules. You could maybe use some if/then secondary)
conditional statements to help justify why you’d give the refund, HOW TO PREPARE FOR
or help explain what you’d do to follow through and find a TCU AND UNTHSC
MEDICAL SCHOOL'S
possible compromise. But remember that there can be a AUDIO SECONDARY
(/SAVVY-PRE-
slippery slope when it comes to making exceptions, so you’ll MED/2019/5/27/HOW-TO-
PREPARE-FOR-TCU-AND-
need to cover your bases well. UNTHSC-MEDICAL-
SCHOOLS-AUDIO-
SECONDARY)
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO BE A TATTLE- May 27, 2019
TALE…
If the younger employee chooses to give the refund against
your advice, you immediately become obligated to take action.
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In some other settings like a group project or a student
 In some other settings, like a group
6/2/2019
project or a student
3 Practice CASPer Questions and Best Responses — Savvy Pre-Med
organization, it would be best to confront the student/colleague (/savvy-pre-
first before reporting him or her to your supervisor. med/2019/5/20/five-
questions-to-help-you-
However, in this scenario, you’re clearly in a place of
choose-which-medical-
employment, and you’ve likely signed a contract to abide by
school-to-attend)
certain company policies. By not reporting the broken rule, you
become an accomplice, and if the transgression is discovered, 5 QUESTIONS TO HELP
YOU CHOOSE WHICH
you might be viewed as equally culpable. MEDICAL SCHOOL TO
ATTEND (/SAVVY-PRE-
MED/2019/5/20/FIVE-
For the sake of civility, you should definitely tell the younger QUESTIONS-TO-HELP-
employee about your plans to inform your boss about the break YOU-CHOOSE-WHICH-
MEDICAL-SCHOOL-TO-
in policy. That way she won’t be surprised or feel deceived. It ATTEND)
May 20, 2019
will also give her the chance to reach out to your boss on her
own.

BE FORWARD THINKING...
If you felt frustrated or limited by the first two questions, you
can take some solace in the third one, which lets you to create
(/savvy-pre-
new policy surrounding refunds. Rather than dwell too much on
med/2019/5/13/a-guide-to-
the unfortunate incident with the present customer, focus more
the-university-of-michigan-
on how this situation could be avoided moving forward.
medical-schools-umms-

One possible option would be to establish a better tracking secondary-essays)

system, so that a particular product could be confirmed as A GUIDE TO THE

UNIVERSITY OF
bought in a specific store’s location at a certain date and time. MICHIGAN MEDICAL
At the very least, that information would help you corroborate a SCHOOL’S (UMMS)
SECONDARY ESSAYS
customer’s story about when and where the item was (/SAVVY-PRE-
MED/2019/5/13/A-GUIDE-
purchased. TO-THE-UNIVERSITY-OF-
MICHIGAN-MEDICAL-
SCHOOLS-UMMS-
It would also be wise to seek your supervisor’s counsel and SECONDARY-ESSAYS)
inquire about what circumstances would justify overriding the May 13, 2019

refund policy. If there are any stipulations or exceptions to the

rule, you should take careful notes and share this information
with other employees. That way, if you need to make a
judgment call in the future, the staff will be better prepared.

If customers are allowed to pay in cash, it will be much harder (/savvy-pre-

to establish a consistent and fair policy. It might be smart to limit med/2019/5/6/how-to-
cash purchases to items under $20 dollars, since that’s the answer-uc-riverside-school-8/13
www.savvypremed.com/savvy-pre-med/2017/7/17/3-practice-casper-questions-and-best-responses
l t f d th l ll dt i i th t
 largest refund the employees are
6/2/2019 allowed
3 Practice toQuestions
CASPer give inandthe
Bestcurrent
Responses — Savvy Pre-Med
of-medicines-secondary-
scenario. For larger purchases, you could limit customers to essays)
traceable payment methods.
HOW TO ANSWER UC
RIVERSIDE SCHOOL OF
MEDICINE’S SECONDARY
ESSAYS (/SAVVY-PRE-
MED/2019/5/6/HOW-TO-
WHAT IF I NEED MORE RESOURCES? ANSWER-UC-RIVERSIDE-
SCHOOL-OF-MEDICINES-
SECONDARY-ESSAYS)
• Take an official Sample CASPer May 6, 2019
(https://takecasper.com/sample-casper-test/).

• Understand common medical ethical issues: Santa Clara's

discussion of ethical scenarios
(http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/cirone/
medical-ethics.html) and University of Washington's Ethics
in Medicine (/savvy-pre-
(https://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/toc.html) are both med/2019/4/29/summer-is-
fantastic resources with real case studies. coming-medical-school-

• Stay current on healthcare news through sites like The secondary-essay-survival-

New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/section/health? guide)

mcubz=0). SUMMER IS COMING:

MEDICAL SCHOOL
SECONDARY ESSAY
SURVIVAL GUIDE (/SAVVY-
PRE-
MED/2019/4/29/SUMMER-
Boo! Are you still scared? IS-COMING-MEDICAL-
SCHOOL-SECONDARY-
ESSAY-SURVIVAL-GUIDE)
Probably. But that’s okay. A test like the CASPer is bound to
Apr 29, 2019
induce some anxiety. However, I hope that my tips will help you
prepare and get in the right mindset, so that you can
comfortably field any questions that come your way.

It’s a lot like Casper the Ghost. Once you get to know the test
(just like the MMI), you’ll realize that it’s much more student-
friendly than it seems.

Tagged: casper (/savvy-pre-med/tag/casper), secondaries

(/savvy-pre-med/tag/secondaries), featured (/savvy-pre-
med/tag/featured)

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Preview P O S T C O M M E N T…

Jose 3 months ago · 0 Likes

Really useful thanks

The Savvy Premed

3 months ago · 0 Likes

You're welcome Jose, good luck with your

interviews!

Sarah 6 months ago · 0 Likes

Hi just so you know, you put a link to "McMaster Sample

Video and questions" but that is not from McMaster, it is
from a company and they are not affiliated.

The Savvy Premed

6 months ago · 0 Likes

Thanks for the heads up, Sarah, and that's a great

point! I updated the link to an official CASPer test
instead.
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6/2/2019 3 Practice CASPer Questions and Best Responses — Savvy Pre-Med

Angel Tse 2 years ago · 0 Likes

All the above recommendations and answers sound

logical and reasonable except for this:

"If customers are allowed to pay in cash, it will be much

harder to establish a consistent and fair policy. It might be
smart to limit cash purchases to items under $20 dollars,
since that’s the largest refund the employees are allowed
to give in the current scenario. For larger purchases, you
could limit customers to traceable payment methods."

No company would ever limit want to limit cash

purchases. Cash is what makes a business run. Traceable
payments, such as credit cards, require stores to pay
merchant fees from 1.2-2.5% per transaction on average.
These fees can quickly add up and consume a
considerable portion of a store's profit. Particularly if
credit payments were used for only large purchases, the
negative impact on the stores profits would even be
higher. The cheques are also not a viable option,
because they can take up to 7 days to be validated by
the bank. The only traceable option is debit; however,
most people have very low daily debit withdrawal limits.
Hence, I do not think this is a viable option.

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