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Which Medical Schools Require CASPer? A 2026–2027 Verification Guide

Discover which medical schools require the CASPer test for 2026-2027. Stay ahead in your applications with our comprehensive verification guide.

MedSchoolPilot editorial team

A limited but meaningful subset of U.S. medical schools require the CASPer situational-judgment test, and that list shifts every application cycle. Programs known to require CASPer this cycle includes Baylor College of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine, Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center’s Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso. Compiled lists put the total number of CASPer-requiring programs for the 2026–2027 cycle at roughly 43, spanning MD and DO programs. Your move right now:

  • Pull up each target school’s admissions page and search “CASPer” directly.
  • Register at Acuity Insights using the exact email on your AMCAS or AACOMAS application.
  • Recheck status closer to submission. Schools add or drop the requirement without much warning.

Table of Contents

Which U.S. Medical Schools Require CASPer This Cycle?

The schools above aren’t a guess. They’re pulled from current admissions language and Acuity’s own program directory, and each has stated CASPer as a requirement for this cycle. Wake Forest University School of Medicine, for instance, requires CASPer for the 2026–2027 cycle and specifically tells applicants to run the 12-section practice test early to confirm their technical setup works before the real thing.

Verifying a school’s status takes three steps, in order of reliability:

  1. Read the admissions page wording carefully. Schools use different verbs on purpose. “Required” means you’re out of the applicant pool without it. “Recommended” means it may help but won’t disqualify you. “Accepted” often means the school will look at a score if you have one, typically from another test like PREview, but won’t insist on it.
  2. Cross-check Acuity’s program list. Acuity Insights maintains its own directory of participating schools, which usually reflects real-time policy changes faster than a school’s own web page gets updated.
  3. Call or email the admissions office if the wording is ambiguous. A five-minute phone call beats guessing wrong on a $200 error.

Third-party roundups, including this one, are snapshots. A school that required CASPer last year might drop it, and one that didn’t might add it. That’s exactly why StudyCasper’s compiled list leads with a caution that program counts shift every cycle.

Pro Tip: Bookmark each target school’s admissions requirements page and check it again about 30 days before your application opens. Policy changes tend to post quietly, often buried in a FAQ update rather than announced.

CASPer vs. Duet vs. Snapshot: What’s Actually Required?

CASPer measures situational judgment: how you reason through interpersonal and ethical scenarios under time pressure. It’s not a knowledge test, and it’s the one Acuity product schools most commonly require. Duet and Snapshot are different animals entirely, and confusing them with CASPer is a common, avoidable mistake.

  • CASPer: The core situational-judgment test. Required by dozens of MD and DO programs.
  • Duet: A values-alignment exercise Acuity recommends to most CASPer registrants, but some schools explicitly don’t require it.
  • Snapshot: A video-response component that’s largely been dropped as a requirement since the 2023–2024 cycle.

Don’t assume signing up for CASPer means you owe the whole Altus Suite. Check each school’s specific list before you register for anything beyond the core test.

Registration, ID Rules, Fees, and How Long Your Score Lasts

Two operational details trip up more applicants than the test content itself. First, register with the same email address you used for AMCAS or AACOMAS. Mismatched emails can prevent your score from linking to your application at all, which means schools never see it even after you’ve paid and tested.

Second, you’ll need a government-issued photo ID that matches your registration name exactly. Acuity’s proctoring system checks this at login, and a mismatch can get your session flagged or invalidated.

On cost: expect a base test fee plus a distribution fee for each school you send your score to, separate from the testing charge itself. Budget for this the same way you budget for secondary application fees.

  • Test runs roughly 75 to 90 minutes across multiple timed sections.
  • Your score is valid for one application cycle only. Retaking every year is the norm, not the exception.
  • Schedule early. Popular test dates near application deadlines fill up.

Distribution fees add up fast. If you’re applying to a dozen CASPer-requiring schools, that per-school charge on top of the base fee can rival what you’d pay for MCAT score releases, so factor it into your total application budget rather than treating it as an afterthought.

How Admissions Committees Actually Use Your CASPer Score

CASPer doesn’t function the same way at every school, and that inconsistency matters for how much energy you put into prep. Some programs use it as a hard eligibility gate: no score, no file review, full stop. Others fold it into interview-invitation decisions alongside GPA and MCAT, treating it as one input rather than a pass/fail checkpoint.

The reasoning behind the test hasn’t changed even as its application varies. Committees want a read on ethics, empathy, and professional judgment that a transcript can’t give them. Institutional guidance on CASPer use confirms schools split roughly between using it for interview selection and using it to determine whether an application is even complete.

  • Some schools: CASPer determines interview eligibility outright.
  • Other schools: CASPer is one factor weighed against everything else in your file.
  • Read the specific wording on each program’s page. “Used in our holistic review” and “required for interview consideration” are not the same commitment level.

How to Prepare for CASPer Without Wasting Time

CASPer rewards structure and clarity, not memorized facts, so the smartest prep looks nothing like studying for the MCAT. Here’s what actually moves your score:

  1. Run the official practice test first. Acuity’s practice scenarios exist specifically to confirm your setup works and to get you used to the timed format before it counts.
  2. Practice writing under a strict clock. Give yourself five minutes per typed response and stop, even mid-thought. The scoring system cares about how you reason through pressure, not whether you finish a polished essay.
  3. Build a simple response structure and reuse it. Acknowledge the perspectives involved, weigh the competing interests, and land on a defensible action. Consistency beats cleverness.
  4. Skip the script memorization. There’s no bank of “correct answers” to study, since the test grades situational reasoning and communication, not content recall. Our CASPer prep guide covers this in more depth if you want a fuller walkthrough.
  5. Confirm your test-day setup 24 hours ahead. Quiet room, stable internet, charged device, government ID in hand, and your login email matching your application account exactly.
  6. Add short Duet sessions if your target schools recommend it. It’s a shorter, lower-stakes exercise, but it still benefits from one or two practice runs so the format doesn’t surprise you.

If any of your target schools accept PREview as an alternative, it’s worth understanding how CASPer and PREview differ before you commit testing time to one over the other.

Pro Tip: Record yourself talking through a practice scenario out loud before typing your response. Hearing your own reasoning surface verbally often reveals gaps in logic faster than staring at a blank text box.

Tracking CASPer Deadlines Across Multiple Schools

Juggling CASPer requirements across eight or ten schools, each with its own deadline, distribution fee, and required-versus-recommended status, is exactly the kind of scattered logistics that causes applicants to miss something small and costly. Medschoolpilot’s readiness tracker maps test dates, distribution fee deadlines, and school-specific CASPer requirements into one personalized timeline instead of a dozen browser tabs.

The platform’s school-specific data pages, including entries like Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, pull admissions requirements into one place so you’re not re-checking the same page every few weeks. Weak spots, like clinical hours that haven’t caught up to your target school’s expectations, get converted into concrete steps on your timeline rather than staying a vague worry in the back of your mind.

  • Personalized timeline syncs CASPer test dates with each school’s application deadlines.
  • School-specific requirement data reduces manual verification across dozens of admissions pages.
  • Readiness scoring flags weak areas early enough to actually fix them.

Which med schools require CASPer, and what should you check first?

The honest answer is that no static list, including this one, should be your final word. Requirements shift by cycle, and the schools named here are current examples, not a permanent roster.

Point Details
CASPer isn’t universal A subset of U.S. MD and DO programs require it; always confirm on the school’s own admissions page.
Email matching is critical Register for CASPer using the exact email on your AMCAS or AACOMAS application to avoid score delivery failures.
Duet and Snapshot differ from CASPer Duet is often recommended but optional; Snapshot is largely discontinued as a requirement.
Scores expire each cycle A CASPer score is valid only for the cycle in which you take it, so plan to retest each year you apply.
Usage varies by school Some programs treat CASPer as a hard eligibility gate; others weigh it as one factor among many.

Where to Verify CASPer Policies Before You Register

  • Acuity Insights for official test dates, program participation, and registration.
  • Each target school’s own admissions requirements page, since wording like “required” versus “recommended” carries real consequences.
  • Direct contact with an admissions office when a school’s language is genuinely unclear.

What the Conventional CASPer Advice Gets Wrong

Most premed advice treats CASPer prep like exam cramming, and that’s backwards. The test measures how you reason under time pressure, not what you know, so hours spent memorizing “ideal” answers are largely wasted. What actually helps is running the official practice scenarios enough times that the interface and clock stop being a distraction.

What the Conventional CASPer Advice Gets Wrong — overview diagram

The bigger risk isn’t the test content. It’s logistics. An email mismatch or an expired policy check costs applicants more real damage than a slightly weaker response to a tricky prompt, because a mismatch can mean a school never sees your score at all. Conventional guides spend paragraphs on how to “ace” CASPer and a single line on registration mechanics. Flip that ratio.

If you’re applying broadly, treat requirement verification as an ongoing task, not a one-time check in June. Schools update policies quietly, and a program that didn’t require CASPer last cycle might this year. Build the habit of rechecking each admissions page 30 days before each deadline, not just once at the start of your cycle.

— Medschoolpilot

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