The goal of the Acuity Insights assessments (Casper and Duet) and AAMC PREview is to promote holistic review in admissions by assessing each applicant’s interpersonal competencies, their values, and their understanding of effective and ineffective behaviors in professional settings.

Details about Acuity Insights (formerly known as Altus Suite): Casper and Duet

Download our Casper, Duet, and AAMC PREview Tips handout, with compiled tips from former students.

Your application plan should include the Casper and Duet assessments, as most applicants end up applying to at least one program that requires one or both of them. (You can view a current list of schools that require these assessments by visiting the Acuity Insights website.) If you are applying to schools that require one or both of the Acuity Insights assessments, your application file will not be considered complete until you have taken the required assessment(s) and the schools have received your score report. The Casper assessment is evaluated by human reviewers, so it takes ~3 weeks for those score reports to be made available to schools. Plan your test date to fall ~3 weeks before you are aiming to have your application file complete (including supplemental applications and letters of recommendation). If you aren't sure which test date is optimal, review the "Recommended Application Timing" section of the Quick Facts document for your profession. (If you are applying to medical school, for instance, it is ideal to choose a Casper test date on or before the first time it is offered in July to be on track to have your entire application file will be complete at the medical schools by the end of July.)

If you complete Duet before your Casper score report has been sent out to schools, those results will be included in your Casper score report. If you complete Duet at a later date, your Duet responses will be made available to schools 1-2 days after you complete it.

You can complete Casper and Duet at home, so long as your computer has a reliable internet connection, speakers, and a webcam. If any of your schools require Casper/Duet, you will be directed to take the test as part of the supplementary application process.

In the 2023-2024 testing year, the fee structure was as follows:

  • Applicants to US-based medical schools (MD and DO) paid $85, which included 7 program distributions. Additional distributions were $16 each.
  • Applicants to all other US-based professional health sciences programs paid a base fee of $60, which included 1 program distribution. Additional distributions were $16 each.
  • This cost covered both the Casper and Duet assessments, whether you took them both or not.

Each Casper test-taker will receive a score report that indicates the quartile into which your score falls, whereas schools will receive your actual score on a 1-9 scale. Schools are not allowed to disclose your specific scores to you. The rationale behind this policy is that Acuity Insights is trying to keep costs down by preventing commercial test preparation companies from trying to create costly courses intended to coach people toward higher scores. 

NOTE: Acuity Insights used to offer a third assessment, known as Snapshot. It has been discontinued.

How to prepare for Casper and Duet

Details about the AAMC PREview Professional Readiness Exam

The AAMC PREview Professional Readiness Exam was designed to allow medical school applicants to showcase their interpersonal and communication skills, cultural competence, and ethical responsibility, among other pre-professional competencies that medical schools have identified as critical for success.  

If you will be applying to medical schools, you may need to take the AAMC Preview exam, likely in addition to taking Casper/Duet. Check the MSAR to determine if your MD schools of interest will require PREview and/or Casper/Duet. (When on a school's page in the MSAR, search for the term "Additional Required Assessments." Alternatively, you may quickly check to see which MD programs required PREview and Casper/Duet in the last application cycle by checking the "Additional Required Assessments" report on the AAMC MSAR Report page.

    The test is only offered on certain test dates and is taken on your own at home, with a live virtual proctor. (Any limitations on test date availability would be due to a limited number of proctors.) We recommend taking Preview no later than their mid-July test date. Registration typically opens in mid-January. For the 2023-2024 application cycle, the cost for the Preview assessment is a flat fee of $100, which includes unlimited score distribution. The flat fee will be waived for applicants who apply for and are approved to receive benefits through the AAMC Fee Assistance Program. 

    • Note: For the 2023-2024 application cycle, Des Moines University Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine has announced it will require PREview.

    For tips on how to prepare for AAMC PREview, download our Casper, Duet, and AAMC PREview Tips handout.