CASPER score discrepancy

[hornzup]

I took the test last year. I watched a few videos online and took a practice test, but didn't really do much preparation outside of that. I got 4th quartile. I didn't end up applying so I didn't use this score.

This year, I practiced more, did more practice tests, improved typing speed. I'm the same person as I was last year. The test felt the same. Somehow I got 2nd quartile.

I'm devastated, and honestly just lost. Is there anything I can do to show schools my previous score or get this year's re-scored?

Anyone in Texas have success with an okay application and a low Casper scores?

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[Mr.Smile12]

Please move to the Casper/SJT forum.

Sorry but that is the risk of having to retake a Casper result. It happens quite frequently because of the way the test is scored against the rest of the cohort testing on that test on that time and date.

Until schools are more transparent in the way Casper scores are factored, there is no way to know if your score drop is meaningful.

 

[gyngyn]

Moving to "SJT."

 

[deleted1139416]

Isn't the 4th quartile essentially a perfect score? Why would you retake a perfect score?

 

[hornzup]

Isn't the 4th quartile essentially a perfect score? Why would you retake a perfect score?

It's invalid after 1 year

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Continuing...
The way the Casper test is scored in a simplified though imperfect sports analogy. You have to take this test every year.

You are one of many people in the same swimming heat (the pool has a capacity of several hundred to thousands). Everyone has their own lane and we presume you are not impeded by your neighbors' performance in the pool. The Casper score is essentially your ordinal rank among how you finished compared to everyone else. The school gets your "placement", you get a "group" (quartile) finish.

If you retake, you are swimming in the same pool but against different people. While you may finish at the same time as your first attempt, it's possible that many other people in this heat finished before you, pushing your ordinal finish lower and thus your group finish result.

This is one reason why I don't ever believe the people who say they "crushed" their Casper.

 

[hornzup]

Ok gotcha. Do schools care about my "raw score" or how I place against other people who took the test that day?

I got Q4 last year and Q2 this year. My raw score could have been the same in both these tests, but the people who took the test that day could have affected my quartile - is this correct?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Ok gotcha. Do schools care about my "raw score" or how I place against other people who took the test that day?

I got Q4 last year and Q2 this year. My raw score could have been the same in both these tests, but the people who took the test that day could have affected my quartile - is this correct?

Unless things have changed this cycle, the schools don't get your raw score (one of my gripes, how well did the heat of swimmers do?). We get your percentile rank (ordinal finish) in the form of a z-score (if you like statistics). That's the best way for me to explain the scoring system as an outsider and former interpreter of the data.

 

[hornzup]

Unless things have changed this cycle, the schools don't get your raw score (one of my gripes, how well did the heat of swimmers do?). We get your percentile rank (ordinal finish) in the form of a z-score (if you like statistics). That's the best way for me to explain the scoring system as an outsider and former interpreter of the data.

Gotcha! Thanks for explaining

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Could it be a fair assumption to assume that the highest performing casper takers tend to be the ones who take the earlier test dates in may and early june, versus those who aren't as aware about the process/don't have their affairs in order/don't realize they need casper until they get a secondary in july/august? just as the highest GPA/MCAT applicants tend to be those that submit very early, maybe the casper applicants who test early tend to be the gunner/overachiever/neurotic premeds, thus potentially making these early casper dates the most competitive?

As an aside, if the casper test is graded solely against those who took it on a particular date, isn't it, in effect, not standardized, but rather curved against the quality of that day's cohort? If in fact schools do not get raw score but instead a z-score for that day, that is another reason why casper does a disservice to both applicants and schools. This is much different from the MCAT, which supposedly is not affected by the quality of a particular cohort...

Paragraph 1: That's not how the Casper has been scored. Each test date is its own heat (using the swimming pool/track analogy). We do not compare times between the heats. We only know the ordinal finish the candidate had in each heat. The challenge is that you have to retake Casper every year for your appropriate application cycle. Because Casper is not testing for content, additional time to prepare doesn't have much of an effect compared to MCAT, which is designed as a content-based standardized exam. Casper also has been around for over 10 years, and I don't recall any timing effects regarding early takers versus later takers. But that's the same way with MMI: being an early interviewee vs. later interviewee should not give an advantage either way. (It's not like gymnastics or figure skating's old scoring system where judges would reserve high scores for the last, most competitive athletes.)

Paragraph 2: Right. Again, things may have changed on the program side (I'm not in an admissions office that uses the Acuity Insights reporting portal.)

Pitch: the 2023 HPSA SJT Experience Survey will be coming out soon... if one wants to complete it based on the experience with Casper or PREview, stay tuned.

Note: many residency programs have been using Acuity Insights as part of their selection process to interview before the Match. I expect this to become more widespread. It is already pretty standard in Canadian medical school admissions and residency selection, for the past near decade as far as I know.

 

[elitetexan]

Took the CASPER last year for the application cycle and got Q3. Took it again this year by answering with the same strategy and reasoning and got Q1. I received a pre-match this year to a TX school as a TX applicant and will be starting medical school in the fall. Having a low CASPER score does not automatically disqualify you as I am proof! Good luck!!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Took the CASPER last year for the application cycle and got Q3. Took it again this year by answering with the same strategy and reasoning and got Q1. I received a pre-match this year to a TX school as a TX applicant and will be starting medical school in the fall. Having a low CASPER score does not automatically disqualify you as I am proof! Good luck!!

Thank you for sharing this!