Casper, Snapshot, and Duet: Everything You Need to Know (2024)
/Learn how to prep for the newest Casper exams including when you should take them, how they're scored, if they're required, and how to prepare for each
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Part 1: Introduction to Casper, Snapshot, and Duet
As a prospective medical school applicant, you’re probably familiar with Casper, the computerized admissions test that evaluates situational judgment and personal characteristics. Casper has been around for several years and is increasingly widely used in the medical school admissions process, so you’ve likely known about it for some time and know how to prepare for it.
However, at the start of the 2021–2022 application cycle, word got out about needing to take not one but three Casper tests. In addition to the main Casper test, there are two additional assessments: Snapshot and Duet.
While some schools required Snapshot during the 2022-2023 cycle, there was an announcement in 2023 that Snapshot will no longer be required by any programs starting with the 2023-2024 cycle.
With little information out there, you’re probably wondering things like:
What is Duet?
Do the medical schools I’m applying to require it?
How do I know if I need to take this test?
In this guide, we’ll address these uncertainties and more. Below, we’ll cover all the logistical information you need, discuss preparation strategies, and provide a list of schools requiring Casper, Snapshot, and Duet.
What are Casper, Snapshot, and Duet?
Let’s begin by briefly outlining each test to get a sense of how they differ:
Casper: A 90- to 110-minute situational judgment test that measures professionalism and other personal traits, such as ethics, communication, empathy, and more, in writing and through recorded video responses.
Snapshot: A 10- to 15-minute, one-way video response tool (e.g., a recorded interview) that allows you to demonstrate your communication skills and provide insight into your motivations for entering medicine.
Duet: An untimed assessment of what you value in a medical school and how that aligns with the program’s offerings.
Acuity Insights administers the three tests. Each test aims to evaluate different aspects of an applicant's personality to provide medical schools with as complete a picture of them as possible.
Casper and Duet logistics
Here’s how the tests work logistically: You’ll first register on the Acuity Insights website, at which point you’ll reserve a specific date for taking Casper.
After this, you can complete Duet at your leisure, beginning as soon as you register. Acuity recommends taking it within two weeks of taking Casper to send the assessment results to medical schools simultaneously. Nevertheless, you can complete Duet up until your earliest program distribution date (available on the test dates page).
Beginning with the 2024-2025 application cycle, your $85 registration fee will cover sending results for Casper and Duet to seven programs (down from eight in previous years). There are no separate registration fees for Duet. Beyond those seven schools, distributing your test results will cost $18 per school (up from $15 in previous years).
Your Casper results will still be sent to medical schools even if you don’t complete Duet.
When should you take Casper and Duet?
Casper test dates are typically offered at least once monthly, with an even greater number of dates available in the summer and early fall months. However, each medical school sets its deadline, so the latest date you can take Casper depends on where you apply.
That said, we recommend that you register for Casper in the spring of your application year (April or May) so that you can take the test and have enough time to complete Duet by the time you submit your AMCAS application in May or shortly thereafter.
Test results are transmitted to medical schools 2–3 weeks after completion. Ideally, you want your scores to reach schools by the time you submit your secondary applications in July so that your entire application can be considered immediately.
(Suggested reading: The Ideal Medical School Application Timeline)
How are Snapshot and Duet scored?
When medical schools required Snapshot, results were provided without a score. Individual programs reviewed and assessed your responses for themselves.
Duet scores are created automatically (i.e., not by a human) by comparing your assessment with each medical school’s assessment of values and preferences.
Is Duet required?
Acuity recommends, though does not require, that all applicants who register for Casper complete Duet as well.
As noted earlier, your Casper results will be sent to medical schools regardless of whether or not you complete Duet. Furthermore, many medical schools requiring Casper have explicitly stated that they do not require Duet.
So, should you take Duet? Our general recommendation is that you do. Even if no schools you’re applying to currently require the tests, medical school requirements can and do change. You might also decide to tack on additional schools as the application season goes on, so it’s a good idea to be prepared for any future application requirement.
Given that the tests require relatively little time, there’s virtually no downside to ensuring you have test results to share.
That said, if you are positive that your school list is set in stone, and you’ve confirmed with each of these schools that they are not requiring Duet, you’re probably fine to go ahead and skip it.
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Part 2: What you need to know about Snapshot
(Note: As of May 2023, Snapshot is not required by any medical schools for the 2023-2024 cycle. However, we have left this section up on our site in case things changes during the cycle.)
We’ve covered how to prepare for Casper extensively in a separate guide, which includes numerous practice questions and sample responses.
In the next two sections, we’ll go over the formats of Snapshot and Duet and provide tips on how to best navigate each test.
Snapshot format
The format of Snapshot is as follows:
When you log in to Acuity to take Snapshot, you’ll first undergo a systems requirement check.
Next, you’ll complete a mandatory practice session with two questions. You can repeat the practice session as many times as you want until you feel that you’re ready for the real thing.
Once you begin your Snapshot test, you’ll face three interview-style questions. You’ll read the question, have 30 seconds to reflect on what you want to say, and then two minutes to record a response. If you finish your response before the two minutes are up, you can stop the timer and move on to the next question.
Once you complete all three questions, you’ll submit your responses.
Snapshot is fairly straightforward, not to mention brief, but there are a few key points to keep in mind:
Your responses are automatically saved, so you can’t go back and redo an answer.
Since you’ll be on camera, it’s critical that you dress appropriately for an interview and take the test in an environment that’s clean, quiet, well lit, and free of distraction.
It’s a good idea to test your internet connection, webcam, and microphone before taking the test so you can ensure that everything’s working well ahead of time.
What kinds of questions does Snapshot ask?
According to Acuity, Snapshot allows you to “bring your personal statement to life.” So, you can expect questions that aim to get a sense of who you are as a person and why you want to become a physician—the same kinds of questions that you would face in a standard medical school interview.
Below we’ll review common types of questions that you might find in your Snapshot test.
Medicine-related questions: These questions will invite you to share your career goals as well as the motivations and experiences that shaped your decision to pursue medicine. For instance, you might be asked:
What aspect of medicine most interests you?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Personal reflection questions: These sorts of questions help medical schools learn more about who you are, including your abilities to self-reflect, handle obstacles, and respond to difficult situations. They typically draw out your capacity for the skills and knowledge described in the AAMC’s Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students. Sample questions include:
Describe a time when you displayed leadership.
Values questions: While these questions don’t ask for anecdotes and direct self-reflection, they nonetheless reveal aspects of who you are and what you value. For example:
Who is someone you admire and why?
What is your favorite book?
What was your favorite class in college?
How to prepare for Snapshot
To ensure that you are prepared for Snapshot, plan to review common medical school interview questions. Our guide to medical school interviews includes several standard questions with example responses, plus appendices with 50+ practice questions and virtual interview tips. Having compelling answers and anecdotes ready to go for common questions will aid you greatly when taking the test, especially given the limited time you have to respond.
A great method for preparing these responses in advance is to go over your personal statement, secondary essays, and AMCAS Work & Activities section. Ideally, the examples you bring up during Snapshot should come from or align with experiences you’ve already described in these materials. Applicants often worry that repeating information will make them seem boring or limited, but doing so actually helps solidify a cohesive portrait of who you are. It’s fine to expand on an anecdote beyond what you’ve already described in writing, but presenting, say, a totally new reason for why medicine interests you may create confusion and raise red flags.
You should also review the AAMC Core Competencies mentioned earlier. Go through each competency (excluding the science competencies) and make sure you can describe an experience that demonstrates that skill or quality. These anecdotes can but don’t need to come directly from medical experiences.
Applicants we’ve worked with who have taken Snapshot have reported that the most difficult aspect of the test is its fast pace. So, when preparing, make sure to time yourself so you can practice thinking quickly on your feet.
An effective way to do this is to virtually participate in a mock Snapshot interview with a friend, advisor, or admissions consultant, mimicking the format as exactly as possible. Not only will this help you get used to the time constraint, it’ll also allow you to practice delivering your answers to a screen and help you work out any technological kinks, environmental issues, or distracting mannerisms ahead of time. Similarly, you can make use of the two-question, official practice section that precedes Snapshot.
Sample Snapshot questions and responses
To give you a sense of how to put it all together, let’s take a look at a sample response for each type of question outlined above. You can use these examples as guidance when preparing your own practice responses.
Medicine-related question: What made you decide to become a physician?
You can extract the answer to this question straight from your personal statement. Select three brief anecdotes that lay out your path towards medicine: the experience that first interested you in medicine, a situation in which you explored the field, and the time when you knew that medicine was for you.
Example:
In high school, I worked in the dining room of an assisted living retirement facility. I got to know the residents pretty well, and although my role was essentially being a waiter, being able to provide small moments of service to the residents planted a seed in me. I knew I wanted to keep making a difference in people’s lives, and witnessing the work of the medical staff at the retirement home inspired me. When I got to college, I sought out shadowing opportunities at the university hospital. Because it was the only major hospital for hundreds of miles, many patients came in with already advanced conditions due to a lack of access to adequate primary care. This sparked an interest for me in addressing the social and economic determinants of health. After my freshman year, I spent the summer volunteering at a rural health clinic about a hundred miles away from my school. Seeing the difference that even basic preventative care made in the lives of our patients, and getting to connect with them through this care, reminded me of working at the retirement home. From that point on, I knew that I wanted to become a physician in order to help improve the lives of the most vulnerable.
Personal reflection question: Tell me about a time when you failed.
What this question is asking is, essentially, “How resilient are you?” Med schools aren’t really that interested in knowing what you failed at; rather, they want to know how you met a challenge and grew from it. So, explain your failure, provide some self-reflection, and then talk about what you did to address the problem and what you learned.
Example:
When I was thirteen, my grandmother came from Korea to live with my family. She didn’t speak English well, so certain errands or tasks outside of the house required a family member to accompany her so one of us could translate. One time during junior year, my mom called me before soccer practice and asked if I could come home to take my grandma to the dentist. Because I was captain of the team, I felt I couldn’t leave practice. I told my mom I’d be home in a few hours and would take my grandma then. By the time I got home, the dentist had closed and we had to wait until the next day to address the pain in my grandma’s teeth. Witnessing this pain devastated me, and I felt a great deal of guilt and shame at having prioritized soccer over a family member. I apologized to my grandma and tried my best to care for her that night, which felt woefully inadequate. After this, I made a point to be more thoughtful and to proactively offer my help and care—I was offering to accompany her to so many places that it became a running joke in my family. When I got to college, I was inspired to start a medical translators club to provide free medical appointment translation to non-English speakers in the Atlanta area. The incident really drove home for me the reality that language can be a huge barrier to healthcare access and that being able to communicate with your healthcare provider should be a basic right for all.
Values question: Who is someone you admire and why?
In answering this question, you can again refer to the AAMC Core Competencies. Pick a person who exemplifies one or more of the personal qualities listed there and discuss how they inspire or have made an impact on you.
Example:
One person who I greatly admire is my aunt Penelope. She’s been a talented painter all her life but had to put an art career on pause when her husband unexpectedly passed away at a young age. This tragedy led her to seek out more lucrative work so she could support herself and my cousins. She went back to school and became an RN, but she never quit painting simply because she loved and enjoyed it. In recent years, as she’s been able to afford to work less, she’s spent more of her time focusing on art and has actually been able to exhibit her paintings in several galleries in the Denver area. To me, Penelope exemplifies many qualities that I value: she always puts others first, she’s resilient and adaptable, and she never gives up on her goals. Whenever I feel discouraged because I didn’t accomplish something I set out to do, I always think of Aunt Penelope, and I remember that persistence and passion pay off.
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Part 3: What you need to know about Duet
Duet format
Here’s how Duet works:
Duet is split into two parts. In the first part, you’ll move through three categories that pertain to medical schools (for instance, student life, program mission/features, and pedagogy). Before beginning each category, you’ll first review characteristics and definitions that fit in that category.
Within each category, you’ll be given pairs of characteristics and prompted to choose the one that is more important to you within each pair. You might be presented with the same characteristic multiple times—so you could be asked to compare characteristic A with characteristic B, then characteristic B with characteristic C, etc.
Once you’ve finished comparing all of the characteristics within each of the three categories, you’ll then move on to the second part of the assessment. In this part, you’ll compare the three categories in pairs, again choosing the ones that are more important to you.
Once you submit your responses, they’ll be automatically assessed in comparison to the responses that medical schools have submitted ahead of time in order to rate “fit” between you and each school.
Note that, if you want to change your response, you can only return to the question that immediately precedes the one you’re currently on.
What kinds of questions does Duet ask?
Duet juxtaposes characteristics of a medical school program and asks you to choose between them. So, in the first part of the assessment, you might face choices like:
Rural medicine vs. diverse patient populations
Heavy focus on research vs. heavy focus on community service
Interdisciplinary education vs. early clinical exposure
Emphasis on diversity vs. emphasis on student wellness
As mentioned, you may be given multiple comparisons involving the same characteristics. For example:
Accessible faculty vs. technology-focused curriculum
Technology-focused curriculum vs. small class sizes
Technology-focused curriculum vs. individualized pathways
Individualized pathways vs. accessible faculty
In the second part of Duet, you’ll compare the three categories of characteristics. While it’s impossible to say exactly what categories and characteristics you’ll be presented with, using our earlier example, you would face the following set of comparisons:
Student life vs. program features/mission
Program features/mission vs. pedagogy
Pedagogy vs. student life
How to prepare for Duet
Since Duet measures personal preferences and values, there are no inherently right or wrong responses. As such, the official line from Acuity is that there isn’t any way to prepare for the assessment other than:
Making sure that you read all instructions and definitions carefully
Going with your true preferences and gut instincts when responding
We would echo this advice while adding that you can prepare for Duet in the same way that you would approach the “Why us?” question in any med school interview or secondary essay: by researching the schools that you’re applying to and providing answers that reflect those schools’ missions, values, emphases, and resources.
For instance, when researching schools, you may learn something about the student life or pedagogy of the school that causes you to reconsider your options. You may realize that one category weighs more heavily in your mind than another, which could indicate that it means more to you, which you will want to know about yourself.
Of course, you can only take Duet once and thus can’t fully customize your responses as you would when writing a school-specific essay. Nevertheless, before taking the test, read up on the schools that interest you most to ensure that your responses align with what they offer.
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Part 4: Which medical schools require Duet?
In the tables below, we’ve listed all U.S. medical schools—both MD and DO—that accept Casper scores. Beside each school, we’ve also listed whether Duet and Snapshot have similar requirements. In some cases, we’ve included a note with more helpful information such as how we obtained the info or any distinct requirements or suggestions MSAR may have provided.
As of May 2024, some medical schools still haven’t explicitly stated whether they require Duet. However, we will continue to update this guide as medical schools clarify their policies. We encourage you to contact schools that interest you to confirm their requirements.
When viewing the tables below, take note of the following:
Green checkmarks indicate that a test is required.
Blue checkmarks indicate that the test is optional.
“Listed as a test recipient by Acuity Insights” indicates that, although the school does not mention any of the assessments among their application requirements, they are listed on the Acuity website as a test recipient.
Casper, Snapshot, and Duet requirements for allopathic medical schools (2024-2025 application cycle)
Casper, Snapshot, and Duet requirements for osteopathic medical schools (2024-2025 application cycle)
| Osteopathic medical school | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine | ||||
| Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine | ||||
| Kansas Health Science Center – Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine | ||||
| Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine | ||||
| Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (NY) | ||||
| Touro University Nevada College of Medicine | ||||
| Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific | ||||
| Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific—Northwest | ||||
| William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine |
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.