Casper

Casper is a situational judgment test (SJT) developed by Acuity Insights to support holistic admissions in higher education. It assesses non-academic attributes such as empathy, ethics, communication, and professionalism through open-response scenarios. Casper helps institutions identify applicants who are likely to succeed not only academically but also in real-world professional environments.

Features

• Open-Response Format: Applicants respond to realistic scenarios via video or text, allowing authentic expression.
• Multiple Independent Raters: Each scenario is scored by a different trained rater to ensure fairness and reduce bias.
• Online Accessibility: No downloads or test center visits required; accessible from any computer with internet.
• Durable Skills Assessment: Measures traits like collaboration, resilience, and ethical reasoning.
• Quartile Scoring: Provides percentile-based results for easy comparison within applicant pools.
• Regionally Matched Raters: Raters are selected from the same region as applicants to ensure contextual understanding.
• Practice Test Availability: Full-length practice test helps applicants prepare in realistic conditions.

Capabilities

• Holistic Admissions Support: Complements academic metrics with insights into personal and professional competencies.
• Bias Reduction: Demonstrates lower demographic score differences compared to traditional assessments.
• Scalable Evaluation: Supports large applicant volumes with automated scoring and reporting.
• Flexible Response Options: Applicants choose between video or written responses based on comfort and communication style.
• Evidence-Based Design: Backed by over 20 years of research and continuous validation.
• Cross-Disciplinary Use: Applicable across medicine, nursing, pharmacy, teacher education, engineering, and business.

Benefits

• Fairer Selection Process: Reduces reliance on subjective tools like personal statements and interviews.
• Improved Applicant Diversity: Identifies high-potential candidates who may be overlooked by academic metrics alone.
• Authentic Insights: Captures real-time decision-making and values through open-ended responses.
• Defensible Admissions Decisions: Provides structured, validated data to support selection outcomes.
• Enhanced Program Fit: Helps match applicants to programs aligned with their interpersonal strengths.
• Reduced Administrative Burden: Streamlines evaluation with standardized scoring and reporting.